Onto the World Stage
by Aron
Summary: This is a discontinued story, formerly known as "The World Pokémon Championships" to avoid confusion. For the remake, see the story on this account titled "The World Pokémon Championships".
1. Arrival

**Okay, here we go! Welcome to The World Pokémon Championships, my first fanfic! For the regular disclaimer, I wanna say that I don't own Pokémon, the games, the anime, or anything else Satoshi Tajiri's lawyers can sue me with. But I claim ownership of the two characters that appear in the next chapter 'cause I've got to protect my interests.**

**With that said and done, let the tale begin!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 1 – ARRIVAL**

"We've arrived! Welcome to Ayers Island, home to the prestigious World Pokémon Championships! Please disembark the ferry in an orderly fashion. Thank you, and enjoy!"

Ash ran to the side of the ferry as the announcement was made, Pikachu hopping along on the railing beside him. "C'mon, guys!" he yelled over his shoulder, as he turned to Brock and Dawn, who were strolling behind him.

"_Pii pika pii!_" encouraged Pikachu, moving his head vigorously. _Hurry up!_

Brock waved his hand nonchalantly. "Yeah, yeah, we're coming, just get onto the docks," he said to Ash as a crowd of swarming Trainers moved between them and off the ferry. As Pikachu jumped down onto the dock, Ash, Brock and Dawn fought through the massing crowd and moved down the ramp onto the concrete path of the dock.

"Come on, let's hurry in before we get separated," said Dawn nervously, as more Trainers rushed around them.

"I agree, we should head for that gate," said Ash, pointing at a set of large wrought-iron gates in the distance as Pikachu jumped up to his shoulder.

With much difficulty the group made their way towards the gates, weaving between the throng of Trainers who were standing around, running madly towards the gates with them, or letting out their Pokémon to take in the sights. Once they were beyond the gates, Ash led them towards an empty spot on the left. As they turned, they gasped as they saw the sight before them.

An enormous stadium sat in the middle of an even larger lake, with six narrow bridges, set out in a star pattern, joining the stadium to the rest of Ayers Island. Dotting the western coast of the island were apartment blocks and small hotels, presumably to accommodate the innumerable amount of Trainers and spectators that would be here during the Championships. In front of them, and to the south-west, streets and lanes criss-crossed over each other like a gigantic web. However, on the eastern side of the island, to the right of the grand stadium, were more stadiums; smaller, but still about the same size as the stadiums that Ash and his Pokémon had battled on during his Conference campaigns at Mt. Silver and Ever Grande City. Towards the north, they could see a towering mountain range, its dark outline sharp against the clear sky. Dotted along the streets were hundreds of buildings: bookstores, souvenir stalls, cafés, restaurants, and fashion boutiques. And everywhere, from the hotels to the stadiums, were Trainers and Pokémon. Trainers walking with their Pokémon, talking to them, eating with them, and practicing attack combinations. The Pokémon, Ash saw, were also extremely rare; barely ten feet away from him was a blonde-haired woman standing next to a Gliscor similar to his own, and a Kangaskhan behind her. As he stared further, he saw a Milotic, a Mamoswine, and even an Omastar, which was widely believed to be extinct, although Ash and Brock had both seen one during their travels through their home region of Kanto. He even saw the Regice he had been in battle against when he had challenged Brandon at the Battle Pyramid, and sure enough, Brandon was there too, talking to a tall man with short blue hair.

Brock and Dawn, too, seemed stunned to silence.

"Wow…" was all Dawn could manage saying as her eyes watered at the sight of it all.

"Wow is right, just look at this place!" said Brock, equally awe-struck. "This has to be the most Pokémon I've ever seen in one place, ever!"

"Hey Ash!" said Brandon, having just noticed him. He walked over and extended his hand, which Ash shook. "It's been a while! I didn't know you got an invitation!" he added.

"Yeah, neither did I til a couple of days ago," said Ash sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "But it must be a pretty big tournament, though, to have this many Trainers all here at the same time."

Brandon chuckled. "Well, it's not called the 'World' championships for nothing, now is it?" he said. "It's pretty rare to even get an invite to this place though. Fortunately, because I'm a Frontier Brain, I get put in here on default, and this is my fourth time here."

"So you're fairly experienced here, are you?" inquired Brock, who had been quiet until now.

Brandon jumped comically, before recovering and shaking Brock's hand too. "Brock, I didn't see you there! Well, to answer your question, yes and no. Just because I've been here doesn't necessarily mean I've met success regularly, if you know what I mean.

"My first two years here, I only made it to the second round, so I was quite the novice by the standards here. Last year I actually managed to get to the top sixteen, so I was pretty proud to make it that far. Unfortunately, I got swamped in my next match. I lost that one six-three. It's pretty intense around here," he explained.

Dawn was shocked. "Wait, so you're a Frontier Brain, one of the best Trainers in all of Kanto, and you lose a match six-three?!" she asked. "Who on earth could you have lost to?!"

Brandon furrowed his brow for a second before his eyes flashed.

"I think his name was—"

"Gary Oak," said a voice behind Dawn.

Everyone jumped and turned. There, standing next to his Electivire, was, sure enough, Gary Oak. He smiled as he saw Ash and said with a sneer, "Don't tell me you're surprised, Ash. Just 'coz you beat Brandon doesn't mean you're the only one."

"Hey I never said that!" said Ash, throwing a mock-punch at Gary before shaking his hand. "So you were here last year, eh? Did you win the tournament?"

Gary laughed. "Who, me?" he said. "Not a chance! I got lucky against Brandon—"

"Damn right you did," said Brandon. "Well, that's what I'm saying anyways," he added with a chuckle.

"—Yeah I got lucky against you, but that was nothing. I lost my quarter-finals match six-four," finished Gary.

There was a stunned silence from everyone as he said this. Ash was the first to recover. "_You_ got beaten six-four?! How?? Who beat you?" he demanded.

"It doesn't matter how he beat me; he beat me, that's all there is to it," said Gary, shrugging his shoulders. "And his name isn't important either, I'm sure you'll run into him soon enough, knowing you, Ash." He looked around for a moment. "Well, I'm off to officially register in the tournament. Make sure you four all do it too, eh?" he said.

"Well then, I might as well join you!" boomed Brandon. He pulled out a PokéBall and turned to Regice. "Come on, Regice," he said, as he returned Regice to its ball, and Gary did likewise to his Electivire, before clapping Brandon on the shoulder as they walked off towards the centre stadium.

"I wonder who could've beaten Gary…" whispered Dawn.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***The design for the centre stadium was inspired by Final Fantasy X's Luca Blitzball stadium.**

**Quiz:**

***What was the name of the location in Kanto where Ash and Brock saw an Omastar?**

* * *


	2. Introductions

**CHAPTER 2 – INTRODUCTIONS**

Ash, Brock, Dawn and Pikachu walked slowly towards the main stadium, which, having overheard from several Trainers, they had learned was called the World's Peak Stadium. As they walked, they began to truly absorb the sheer magnitude of Trainers that were here. Ash guessed that there had to be at least five hundred Trainers here, which he suggested to the others.

"_Pii, pii pika,_" said Pikachu, shaking his head, while Brock nodded. _Higher._

"I agree with Pikachu," he said. "There has to be more than that… maybe a thousand Trainers… maybe two thousand?"

"That sounds a bit much," said Dawn seriously.

"Yeah, come on Brock, maybe a bit much," Ash agreed, noticing a large grey Pokémon in the street ahead. "I mean, there's gonna be a lot more people who are just watching the tournament, right?"

A blue piece of paper flew by Brock, blown about by a gentle breeze. Brock snatched it out of the air and shook it to get a better look.

"Hey, whatcha got there?" asked Ash curiously, turning his head.

"It's a flyer," said Brock, absorbed in the piece of paper. "It's going on about… different competitions at the tournament?" he said, puzzled. He looked up to see his friends equally puzzled, so he went on, "It says there's a Singles Division, a Doubles Division, and a special 'Tag Team Trophy' tournament for 'Trainers who are looking for an extra challenge!'," he explained.

"Tag Team Trophy, you say? Sounds fun," said Dawn.

"Well," said Brock uncertainly. "It says here you need to have two Trainers, and that you have to partake in double battles, but using two Trainers instead of the one."

"Can I have a look at that flyer, Brock?" Ash asked.

"Sure," complied Brock, handing it to Ash across Dawn.

"Cheers," said Ash, looking down at the flyer. He was so focused on it that he didn't notice where he was going, and— "OW!" —he walked straight into a Pokémon and fell flat onto the ground, Pikachu clinging grimly to his jacket.

He looked up to see what he had bumped into and saw a grey spherical shape with a gaping smile and two yellow eyes. He looked up further and saw a head and another eye, red, rimmed with yellow, staring down at him. He pulled out his Pokédex to observe the strange figure.

_Dusknoir, the Gripper Pokémon, the final evolved form of Duskull and Dusclops, _it said, in its metallic voice. _The antenna on its head captures radio waves from the spirit world that command it to take people there. Because of this, its species has been given the name of 'The Grim Reaper'. _As the Pokédex finished its transmission, a male Trainer, who'd noticed Ash run into the Pokémon, looked around for the source of the robotic noise.

"Hey, what'd you run into my Dusknoir for?" he asked Ash.

Ash got to his feet clumsily, Pikachu leaping down to the ground with its fur bristling. "Ah, sorry, I didn't see where I was going, I was reading this," he said, waving the flyer at the Trainer. He was about Ash's height, with dark brown hair that swept over his hazel-coloured eyes. He was wearing a black jacket over a collared red shirt, and full-length dark blue jeans. Perched on top of his head, pushed towards the back, was a round-brimmed brown-greet hat, lined with orange. As he came closer to Ash, he saw the flyer, he smiled.

"Ah right, those little things," said the boy casually. "I almost got hit in the eye by one of them a little while ago, they're real death traps," he added with a laugh.

"I'm Ari, Ari DeVarro," he said, holding out his hand.

"I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town," said Ash, shaking it.

"Pallet Town? That's in Kanto, isn't it?" asked Ari. "So you'd live near Gary Oak, wouldn't you?"

Ash blinked. "Yeah, I do," he said. "We've known each other for ages, since we were little kids, actually. How do you know Gary?" he asked.

"I met him here last year," answered Ari, his eyes twinkling. "We got to be good friends, right up until we had to battle each other in the quarter-finals."

Brock stepped forward at this. "Hi, I'm Brock, I'm from Pewter City," he said, introducing himself. "So you beat Gary in that match, didn't you?" he asked abruptly.

"Umm, yeah, I beat him," Ari said, wondering where Brock was going with the question.

"Six-four, right?" asked Brock, raising his voice slightly.

"Six-four," repeated Ari sheepishly, still puzzled. "Why do you—?"

"We ran into Gary a little earlier," interrupted Dawn, blushing. "Hi, I'm Dawn, I'm from Twinleaf Town in Sinnoh."

"Pleased to meet you, Dawn," said Ari with a grin, which Dawn returned, a little too enthusiastically. "Ah, well that explains it; I was wondering who your source was!" he added merrily, taking a seat on a nearby park bench.

"So where are you from, Ari?" asked Dawn, taking a seat next to Ari.

"Me?" asked Ari mockingly. "I'm from Ecruteak City, in the Johto region. It's a lovely place, nice and quiet, and the Burnt and Tin Towers really are a wonderful sight at sunrise. You should visit there someday," he said politely.

Dawn giggled.

"Brock and I went there a long time ago," said Ash sharply. "You're right; it is a great place to go. Is Morty still the Gym Leader there?"

"As far as I know," said Ari, leaning back on the bench. "I haven't been back there for a few years; I've spent most of my time travelling abroad, running into new Pokémon, meeting new people… making new friends," he said charmingly, winking at Dawn, who blushed furiously, and hid her face with her hand. He looked around at his Dusknoir, who was standing, or rather _floating_, some feet away. "Hey buddy, come over here," he said cheerily, so it drifted over.

"This is my Dusknoir, Horazon," he said, introducing the Dusknoir, who bowed dramatically. Dawn giggled again, and Ari laughed. "He's quite a character, but I guess he gets that from being around me too long," he explained with another laugh. "He's also my very first Pokémon."

Pikachu ran over to Dusknoir, paused, and then jumped up onto his outstretched hand. Dusknoir smiled – the face on its stomach did, anyways – and Pikachu smiled back. Ash watched Pikachu fondly.

"Pikachu's my first Pokémon too," he said, smiling. "I got him on my tenth birthday, and we've been best friends ever since."

"Sounds like you two have quite the bond," said Ari, also watching the two Pokémon.

"My first Pokémon was a Piplup," said Dawn eagerly, pulling a PokéBall off of her belt. "Come on out, Piplup!" she said, as her Piplup appeared in a flash of white light, clapping her fins. She scooped the Piplup up in her arms and turned back to Ari. "I've only had Piplup for a little while now, but we're really close," she said proudly, nuzzling Piplup's head with her chin.

"Hey, all great trees begin with seeds," said Ari. "It doesn't matter if something started yesterday or a century ago, it can become quite extraordinary," he explained, stroking Piplup's beak with an outstretched finger. Piplup twittered with delight. Ari smiled infectiously, and so did Dawn.

There was a short silence, before Ash asked, "So Ari, since you beat Gary in that quarter-final last year, you must've come pretty close to winning the tournament, right?"

Ari shook his head. "Not really. I lost my semi-final, but it was fairly close. Six-five, I think. But I still won the Tag Team," he said contentedly.

"Really? You must be pretty skilled," said Brock, impressed. "Who was your partner?" he asked.

"Well, let me introduce him to you!" he said, getting to his feet. "I'll be right, back, okay?" he assured them, his eyes lingering on Dawn momentarily, who returned his gaze, beaming, even as he walked out of sight, his Dusknoir trailing behind.

Ash and Brock looked at each other. "He seems… nice," said Ash stiffly.

"Yeah, he must be a good Trainer too, to do what he says he's done," agreed Brock. "I can see that look in your eye, Ash; you want to battle him, really badly. But just wait until you know more; that might give you an edge. Be patient," he said warningly.

Ash grunted. "Yeah alright," he said grudgingly. "What do you think, Dawn?" he asked. He looked over and saw Dawn still staring at the spot where Ari had walked off. "Dawn!" he shouted.

Dawn's head snapped around. "What, what?" she asked wildly, flustered.

"What's up with you?" asked Ash suspiciously.

"Nothing's wrong!" said Dawn quickly, waving her hands in the air guiltily. Piplup jumped up and down on the bench next to her, as if trying to enforce the message.

Ash raised his eyebrows at Dawn, looked at Brock, and then shrugged his shoulders and sat down on another bench, opposite Dawn. Brock sat down next to him, looking oddly at Dawn.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Ari returned, slightly out of breath, as though he'd just ran a long distance to get back.

"Well, I'm back, like I said," he said, as his Dusknoir hovered loyally alongside him. "So, here's my tag team partner, like I said. Come on out!" he called.

A Trainer stepped out from behind Dusknoir. He was a few inches taller than Ash was, and had sharp green eyes. His hair was brown like Ari's, but of a lighter shade, and it went blonde at the front. He was dressed in a green-and-gold open-necked shirt, and a pair of velvet-purple trousers. He looked friendly, and he smiled at Ari before facing Ash, Brock and Dawn.

"Hi, my name's Leoric. I'm from Fallarbor Town in the Hoenn region," he said, waving his hand nervously.

"Leoric, this is Ash from Pallet Town, Brock from Pewter City, and Dawn from Twinleaf Town," Ari said, pointing his hand at each one as he said their name.

"Hey!" they said together.

"_Pika! Pip-lup_!" said Pikachu and Piplup. _Pleased to meet you!_

Leoric's face split into a grin as he saw Pikachu on Ash's shoulder. "I take it Pikachu is your first Pokémon, Ash?" he said. "I haven't been able to do that—" he gestured towards Pikachu "—since a long time ago, when my first Pokémon evolved, and he got a bit bulky for my shoulder," he joked.

"Leoric's first Pokémon was a Bagon," Ari explained. "And when it evolved into a Shelgon…"

"I had to stop putting him on my shoulder, or else I'd have it fall off," finished Leoric, laughing. "Well, my shoulder, of course."

"But enough about me," he said, looking at the group. "Are all three of you going in the Championships this year?" he asked greedily.

"I am!" said Ash, getting to his feet.

Dawn shook her head. "I'm more a Contests type of person," she said. "I still like watching battles, but no, I'm not going to be entering."

Brock shook his head as well. "I didn't get the invite," he said light-heartedly. "But," he added happily, looking around, "I'm still glad I came. I can see all these fantastic and rare Pokémon!"

"Ah," said Leoric, slightly crestfallen. "Oh well, plenty of other Trainers out there to battle, I suppose. Well Ari, I'll meet up with you later, yeah?"

"Yeah, of course!" said Ari, patting him on the back.

"Alright then," said Leoric. "I'll be seeing you around." He looked at Ash. "It was great meeting you guys!" he added, his eyes glinting, before he dashed off down the road.

Ash sat down as Leoric left, his hands curled into fists. "Can't wait to battle him," he muttered excitedly, the same glint in his eyes.

"And I'm sure he can't wait to face you," said Brock. "But like I said before, Ash…"

"I know, patience," said Ash.

Dawn stood up and looked at Ari imploringly. "I'm starving," she said. "Are there any good restaurants around here?"

Ari grinned. "Wouldn't be a very good tournament if there wasn't!" he said jokingly. "But first, I need to register for the tournament, and I reckon you would too, Ash?"

"Yeah, I probably should do that," Ash replied.

Ari clapped his hands. "Then we should do that! You wouldn't mind a short detour, would you?" he asked Dawn cheekily.

"As long as it _is_ a _short_ one," said Dawn, just as cheekily. "Lead the way!"

* * *

**Trivia:**

***'Horazon', the name for Ari's Dusknoir, is taken from the Diablo II character mentioned through Act II in Lut Gholein.**

***Leoric's appearance is actually based on my twin brother, Shannon.**

**Quiz:**

***What was the **_**original**_** name of the Burnt Tower that stands in Ecruteak City?**


	3. New Friends, Old Foes

**CHAPTER 3 – NEW FRIENDS, OLD FOES**

Ari lead the way through the streets of Ayers Island, with Dawn striding along next to him, Horazon floating long after the two of them, with Piplup in Horazon's hands. Ash and Brock walked a few steps behind them, and they, too, were beginning to get hungry.

"Oh, can't we get something now and register later?" asked Ash after a short while, as his stomach gave a particularly violent rumble.

Dawn looked back momentarily before saying, "We'll be at the Stadium in a couple of minutes, you can register, and then we can all get something to eat, so don't complain!" She skipped ahead to keep pace with Ari.

Ash groaned and rubbed his stomach. "Can't we go any quicker then?" he asked desperately.

Brock looked at him pityingly. "Don't worry about it, Ash," he said calmly. "We'll register quickly, and then we can go get something big to eat, eh?"

Ash nodded and fell silent. He wasn't just hungry for food; he hadn't had a Pokémon battle lately, and he was itching to face off against Leoric as soon as he could. The prospect of the battle occupied his thoughts until they reached the entrance to the World's Peak Stadium.

"Well, here we are!" announced Ari, slowing to a halt as Ash caught up. "World's Peak Stadium. The Trainers here like to call it the 'Igloo' for some reason. We register through there," he said, indicating a large hall off to the left, which led inside the stadium before turning in to a small yet crowded lobby. "Well, shall we?" he suggested, strolling down the hall.

Ash nodded and walked through the entrance with Brock and Dawn following behind him. Soon they came into the lobby, and, upon seeing the reception counter, made their way towards it through the other Trainers who had come to register. Once they were there, they were greeted, as ever, by Nurse Joy. Ash, sensing Brock about to lapse into his usual overly romantic state, jabbed him in the side, striking a PokéBall on his belt. Brock cried out, and his Croagunk appeared with a flash of white light, its arm raised to hit Brock with a Poison Jab in case he tried anything. Brock glanced down, stiffened, then side-stepped his way several feet back, nodding quickly at Ash, who nodded back, then winked at Croagunk.

"Hello!" greeted Nurse Joy with a smile. "I presume you're all here to register for the Championships?"

"Well, Ash and I are, for the Singles Division," said Ari, walking up to the counter and pulling out his invitation letter and Pokédex. "Ari DeVarro, Ecruteak City, Johto region," he stated, passing his Pokédex to Nurse Joy as he flashed the letter.

"Okay, Ari, let me just run your Pokédex through our computer," said Nurse Joy, putting his Pokédex into a small slot in a computer to the left. A few seconds later, the computer screen flashed green. "There we go, you're all set!" she said merrily, taking out the Pokédex and handing it back to Ari. She turned to the others. "So who's next—?"

"That'd be me!" said a breathless voice behind them. Ash spun around and saw Leoric running up, waving his letter wildly in the air. He slowed to a halt, banged his Pokédex on the counter and wheezed, "Leoric Reiger, Fallarbor Town, Hoenn region."

"Okay, Leoric, I'll be just one moment," said Nurse Joy, putting his Pokédex in the slot. Once again, the screen turned green, and the Pokédex was returned to Leoric. "And we're done! You're now officially registered."

"Cheers," said Leoric impatiently. "Oh," he said, looking at Ari before turning back to Nurse Joy. "Ari and I are entering the Tag Team Trophy as partners again this year, so we'd like to register for that as well."

"Okay, follow me," said Nurse Joy, leading them to a separate computer, with two slots for their Pokédexes. Ari and Leoric handed them over, and a few seconds later there was another flash of green, before the three of them returned to the others. "Now, I heard that an 'Ash' was registering too?" asked Nurse Joy.

Ash stepped forward. "Uh yeah, that's me!" he said quickly. He grabbed his invitation out of his jacket pocket, along with his Pokédex, and put them on the counter in front of him. "Ash Ketchum, Pallet Town, Kanto region," he said anxiously.

"Okay Ash, one moment," said Nurse Joy soothingly, putting his Pokédex in the slot. The screen flashed green for a third time, and Ash breathed a sigh of relief, though he didn't know why he was so relieved. As his Pokédex was handed back to him, he smiled at Nurse Joy and said, "Thank you," before turning to the others. "Can we get something to eat now?!" he asked.

Ari and Leoric laughed, Dawn shook her head jokingly, and Brock clapped him on the shoulder. "I don't see why not," he said, looking at Ari. "Or do we need another detour?"

"Nope, no more detours. I'm quite hungry myself!" answered Ari, with another charming smile. "Come on," he said, leading them out into the open air.

As they walked back down the narrow bridge, Dawn looked around and asked Leoric, "Where are all the restaurants?"

"Oh, well they're all over the place, really," said Leoric. "Ari knows all the good ones, he picked where we ate last year."

So Dawn turned to Ari and asked, "Well, are there any restaurants you'd recommend to us, Ari?"

Ari puzzled over it for a moment then snapped his fingers. "I know just the place," he said, smiling. "You'll all love it," he added, looking over at Ash and Brock. "They serve the best—"

Ari broke off, his face hardening. Ash stopped and looked at Ari, who seemed to be looking straight at Dawn. After a moment, he realised that Ari was staring at something over her shoulder. As Dawn turned around, he looked past her to see his old rival Paul walking towards them on the bridge, a sinister grin painted on his face. He heard Leoric mutter, "Oh, heck no…" as Dawn turned wildly back to face Ari, whose hands had formed fists.

"Ari, what's—?" began Dawn, before Leoric silenced her with a wave of his hand. His face had also turned stony, and he was reaching for a PokéBall at his waist.

"Long unsettled business," spat Leoric, making no effort to hide the contempt in his voice as he threw the PokéBall in the air and cried, "Go, Apache!"

The ball flew high into the air before a flash of white light blinded Ash, Brock and Dawn. Out of the light flew a red and blue dragon-like creature that Ash knew to be a Salamence; possibly, he thought, Leoric's first Pokémon, Bagon, evolved to its final stage.

"_Giyaaaah!_" screamed the Salamence as it wheeled down onto the bridge in front of Ari and Leoric. Ari, too, was pulling a PokéBall out of his belt as Ash heard a cry from behind him. He wheeled around and saw that Paul had brought out two Pokémon of his own; his starter Pokémon, Torterra, and an Ursaring. As they stamped and roared, Ash wondered what could possibly be going on between the three Trainers, and, unbeknownst to anyone watching, Pikachu jumped off Ash and ran into the open space between the three Pokémon.

"_Pika pi pika pii! Pikaa!!_" said Pikachu fiercely as his cheeks crackled with electricity. _Stop this at once! Leave us alone! _Paul and his Pokémon seemed unfazed by the display, but it appeared to bring Leoric to his senses, and he shook his head slowly.

"No, I'm not gonna bring an innocent Trainer or his Pokémon into this," he said. "Come back, Apache," he said to his Salamence, raising his PokéBall and returning Salamence to it in a flash of red light.

"Good choice," said Paul darkly. "Knowing the way you raise your Pokémon, they wouldn't have stood a chance against mine," he added with a sneer, but he, too, returned his Pokémon to their PokéBalls. He looked around, and noticed Ash standing several feet away, somewhat dumbfounded. Paul's mouth dropped open in genuine surprise. "No way," he said. "There's no way they invited a weakling Trainer like you into this tournament! Wow, they really must be scraping the bottom of the barrel this year," he muttered with a chuckle.

"I would have said the same of you, Paul," said Ari calmly, his PokéBall still in his hand. He walked over to join Ash, Brock and Dawn before he stowed it back in his belt.

"Well, that's the difference between you and I, isn't it?" said Paul, still sneering as he walked closer to them. "I _know_ that mine and my Pokémons' skills far outstrip yours, but you won't admit it. You'd rather believe in the old-fashioned 'showers-of-love-and-kindness' approach. You're a bleeding heart, just all the other weak Trainers are. You're pathetic," he said, and he spat on the ground at Ari's feet. Ash and Brock gasped with shock and anger, Pikachu began to charge its cheeks for an attack, and Leoric began running towards Paul, but Dawn beat them all to it.

_SMACK_! Paul was sent reeling backwards, clutching his cheek. Dawn had slapped him in the face with all her strength, and now she faced him like a wild beast, her face twisted with rage. "Don't you dare say that!" she shouted. "You're the one who's pathetic, having to insult people like that!"

Paul recovered from the shock of the attack, his teeth bared. He began to walk towards Dawn, fist clenched, and looked ready to hit her back, before Ari stepped between them, his face a foot away from Paul's, and said, in a low voice, "You're gonna turn around now, and you're gonna leave. Consider yourself lucky that only one of us humiliated you just now. If you lay so much as a hair on her, I'll make sure that the last thing you ever see is me burying you in the cold, hard ground."

Paul gave Ari an extremely violent and ugly look before he glanced around, not daring to move his head. Ash, Brock and Leoric were all prepared to take him on together, and Pikachu was still readying its Thunderbolt attack. He looked back at Ari and realised that, for once, he was serious and looked like he was prepared to make true on his threat. He sneered one last time, turned on his heel, and strode off, still clutching his face with one hand and muttering curses in his wake.

Ash's eyes followed Paul for a few moments before he turned, mouth agape, towards Dawn, whose face had turned a very deep shade of red. He tried to say something positive, but "Wow…" was all he could manage, as she started crying.

Ari turned around to find the source of the noise. Seeing Dawn, he sighed and put his arm around her shoulders, and Ash, Brock and Leoric all saw her turn, if possible, even redder.

"Ah, don't cry," Ari said soothingly, rubbing her arm with his hand. "Don't be ashamed of what you did, you were defending me like Leoric was, except Paul wasn't expecting it, eh?" he said, with a small laugh. Dawn laughed as well, but she tried to hide it in a sob.

"I—didn't—want—to—hit—him," choked Dawn. "But—he—was—so—rude—and—I—just—lost—control—"

"I know, I know," said Ari softly, pulling Dawn around with his arm, and into a hug. Ash gave Ari a small nod, which Ari seemed to understand, because he didn't let go of Dawn until she stopped crying. She hesitated before moving away from him, as though she wanted to stay leaning on him for a little while longer.

There was a short, but awkward silence as Dawn wiped her eyes and calmed herself down. Ash took the opportunity to ask Leoric, "What the heck was _that_ all about?!"

Leoric grimaced. "It's a long story, and I'm not exactly the one to tell it. Besides, we've had enough excitement for the time being, don't you agree?" he said with a somewhat forced smile.

Ari looked from Ash to Brock to Dawn, before scratching his forehead and saying, "Well, here I was thinking we'd get some food without another detour!" He laughed and walked away from the stadium, their encounter with Paul seemingly already forgotten, beckoning to the others with his hand. "Come on, I thought you guys were starving! Don't tell me you've lost your appetite!"

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Leoric's Salamence is named after the type of attack helicopter.**

**Quiz:**

***In what episode – during the Sinnoh saga – did Paul capture his Ursaring?**


	4. Bricks And Mt Mortar

**CHAPTER 4 – BRICKS AND MT. MORTAR**

Ash leant on the railing, standing on the balcony of his hotel room, staring out at the dark expanse of ocean in front of him. Pikachu stood on the railing next to him.

"Hey, Pikachu," said Ash, still looking out to sea.

"_Pii_?" said Pikachu blankly. _Yeah?_

"You reckon we can win this tournament?" he asked casually.

"_Pii_," said Pikachu, nodding. _Of course._

Ash smiled. "Me too," he said excitedly. He turned away from the night sky. "Come on, buddy," he said, scooping up Pikachu and placing him back up on his shoulder. "Let's go see what Brock and Dawn are doing."

They walked back inside the hotel room, where Brock was grabbing a bottle of lemonade out of the fridge, and Dawn was nowhere to be seen. "Hey Brock, where's Dawn?" Ash asked, walking into the kitchen and pouring himself a cup of water from the tap.

Brock took a sip of lemonade then shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea," he said. "She said something about going outside with Piplup then she took off."

"How long ago did she say that?" asked Ash; he and Pikachu had been standing outside for a long time.

Brock checked the clock on the wall. "About an hour and a half ago, I'd say," he said. "Why?"

"Just wondering where she's gone, that's all," muttered Ash, draining his glass. "Have you noticed how weird she's been acting ever since we came here?" he asked, sitting down in an armchair.

Brock remained silent, preferring to drink his lemonade. When he'd finished it, he chose his words carefully. "I wouldn't necessarily say 'since we came here'," he said slowly. "She seemed normal when we walked through the main gates. But yes, I have noticed her acting a bit… differently."

"Well when did _you_ notice it?" asked Ash, taking off his cap.

"About the same time that Ari came and introduced us to Leoric," said Brock, shrugging his shoulders again. He looked at Ash curiously. "Why, does it matter that much to you?" he asked, smirking.

"No!" said Ash stubbornly. He ran a hand through his hair before he stood up and said, "I'm gonna use the computer. I might be able to find out some more about Ari and Leoric's Pokémon."

He walked over to the small computer in the corner of the lounge-room and sat down in front of it. Brock picked up a stool from the kitchen and joined him.

"Okay, Leoric, let's see what kind of Pokémon you've got," murmured Ash as he typed. He pulled up a search engine and asked for the Pokémon Conference campaign he'd entered last year. The computer bleeped, and a window popped up showing a picture of Leoric, and underneath the picture were the words "Mt. Silver Conference – Grand Champion".

"Grand Champion, no way!" said Ash in disbelief.

"Well at least take a look at the Pokémon he used in his finals match, Ash," said Brock. "That way you'll know what his main Pokémon are."

Ash looked at Brock, impressed. "That's a good idea," he said, turning back to the computer and typing commands furiously on the keyboard. The computer bleeped again, and a window appeared showing six Pokémon pictures. Ash and Brock saw Apache, Leoric's Salamence, a Tyranitar, a Swampert, and also a Magnezone, Yanmega and Gengar. Ash raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"He's got some pretty strong Pokémon in his possession," said Brock quietly, mirroring Ash's thoughts.

"Yeah, he does," said Ash, scrolling through Leoric's profile. "And look here, he's made it to at least the top eight in every Conference around; he won at Mt. Silver, he made the top four at the Indigo League, top four again at Ever Grande, and he made the quarter-finals in the Sinnoh League."

As he tried to find the link to show him Leoric's other Pokémon, a small icon appeared and started flashing in the corner of the computer screen. Ash and Brock looked at each other.

"What's that?" asked Ash, pointing at the icon.

"I think it's a video call," said Brock, furrowing his brow. "Click on it," he suggested.

"Alright," said Ash, clicking the icon with the cursor.

In seconds he was looking at an almost mirror image of his hotel room, except that instead of himself, he was looking at Ari, who was grinning widely at him. He waved at them and finished eating an ice-cream cone that he'd been holding before saying, "Hey guys, what you doing?"

"Just checking some things on the tournament," said Ash hastily, closing the window with Leoric's information on it.

_How did he know we were here?_ he thought. He was about to ask Ari that same question, but before the words had even formed in his mouth, he saw a movement on the side of the screen as Dawn came into view in Ari's hotel room. She was also eating an ice-cream, and she beamed as she saw Ash and Brock on the screen. "Hi!" she said, a little loudly, as her Piplup came on-screen and jumped up onto her hat with a squeak. "Sorry I didn't come right back after going outside, but I ran into Ari, and he invited me along to get something to eat, and, well… here I am!" She giggled, offering Piplup some of her ice-cream.

"Ah, so that explains it," said Brock, who also seemed to be thinking what Ash was. "Did you tell Ari what room we were in?" he asked Dawn knowingly.

"Yep," said Dawn lazily, sitting down next to Ari.

Ari glanced at her before smiling sheepishly and turning back to the screen. "Yeah, and since all the rooms here have computers, I just checked to see if your one was being used, and it was, so I figured I'd stop by and say hi. Oh, and let you know where Dawn was," he added.

"Thanks," muttered Ash. "So what have you two been doing?" he asked coolly.

Ari and Dawn looked briefly at one another. "Nothing much," said Dawn. "We met outside the hotel, and he asked me if I'd like to join him and get a bite to eat. So we went down to the shops and got some ice-creams, and we just talked. Then he invited me up to his room for a little while."

"Well, not just my room," said Ari hurriedly, sensing as possible misinterpretation. "Leoric's staying with me for the first week of the Championships."

"So have you checked the tournament ladder, Ash?" he asked.

"No, I haven't," said Ash honestly. He didn't know the ladder had even been drawn up yet. "Have you?" he asked Ari blankly.

"No, I prefer not to know who I'm facing until the day," said Ari. "It takes out all the little advantages you can get from looking at someone's Pokémon, and I find it makes the battle that much better."

There was a short silence following this, during which Dawn finished eating her ice-cream. Ash took advantage of this to ask Ari a question which had been on his mind for most of the day.

"Hey, Ari," said Ash cautiously. "Earlier today, when we saw Paul on the bridge, we all saw Leoric… sort of… go mental at him. He said it was _long unsettled business_, as if the two of them have some kind of bad history. What's the story behind that?" he asked hesitantly, worried that Ari would lose his temper at him.

Indeed, Ari's expression seemed to harden, just like it did on the bridge. With a worried look, Dawn put a soothing hand on his shoulder, and the shadows on his face faded quickly. He looked away, finally saying, "It's a bit of a long story."

"We've got plenty of time," Ash rallied. Admittedly, he thought he was pushing the issue, but at the same time he was eager to hear the reason for the Trainers' animosity.

"Well, Leoric didn't lose his temper at Paul for something that between the two of them," said Ari. "He… got angry at Paul because of something that happened… between Paul and me."

"Oh, so is that why Paul..?" said Dawn, trailing off at the end, not wanting to finish the sentence.

"Why Paul spat at me?" finished Ari. "Yeah, and he paid for that one, thanks to you," he said, grinning at Dawn, who smiled grimly.

Brock sat down next to Ash, his curiosity piqued, to hear more. "If it's between you and Paul, why was Leoric the one that tried to get back at him?" he asked.

"Because that's how Leoric is," said Ari simply. "He's pretty headstrong, and if something upsets him or gets him angry, you'd better believe that he's gonna let you know about it. He was just defending me, like I told Dawn after Paul left," he added with a meaningful look at Dawn.

"So what's the bad blood between you and Paul, then?" asked Ash bluntly. Dawn gave him an angry look, but Ari merely sighed, resigned to telling the tale.

"Well, he and I had a bit of a run-in about five or so years ago," he said. "I was still living in Ecruteak City at the time, and one day this guy and his little brother came through. Their names were Reggie and Paul. My mother let them stay in our backyard for about a week, y'know, to rest up and get supplies. She seemed to get along with Reggie, because he respected his Pokémon, and he was a kind and polite sort of person. But I never liked Paul from the moment I saw him. He was only a little kid, a year or two younger than me, but he just had this attitude, as though he didn't want to be associated with anything that could be seen as weak because it might make _him_ look weak to other people. He already had a couple of strong Pokémon with him, too, like that Torterra we saw today, and an Elekid. Poor Pokémon, they looked so angry, and for no reason. But I suppose that's how Paul had trained them to be…"

"Anyways, Paul didn't seem to like me either. He hated me on sight, just like I hated him, and he thought I was a weakling because I believed in compassion and friendship between a Trainer and his Pokémon, even though I was a bit older and more mature than him; no doubt a dislike he has for you too, Ash?" he asked.

"Yeah," answered Ash bitterly. "I'm not even sure he knows what compassion _means_," he muttered to himself.

"Yeah, well Paul and I had a few heated arguments over the subject, but both of us stuck to our beliefs, so they were pretty pointless," continued Ari. "But the day before he and Reggie left Ecruteak, I saw Paul grab a couple of his PokéBalls and run off into the forest behind my house. So I decided to follow him and find out what he was up to. So after about ten minutes of wandering around, I saw Paul in a clearing, and—"

Ash felt rooted to the spot, desperate to hear more. _What?_ he thought. _What?!_

"—I saw Paul and his Elekid torturing a Duskull," said Ari.

Ash swore loudly, Brock gasped in disbelief, and Dawn clapped her hands to her mouth. They knew that Paul was unkind; his display on the bridge today had proven that. But none of them had expected Paul to do something that extreme; it was almost inhuman.

"The next time I see him," seethed Ash. "I'm gonna tear him a new a—"

"Ash!" said Dawn, dismayed.

"Yeah be quiet," said Brock, through gritted teeth, trying to contain his anger. "I get the feeling that there's more, isn't there, Ari?"

"There is," said Ari, shifting in his chair. "Thanks for giving me the chance to continue," he said to Brock, who fell silent.

"So, I saw Paul and his Elekid, torturing this Duskull," he went on. "And I was as outraged as you guys are now; I didn't like him, but at the same time, I didn't think he was capable of something like that. I don't know what he was thinking – maybe he thought that a little pain would toughen it up – but it was still a cruel thing to do, whatever his reasons. So I ran into the clearing and punched Paul square in the face," he said, to which Dawn cheered and clapped Ari on the back, and Ash smiled vengefully. "Once he was on the ground and his Elekid had turned around to see what was going on, I ran over to the Duskull, scooped it up, and ran off with it."

"After a few seconds, Paul realised what I'd done, so he sent out his Torterra, climbed up on it and started chasing after me. I ran as fast as I could for what seemed like forever, until I ran right up to the mountain range behind Mt. Mortar. I looked around, but I couldn't go anywhere without being seen, and I could hear Paul's Torterra getting closer. So I hid the Duskull behind a large rock, and I waited. A few moments later, I saw his Torterra come into view, and then I saw Paul. He looked livid, but I could see something else there; he looked almost happy. Then I realised that he was happy that he'd finally gotten me alone, in the middle of nowhere, and he had the upper hand; he had his Pokémon. So then he said, 'Well, since I can't find that Duskull anywhere, I suppose I'll have to make to do with you'. And with that… he sent out his Elekid, and… decided he'd torture me instead," he said, as the colour drained from his face.

As he said those last words, there was a crack, the sound of breaking glass and a cry of "_Pikaa!_" as Ash looked down and saw fragments of glass jutting out from his fist. He'd been holding his glass of water when Ari had finished his story, and he'd gripped it so hard that it had broken under the pressure. Ash didn't feel any pain from it; he felt nothing but shock and rage. Torturing an innocent Pokémon was bad enough, but a fellow person? It was madness. He sat there, numb, barely registering the blood as it began flowing from his wounds.

Brock noticed the source of the sound before Dawn and Ari did, and he threw his hand in front of the computer screen to stop them seeing Ash's cut and bloody hand. He closed the window of the video call and led Ash over to the kitchen sink, Pikachu hopping onto the kitchen-top, looking at Ash's hand with a worried eye. Ash ran his hand under freezing cold water for several minutes, grimacing and grunting with pain as Brock carefully eased the glass shards out of his hand.

"Pikachu, get a roll of bandages out of my backpack," said Brock urgently, as he took out another piece of glass.

Pikachu ran over to the door, where Brock had dropped his backpack, and jumped back up to the kitchen-top several moments later with a rolled-up bandage between his teeth.

"Thanks, Pikachu," said Brock, removing the last shard from Ash's hand, as Ash hissed and banged his other hand on the sink. He took the bandage from Pikachu and wrapped Ash's hand in it gently, taking care not to cut off the circulation. Once they all seemed satisfied with the bandage, they returned to the computer, and Brock brought the video window back up. Ari and Dawn were still there; Ari looking puzzled, Dawn looking distraught.

"What happened?" squeaked Dawn. "We heard a crack, and then Brock closed the window, and it sounded like one of you hurt yourself…" She trailed off, her lips trembling.

Ash forced a smile and showed them his bandaged hand. Dawn gasped. "Nothing major," he said quickly. "Just a bit of an accident with a drinking glass, that's all. Brock fixed it right up, so nothing to worry about," he added, with another forced smile.

"So what happened after… that?" Ash asked Ari quietly, noticing Dawn still looking worriedly at his hand. He quickly hid it below the computer desk.

"Well," said Ari with a sigh. "It turned out that the Duskull I saved was one of Morty's Pokémon. He was really impressed that I'd manage to find it out in the wilderness without any Pokémon of my own. I didn't mention who I'd saved it from, or what the circumstances had been. Anyways, he gave me an egg that actually came from the Duskull that I'd rescued, and it ended up hatching into Horazon," he finished, somewhat lamely, but Ash saw the colour return to his cheeks as he mentioned his first Pokémon.

"I don't get it," said Brock, shaking his head. "If that happened so long ago, why didn't you take your revenge on him?"

"Oh, believe me, I wanted to," chuckled Ari. "I wanted to hunt him down, but not because of what had happened to me. I wanted to make him pay for using _Pokémon_ to do what he did to me. I don't blame his Pokémon; they were just obeying their Trainer. But ordering your Pokémon to do what they did, that's just sick."

"But why didn't you--?"

"Have my revenge? It wasn't worth it. _He_ wasn't worth it. Sure, Paul's a little piece of vermin that needs to be taught a lesson, but sooner or later he's gonna have to answer for his actions. Plus, I'm not going to sink to his level just to settle an old score. Although I must say, I will savour the day when I beat him in a battle with Horazon."

"Well, if you're not going for full-blooded vengeance, I'd say I'd be happy with that too," said Ash, as Pikachu sat in his lap, still watching his hand.

"Yeah, it would be nice," Ari joked. He glanced at his watch and let out a whistle. "Geez, is that the time?" he said. "It's nearly eleven! I'm gonna be heading off to bed soon."

"Really? That's a shame," said Brock. "But I suppose we should all get some rest too," he added, nodding at Ash, who looked down at his hand.

"Yeah, me especially," he said, raising his hand to make the point, before wincing and lowering it back down.

"That's probably a good idea," said Dawn seriously. She turned to Ari. "I should get back to my room," she said.

"Well, I hope you won't mind if I walk you there?" asked Ari politely.

Dawn blushed. "Of course not," she answered. "I'll see you three in about ten minutes, okay?" she said to Brock, Ash and Pikachu before turning off the video link.

The three of them sat around the computer silently for a while, until Brock stood up, turned off the computer, and said to Ash, "Well, I'm off to bed. Today's been a long day, and I get the feeling we're only just at the beginning, in more ways than one. Hope your hand's feeling better in the morning," he added with a small grin, clapping Ash on the shoulder before he walked off into his room.

"Thanks, Brock," said Ash, more to himself than anything. "Come on, Pikachu, we're going to need our sleep," he said, and he and Pikachu went to Ash's room.

Ash took off his jacket and fell back on his bed, staring at the ceiling, his thoughts running through his head faster than he could keep track. He thought of Leoric sending out his Salamence against Paul on the bridge, of Dawn slapping Paul in the face, of the way Ari and Paul glared at each other before Paul stalked off, and of the way Ari had looked when he told them of the story behind his and Paul's hatred of each other. He stayed awake for a long time, even after Dawn came back inside and went to sleep in her room, before he finally fell into a restless sleep.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Although Ari says that Mt. Mortar is **_**behind**_** Ecruteak City (i.e. north), geographically it is north-east.**

**Quiz:**

***Of the sixteen attack types that can be super-effective, what is one type that **_**none**_** of Leoric's six Pokémon have a weakness to?**


	5. The Morning Of The Day Before

**CHAPTER 5 – THE MORNING OF THE DAY BEFORE**

Ash awoke early the next morning in a cold sweat. He wasn't complaining though; his dreams last night had been filled with nameless faces and shadowy screams, something he wasn't used to encountering, and he was glad to be awake, and away from the worst of it. He stood up, being careful not to wake Pikachu and put on his jacket, hissing with pain as he bumped his hand against his side. He looked down at it and saw that the bandage was dark red. He slowly removed it and saw the jagged lines across his palm and fingers, blood reminders of the night before; they proved that what he had heard from Ari wasn't just another part of that strange dream. He shook his head, as if trying to rid himself of his memory of that conversation, telling himself to have Brock put on a fresh bandage when the latter woke up. He saw Pikachu beginning to stir, but instead of waiting for him to wake, he went into the kitchen. He looked over at the computer and saw that Brock must have woken up earlier and cleaned up the glass that hadn't lodged itself in his hand. Sure enough, Ash saw, Brock was sitting in an armchair in the lounge room, his head lolling to one side. As Ash approached him, Brock snapped awake and stood up, as though he had been caught out doing something illegal. He saw Ash, and nodded silently, his face expressionless as he sat back down in his armchair. A small noise made Ash jump and turn around, but it was only Pikachu, who had clumsily bumped into the kitchen door.

"_Pii pika…_" said Pikachu sleepily, rubbing its eyes as it trotted into the lounge room. _Morning… all…_

"Hey, buddy," said Ash cheerily, as Dawn appeared in the doorway of her room with a huge yawn.

"Morning," said Dawn, suppressing another yawn. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. "What time is it?" she asked Brock.

"It's a few minutes past 7," said Brock, checking his watch. "The opening ceremony doesn't start until 10:30," he said to Ash.

"All that time with not much to do," said Ash, clearly bored. "Hey Brock, I might need your help fixing up a new bandage, okay?" he added, showing him the bloody one on his hand.

"Of course," said Brock, reaching into his backpack. "I'll take a look at it now if you want."

"Yeah, thanks," Ash replied. He undid the bandage around his hand and showed it to Brock, who took it in his to have a look. Dawn looked at the cuts on his palm and screamed. Ash jumped then winced as the skin on his hand pushed up against Brock's.

"'_A bit of an accident with a drinking glass'_?!" said Dawn hysterically. "What did you do to your hand?!"

"Well, if you'll calm down, I'll tell you!" said Ash harshly. Dawn's expression crumbled and Ash cursed at himself for getting angry at her; after all, she hadn't seen his hand before now.

"Ah, I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "Look, before you and Ari called, I went and got a glass of water. When Ari told us all about what happened to him at Mt. Mortar, I was holding the glass, and I started gripping it too tightly, and it smashed. But it's just a few cuts, that's all," he said reassuringly.

Dawn still looked uneasy, so he shook off Brock's hand, trying not to show any pain in his face, and walked over to her. "It's nothing, really," he told her, moving his hand. "It doesn't hurt any more than if I'd have had it jammed in a door. Sure, it's uncomfortable, but nothing major, like I said last night."

"Well, as long as you think you're okay," said Dawn, unconvinced.

Ash went back to Brock, who re-applied the bandage. In truth, thought Ash, it really _didn't_ hurt that much, it was just uncomfortable. He felt a lot better after the bandage had been tied on securely, and he waved his hand around in the air, smiling and laughing. "Much better," he said, picking up Pikachu and placing him up on his shoulder. Pikachu smiled with joy, and Ash ruffled Pikachu's fur behind the ears.

Dawn seemed to have stopped worrying about the condition of Ash's hand, as she walked over with a smile of her own, and said, "Well, I'd better get ready for the opening ceremony! I don't want to go to a big event like that looking like this!" she said, pulling at her hair with her hands.

Ash looked down at himself and chuckled. "Yeah, I'd best be taking a shower before we head off, shouldn't I? Well, let's all get ready, then we'll head over to the stadium and see if you two can't get some good seats," he said to Brock, who nodded in agreement.

* * *

Three hours later, the 'Igloo' was packed to capacity; rows upon rows of fanatical spectators and fast-food vendors packed into the seemingly endless space in the stands. Brock and Dawn, having gotten here two hours earlier, were sitting in the front row, and as such had a breathtaking view of the main ground. The crowd gasped with awe and cheered with excitement as the many groups of dancers and performers showed the audience their fantastic routines; formations of percussionists beating their drums in harmony, dozens of costumed dancers in perfectly synchronised rhythm; and for the grand finale, a legion of Dragon Pokémon breathing fire into the shape of a giant PokéBall in the sky, while a lone musician played a haunting melody on the flute. When the last note faded, the crowd rose as one and applauded, cheered and roared their pleasure. As the musician bowed and left, a large podium was brought out and placed into the centre of the stadium.

Another round of applause began as the Championship's MC walked onto the ground, followed by a small group of aides and corporate sponsors. The applause and cheering continued until he reached the podium in the centre of the stadium, and raised his arms for quiet. The MC was a well-built man in his late forties, although his youthful face gave the impression that he was quite younger. He was immaculately dressed for the occasion in a lavishly expensive black suit and tie.

"Welcome to the 8th year of the World Pokémon Championships!" he said, his voice amplified a hundred times over the microphone, which was just as well, as the audience cheered and cheered. "It's so wonderful to see so many fans of Pokémon gathered here to watch some truly fiery battles!" he added, to another deafening cheer from the crowd.

One of his aides passed him a small white card, which he read to himself, before looking back at the crowd, his face alight. "And I have some good news! The crowd we have here today has just set a world record for the largest attendance at a Pokémon event! Over a hundred and fifty thousand spectators!" he roared, and the crowd seemed to explode with noise. The MC waited for several minutes until the crowd quietened down somewhat before he continued.

"Before the tournament actually begins, and we can finally see those battles that we have been anticipating, we should first show some courtesy and introduce those Trainers that are going to be entertaining and thrilling us with their Pokémon over the next two weeks! What do you say?" he asked the audience, which responded with more cheers.

So one by one, the MC called out the names of the Trainers participating, who came out through the side gates and took their place on the field in front of the podium. Each Trainer was greeted by various amounts of cheers, applause, laughs and, in some cases, boos.

Ash was waiting inside one of the tunnels leading to the gates, waiting for his name to be called out. Since he had only registered yesterday, he expected to be called out towards the end, and he expressed this to Pikachu, perched on his shoulder.

"_Pikapi?_" said Pikachu, his ear twitching. "_Pii pika…_" _I don't know how long it could be…_

"Yeah, I guess I ought to keep an ear out, just in case," muttered Ash, as Gary's name was called out.

As the minutes ticked by, more and more Trainers went through the tunnel. Ari and Leoric were called out, and as they walked onto the field, Ash could hear the roars that rose out of the crowd even from the tunnel. They were clearly very popular Trainers after their successes in the Singles and Tag Team Trophy last year. Ash also heard Paul's name called out, and he heard, with a savage pleasure, a chorus of boos and jeers rise from the crowds above his head.

_I hope I don't get that kind of reception_, he thought to himself, involuntarily raising a hand to pat Pikachu on the head. Eventually, after what seemed like an hour and a half, the MC's voice boomed into the tunnel, "Ash Ketchum, Pallet Town, Kanto region!"

"Well, here we go," he said to Pikachu, taking a deep breath and walking down the tunnel towards the field. As he emerged from the tunnel, he was surprised, but also pleased, to hear the crowd give a deafening cheer, and he looked behind him and saw Brock and Dawn clapping, whistling, pumping their fists and standing on their feet among a mass of screaming fans. He gave Brock the thumbs-up, and he returned the gesture, smiling widely. Ash's spirits soared, and as he made his way to the large group of Trainers in the centre, he raised his arms and waved, Pikachu waving with one hand while holding Ash's hat with the other. Once he reached the middle, Ari grabbed his shoulder and pulled him over to where he and Leoric were standing.

"Pretty intense, eh?" asked Leoric, grinning.

"Yeah," said Ash distractedly, looking at the stands in wonder. "I had no idea this tournament was so—"

"Popular?" finished Ari. "I know, Leoric and I thought the same thing the first time we came here too. It's pretty overwhelming."

"But don't let that get to you," warned Leoric. "This is how they weed out the less skilled Trainers. They get star-struck and they can't handle the crowds. If you want to advance through your matches, you're gonna have to forget that they're there."

"Right, I'll remember that," said Ash, nodding his head confidently and looking at Leoric with a fierce determination.

He, Ari and Leoric waited patiently as the MC called out the last dozen Trainers to the field. When the last had joined the rest in the centre of the stadium, the MC pulled out a makeshift starting pistol and fired a single shot, piercingly clear above the noise of the crowd.

"Let the tournament begin!" he roared.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***The process of calling the Trainers' names is adopted from the Olympic Games method of calling out countries.**

***If there were a thousand capacity Igloo crowds, the numbers would be roughly equivalent to the population of Japan, if not greater.**

**Quiz:**

***What is the name of the chairman of the Pokémon League Committee?**


	6. Preparing

**CHAPTER 6 – PREPARING**

Ash stood outside the main gate of the Igloo with Pikachu and Ari, waiting for Brock and Dawn. After the opening ceremony had ended, Leoric had said he needed to 'do some training with his Pokémon before his matches started', and so he had run off with the other Trainers once they had gotten outside the stadium.

While Ash shifted about impatiently, Ari simply stood and watched the other Trainers running off, a slight smile playing on his mouth. Ash looked at Ari in surprise. For someone who had endured such an experience in his childhood, how could he remain so positive? The longer Ash looked, the greater his respect for Ari deepened. Suddenly, Ari seemed to be aware of Ash's gaze, and he glanced over at him, his head cocked slightly to the side, as though he were watching an amusing television show.

"What?" he asked. "Is there something on my face?"

"No, no," said Ash hurriedly, although that was in fact the point; there was nothing, not even a hint of the ordeal on Ari's face. In fact, if Ari hadn't told him, Ash wouldn't have thought that anything had befallen him when he was younger.

"So now what happens?" he asked Ari.

"Well, the tournament essentially gets split into two groups," explained Ari. "And the winner of each division goes into the grand final, which takes place here at the Igloo. You need to get through the top sixteen to make it there, and to get _there_ you need to win a round-robin and a couple of six-on-six matches. But to even make it _that_ far, you first need to win your way through what's called the "Initiation"," he chuckled.

"What's this initiation for?" said Ash, confused.

"Oh, well it's the name we give for the first two rounds of the tournament," answered Ari. "In the first round, you get placed into a bracket of three Trainers. Each Trainer can use any three Pokémon, and each Trainer battles the other two, so you end up with three battles. Each Pokémon from a Trainer's team faces off against one from the opponent's team, so there are three one-on-one battles in each big battle. They give one point for every opponent's Pokémon you KO, and at the end, the two Trainers on the most points go through to the next round. That's the first round. Once the top two in each bracket have been decided, they have to battle each other again, only this time they have to knock out their opponent's full team of three, and that's the second round. It ends up knocking out two-thirds of all the Trainers participating, and that's why we call it the "Initiation", because only the seriously good Trainers go through to the next round."

"So it's like a round robin for the first round, and then you have to face one of the other two Trainers again in the next round?" said Ash, trying to remember it correctly.

"You hit the nail right on the head," said Ari cheerfully. "And if you make it through that, you've passed the initiation," he added with a laugh. He looked around wildly for a second or two.

"What's up?" inquired Ash.

"Where are Brock and Dawn? I thought they were gonna meet us here… isn't that what they told you?" Ari pondered, frowning.

"Yeah, that's what they told me," Ash repeated, looking around as well. "Maybe they're just having trouble getting through the crowd? They were sitting in the front row, after all."

"They were too!" exclaimed Ari, slapping his forehead. "Never mind, that must be it," he said joyfully.

He stopped looking around and dug his hands into his pockets. After a few moments, he muttered loudly, "So Ash, can I ask you something?"

Ash was slightly taken aback by the request. "Uh, yeah, sure, ask away," he said nervously, wondering what the question could possibly be.

Ari hesitated, running his hand over his chin, unsure how to properly put it into words.

"You, uh, you and Dawn," he started, shifting his feet. "Are you and her… y'know…?" he said, gesturing with his hands suggestively.

Ash took a second to realise what Ari was implying, and when he did, he shook his head so violently that Pikachu fell off his shoulder.

"No, no, no, nothing like that!" cried Ash, shaking his head and his hands vigorously. "We're just friends, nothing else!" he added, his voice high-pitched as Pikachu looked at him resentfully.

Ari nodded slowly. "Ah, all right," he said. "I was just wondering, y'know, because you seem fairly close, and she seemed pretty concerned last night when I was walking her back to her room, after, well, seeing your hand—"

"Hey, you should've seen her when she saw it without the bandage on," joked Ash, laughing. "She went nuts. I nearly jumped out my skin."

Ari's face split into a grin. "Sorry I missed it then," he laughed. "So are Dawn and Brock—?"

"Not even close," answered Ash with another laugh. "If you've been around Brock as long as I have, you'd know why."

"Ah, he can't be that bad, can he?" said Ari, grinning widely. Suddenly a pair of hands came from behind and clamped themselves down over his eyes.

"Guess who?!" said a female voice. Ash recognised Dawn's voice, and so did Ari, but he chose to play dumb.

"Umm… let me think about that for a moment," he said sarcastically. "Mum…?" he asked.

"Nope, guess again," said Dawn, giggling.

"No? Damn," said Ari, laughing and waving his hands through the air blindly. "This is a tough one…"

"Oh, just guess," said Ash, unable to stop himself from laughing along.

"Fine, ruin the fun then," exclaimed Ari, poking his tongue out. "I know it's you, Dawn," he added cheerfully, pulling her hands off his eyes and swinging her around.

"Good," said Dawn stubbornly. "I'd have to hit you if you didn't."

"I consider myself lucky then," Ari replied smartly.

"Where's Brock?" Ash asked her, glancing at the people passing by.

"He's coming, but I was a bit faster than he was," Dawn answered. "Oh, look, there he is!" she said, pointing at a small group of young girls from which Brock, at least a foot taller than them, was extracting himself. He ran over to them, out of breath and red in the face.

"I swear," he said, panting. "There were about a dozen of these girls who came chasing after me, right after you left, Dawn. It was the weirdest thing, I think they'd been following me since we left the stands, and they wouldn't leave me alone!"

Ash and Pikachu burst out with raucous laughter, rolling on the ground. Ari and Dawn saw the humour in it, but Dawn had stuck her hand over her mouth to conceal her laughter, and Ari grinned and patted Brock on the shoulder. "Ah, don't worry about it," he said, suppressing a chuckle of his own. "Pity they weren't a bit older, eh?" he added in an undertone to Brock, who smiled and let out a small laugh.

Once Ash had quieted down and regained his composure, he stood back up with Pikachu back on his shoulder and said, "Well I think I should take a leaf out of Leoric's book and actually get some training in! I don't want to have my Pokémon going into our first match unprepared!"

"Well, I'd say you should get some practice in over at the mountains," suggested Ari, jerking his thumb at the range to the north. "They're not a bad place to do some training."

"Cool, thanks for the tip," Ash said, giving a thumbs-up. "I'll just get some of my Pokémon from Professor Oak, and then I'll head up there."

* * *

"Okay, Pikachu, show me an Agility attack!" cried Ash.

Pikachu ran across the rocky ground with lightning speed, leaping up over rocks, logs, and other obstacles that Ash had placed around the mountainside. Pikachu was moving so fast that Ash was having trouble keeping his eyes on it.

"Good job, now use Iron Tail on that rock!" he commanded, pointing to a boulder several feet away from him.

Pikachu changed course in an instant, heading straight for the rock. A second before the collision, Pikachu spun around on its feet and jumped into the air. Hovering in mid-air for a split second, its tail began glowing white, and then Pikachu leapt down with tremendous force, sending its tail slamming into the boulder, which cracked and shattered with the sound of falling hail. Pikachu's tail stopped glowing, and it looked around to face Ash, who was clapping enthusiastically. Pikachu smiled proudly.

"Well done, buddy," Ash said. "I'd hate to be on the other end of one of those!"

"_Pii pii pikachu!_" said Pikachu excitedly, swinging its tail. _So would I!_

"Okay, now who next?" Ash asked himself, looking around. There was his Chimchar, swinging from a tree branch; Buizel, darting from rock to rock; Glalie, hovering close by, breathing ice crystals; and Staravia, perched on the outstretched arm of his Sceptile, who was picking at its teeth with a clawed finger. An idea sprang to Ash's mind.

"Staravia," he said, and Staravia flew off Sceptile's arm and began to circle above his head. "I want you to fly up into the air and dive at Buizel," he said, gesturing for Buizel to come closer. "Buizel, I want you to try and avoid Staravia hitting you. Oh, and Staravia," he added, "If you do hit Buizel, make it a soft hit, okay?"

"_Staaa!_" cried Staravia as it flew into position. _I suppose so. _

"_Buiii!_" said Buizel coolly. _Good luck, bird-brain. _Buizel began to move around on the ground, once again darting from rock to rock.

"Go!" shouted Ash, and Staravia began to nose-dive straight for Buizel with terrifying speed. Buizel jumped to another rock, but Staravia merely changed its course and headed straight for it. Just before the collision, Staravia shifted its wing slightly and clipped Buizel over the head with it as it flew back into the air for another dive.

"Buizel, try and predict what Staravia's going to do," encouraged Ash. "If Staravia moves where you move, then you need to move where it can't go!"

Buizel looked over and nodded. It looked up to the sky where Staravia was beginning to dive again. Buizel jumped to another rock, and again Staravia changed direction to where Buizel had jumped to. This time, however, Buizel twisted its feet, facing at a right angle to Staravia, and jumped straight into the air. Staravia wheeled up to hit Buizel again, but Buizel twisted its body in mid-air, and Staravia missed it by a hair.

"Good job, Buizel!" cheered Ash as Buizel landed on the ground safely.

"That was a pretty smart move by Buizel," commented Brock, who was sitting next to Dawn on a small ledge nearby. "It knew that Staravia had the advantage in the air, so it jumped up to try and level the field. When Staravia had to change course, Buizel got the time it needed to twist and dodge the attack. The best part of all is that Ash didn't even need to tell Buizel what to do, which means that the opposing Trainer won't be able to counter the attack with his Pokémon in a real battle," he added, impressed at the small Pokémon.

"Now I want you two to keep practicing that move," said Ash, focused on the progress of his Pokémon. "Staravia, you just keep diving at Buizel. Buizel, do whatever you can to dodge Staravia, alright?"

Staravia and Buizel nodded in agreement before continuing with their routine. A rustling sound in the bushes nearby startled Ash, and he sent his Sceptile to investigate the noise. Moments later, Sceptile reappeared, but joining it was Leoric, smiling but with a small cut across his cheek.

"Hey guys," he said, waving sheepishly. "How goes the training?"

"Good," said Ash suspiciously. "Were you watching us?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at Leoric.

"Well, yeah I was," said Leoric, quickly defeated. "But not for the reason you're probably thinking. I don't want an advantage over you; I was just about to ask if you wanted to join Ari and me for a little training session further along the mountains. But then I tripped and fell through a bramble bush," he added, indicating the cut on his cheek.

Brock and Dawn had come over to see what the commotion was. Upon seeing Leoric, Brock said, "Hey Leoric, fancy meeting you here! What are you doing?"

"I was just inviting the three of you to come along for a joint training session with me and Ari," explained Leoric. "Well, provided that you want to, of course."

"Of course we do!" said Dawn, grinning. Seeing the doubt and suspicion on Ash's face, she added fiercely, "Don't we, Ash?"

"Yeah, we do," said Ash slowly.

Leoric seemed not to have noticed, and he rubbed his hands together. "Alright then, come with me!" he said excitedly, weaving his way through the bushes he'd come from. Ash and Dawn exchanged glances before he recalled his Pokémon, and then they and Brock followed Leoric through the undergrowth.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Brock's run-in with the gaggle of small girls is a reverse on his constant attempts at older girls.**

**Quiz:**

***Which generation of Pokémon is **_**not**_** present in Ash's team while he is training at the mountains?**


	7. Sweat Session

**CHAPTER 7 – SWEAT SESSION**

Leoric led the group through a winding path of tall grass, low-lying trees and logs. Twice on the way, Brock stuck his foot in a rotting piece of wood, and had to be pulled out of it by Ash and Leoric. After walking through the mountains for about half an hour, Leoric seemed to speed up, sprinting up ahead a steep path in the mountainside. Ash followed as quickly as he could, to where he saw Leoric standing at the mouth of a large tunnel, hidden from view by a cluster of trees.

_Ingenious_, he thought. _If Leoric hadn't run up here, I'd never have known this tunnel even existed. I wonder where it goes_.

He turned around and saw Brock and Dawn struggling up the mountainside, so he went back down to help them climb the last few steps. When the three of them caught up to Leoric at the tunnel entrance, he winked at them knowingly and strolled inside.

Ash picked up a large piece of wood. "Go, Chimchar," he muttered, as he tossed a PokéBall on the ground. "Chimchar, use Ember on this piece of wood," he said, as the Monkey Pokémon came out of its ball. In moments the wood was aflame, and Ash used this as a torch to guide him through the tunnel. Brock, Dawn, Pikachu and Chimchar followed close behind him, using Chimchar's tail-flame as a light.

"This tunnel has been here a long time," Leoric called over his shoulder. He seemed to know his way through the tunnel without the need of a light. "They say a bunch of Dugtrio carved it out decades ago to escape."

"Escape from what?" asked Dawn, frightened.

"There's a natural hot spring up ahead," said Leoric as he walked. "A short way out to sea is a small underwater volcano, and one of the magma pockets had settled underneath this mountain range. It heated up a water-filled cave, and as the water level rose, the Dugtrio apparently panicked and dug their way out. Thankfully, the volcano collapsed about ten years ago, so there's no risk of getting swallowed by an eruption. But the magma pocket still keeps the water nice and hot," he said with a wry smile.

As he led them further through the tunnel, Ash felt the air slowly grow hotter. Within minutes he was already sweating, and as he looked back, he saw that Brock and Dawn were as well. He looked ahead and shouted to Leoric, "How much longer is this tunnel?!"

"Only a minute or two more," was the answer. "You'll be thankful in a minute; all the air gets trapped in here and it can't escape, so it's actually more humid in here than it is at the hot spring."

And sure enough, a minute or two later, Ash felt the air become less moist, and he stepped out from the tunnel. As the others caught up with him, he stared around and took in his surroundings. He was standing at the edge of a large basin, filled about four feet high with steaming water. The sides of the basin rose steeply into walls, forming a bowl-like structure, before the walls cut off suddenly, and they could see the afternoon sky, bright blue with a tinge of yellow. The hot spring reminded Ash strongly of Sootopolis City; the shapes of the two were almost identical. However, in the middle of the hot spring, instead of a Pokémon Gym, there was an enormous platform made of bamboo. And on top of the platform were a lone Trainer and two or three large Pokémon. Ash tried to make out the shapes more clearly, but the steam and fog were obscuring his vision. As he stepped closer to get a better look, he was knocked back as something red, yellow, and huge, went flying past him. He craned his neck to see what it was, but it had already faded into the steam.

"What the heck was that?!" he asked Leoric wildly. He smirked. "What's so funny?!" Ash asked angrily.

"I think you just met another of Ari's Pokémon," he said. "Come on, let me help you up," he suggested, throwing his hand out. Ash grabbed it and pulled himself up. "Be thankful you didn't hit the water," Leoric remarked, moving towards the platform. Dawn followed behind him closely, and Brock, after giving Ash a sympathetic look, went after her. Ash followed him cautiously, looking around wildly, expecting to be attacked by the large red creature again. However, it didn't return, and Ash made it to the platform unscathed.

He looked around at the others gathered on the platform with him. Brock and Dawn were standing just off to the left, whereas Leoric was ahead and to the right, and he was throwing a PokéBall into the air. Apache, Leoric's Salamence, burst out of the ball in a flash of light and began circling overhead. As he looked further, he saw an Electivire holding a pair of bamboo swords and a large green and white Pokémon fighting it, with what appeared to be swords attached to its arms. Ash pulled out his Pokédex for this Pokémon.

_Gallade, the Blade Pokémon, a final evolutionary form of Ralts and Kirlia, _it beeped._ Gallade can only be male in gender, as only a male Kirlia will react to the energy waves emitted by Dawn Stones, causing it to evolve. A master of courtesy and swordsmanship, Gallade fight using the extendable sword-like appendages on its arms, located at the elbow._

Ash grunted in admiration as he saw the way that Gallade effortlessly parried the crushing blows coming from Electivire. They danced back and forth, each one thrusting, jabbing and blocking as they tried to gain the advantage over the other. Standing behind the two Pokémon, however, and keeping a watchful eye on the two sparring Pokémon was Ari, the Trainer that Ash had seen from the end of the tunnel.

"Hey guys!" he called out as his Pokémon moved back and forth on the platform.

Ash wasn't surprised to see Ari here; after all, Leoric had invited him to join a session with him and Ari, and the large red creature that had knocked Ash over was, supposedly, one of Ari's Pokémon. But he was, however, surprised to hear Dawn call out and run over to him. Ari talked to the two Pokémon briefly, and they stopped their fight, as Ash sidled closer, and as Dawn jogged the last few steps over to him.

"Hi," she said breathlessly, looking at the two Pokémon, who both bowed to her before walking away. Dawn giggled. "That's cute," she said, looking at Ari.

"Well, like I said about Horazon, they get it from being around me too long," he joked. "But I teach them to be respectful to other Trainers, of course. Especially women," he added, with a meaningful glance at Dawn, who blushed and gaped at him.

"So they're your Pokémon?" she said, clearly impressed. "Wow, they must be pretty tough."

"They're two of my best," said Ari casually. "My Electivire, Rakanishu, and my Gallade, Galadriel."

"Nice names," muttered Ash sarcastically. Pikachu looked at him reproachfully before tugging on the leg of his pants, trying vainly to move him away from Dawn and Ari.

"Oh, alright, Pikachu," he said bitterly, and he walked back over to Brock and Leoric, leaving Dawn and Ari to their privacy.

"I suppose we should let out our Pokémon if we're going to be training them," he said conversationally to Leoric. In truth, he wanted to see the Pokémon Leoric carried around with him, for they were likely to be the strongest ones he had, and the ones he'd use in battle.

"I was thinking the same thing," said Leoric. He pulled two PokéBalls from his waist. "Come on out, Anubis, Tyrael!"

There were two flashes of light as two more Pokémon came out of Leoric's PokéBalls; a stubby purple Pokémon Ash recognised as a Gengar, and a large green armoured dinosaur he knew to be a Tyranitar. Ash was impressed; Leoric clearly knew how to raise his Pokémon.

"Ash," said Leoric, as his Pokémon came closer. "This is Anubis," he pointed at Gengar, who nodded, and "Tyrael," he said, waving his hand at Tyranitar, who gave a friendly roar.

"Nice Pokémon," said Ash nervously, but before he could say more, Brock came across to where they were standing.

"These Pokémon of yours look really strong and healthy!" he commented, looking from Gengar to Tyranitar and back.

"Thanks," said Leoric, embarrassed.

"D'you mind if I take a closer look at them?" asked Brock earnestly.

"Umm, yeah sure, knock yourself out," said Leoric, not bothering to hide the surprise in his voice. As Brock began to examine a nervous Gengar, he looked at Ash and pointed to Brock, as if to say '_is this guy for real?_'

"Brock wants to be a Pokémon breeder," said Ash simply. "He wants to study everything there is to know about Pokémon, and I suppose that includes, well… that," he added, looking at Brock, who was now measuring the size of the spikes on Gengar's back.

"Hey Ash!" came a voice behind him, and Ash spun round. Ari was pulling a PokéBall out from his waist, and he seemed eager for something. "How about this?" he said excitedly. "I send out one Pokémon, you send out one, and all you have to do is have your Pokémon land a hit on mine. Sort of like a game of tag, if you will. What do you say?" he offered.

"Sure!" said Ash.

_This sounds easy_, he thought. _Too easy_, said a voice in the back of his head. He pushed it out of his mind, ignoring it as Ari threw his PokéBall into the air.

"Go, Colenzo!" he cried.

The ball opened in a flash of light, and out of the light came the creature that Ash had seen flying past him as he came into the hot springs. It had a red and yellow pattern of flames striped across its body, and a crown of flames atop its head. It had short black legs, and its arms were long, narrow and yellow, each of which ended in three sharp claws. Ash pointed his Pokédex at the Pokémon curiously.

_Magmortar, the Blast Pokémon, the final evolutionary stage of Magby and Magmar,_ it said, flashing a picture of the Pokémon on its small screen. _Magmortar are naturally found living in volcanic craters, and are capable of shooting fireballs of over 3600°F._

_Shooting fireballs? Doesn't it mean _breathing_ fireballs?_ thought Ash. He shook this thought out of his head as he took a PokéBall off of his belt and shouted, "Let's go, Buizel!"

Ash's Buizel jumped onto the platform and faced Ari's Magmortar. The two began to circle each other slowly, their eyes never leaving the other.

"Remember Ash, all you have to do is hit Colenzo," teased Ari. He looked over at Dawn. "You might want to stand over with Brock and Leoric," he suggested, smiling charmingly. She nodded, returning the smile before she joined the two at the side of the platform.

"What's going on?" she asked Leoric as she stood next to him.

Leoric smirked as he recalled his Pokémon back to their PokéBalls. "He's going to have some fun with Ash," he said, with a barking laugh. "He tried to do the same thing with me a while ago. I'll admit… it's a masterstroke. You'll see."

Dawn was more confused than she was when she asked him, but she looked on at the two Pokémon.

"What about you?" she asked Brock out of the corner of her mouth. "Do you know what's going to happen?"

"No," said Brock impassively. "I know about as much as you do, Dawn. I know that Magmortar are slow Pokémon, much slower than Buizel; I know that Buizel has a type advantage. Otherwise, I'm in the dark as to what Ari might have up his sleeve."

"Well, come on," said Ari mockingly. A nerve twitched in Ash's head.

"Buizel, Water Gun!" said Ash, and Buizel shot a jet of water from its mouth, aimed at Magmortar.

"Colenzo, cancel it out," said Ari.

"_Maaaagg!_" grunted Magmortar as it raised its right arm. The claws retracted into its arm, and it shot a fireball out of the arm which was now a cannon. Buizel's Water Gun and Magmortar's fireball collided in mid-air and disappeared in a cloud of steam.

Ash was surprised. So Magmortar really did _shoot_ fireballs. He knew that he couldn't have Buizel use Water Gun again; Magmortar would just shoot another fireball. But he was struck with an idea.

"Buizel, use Aqua Jet!" he cried, and Buizel leapt forward, running towards Magmortar and surrounding itself in a spray of water.

Ari smirked. Ash looked at Ari and instantly felt uneasy. Ari looked like he had been waiting for this.

"Colenzo, evade!" he yelled.

Magmortar retracted the claws in its other arm, so that now they were both cannons. As Buizel drew closer, it positioned one arm facing right, and the other facing down. Just when it seemed as though Buizel would hit its mark, Magmortar shot out a blast of super-hot air from both its arms, the force of which sent it flying to the left, avoiding Buizel's charge. As Buizel slowed to a halt and looked around for its target, Magmortar touched down lightly on the platform several feet away, unscathed. Ash, Brock and Dawn all gasped in shock.

"And _that_ is a masterstroke," said Leoric, crossing his arms with a laugh.

Brock seemed to understand more than Dawn did, so he explained it to her. "Ari compensated for Magmortar's bulky frame and slow moving speed. He had his Magmortar use those arm-cannons as jet engines to 'boost' itself away from incoming attacks!"

"That's pretty ingenious," murmured Dawn. "But it's bad news for Ash."

Ash stood there, paralysed. He had never expected this. How could he hit something that could move like that? His Buizel's water attacks were useless; the fireballs would make sure of that. And he couldn't do a direct charge, because Magmortar would just 'boost' itself to the side again. He had to think of a different strategy, and quickly!

"Buizel, Water Gun! Aim for the left side!" he said, and Buizel shot a Water Gun at Magmortar's left arm.

"Now, use Water Gun again! Go for the right arm!" he yelled, and Buizel quickly sent another Water Gun flying at Magmortar.

"Buizel, one more Water Gun! Aim for the stomach!" he shouted, and Buizel shot a third Water Gun at Magmortar, aimed squarely at its mid-section.

"Colenzo," said Ari, throwing his arm out dramatically. "Boost up!"

Magmortar pointed its arms at the ground and sent out another blast of hot air, sending it flying into the air, and over the Water Guns, which hit the wall of the got spring harmlessly. It landed back on the platform with an almighty thud, shaking the bamboo which made it.

"How can Ash land a hit on a Pokémon that can do that?" cried Dawn.

At the same time, Ash was radically trying to think of a way to do just that. Ari seemed to have all the angles covered; a ranged attack, a physical attack, everything. But as he began to sink into despair, a desperate idea came into his mind.

"Buizel, use Aqua Jet!" he cried, and, like before, Buizel made its water-surrounded charge at Ari's Magmortar.

"This again?" said Ari, clearly amused. "Alright then, if you insist. Colenzo, boost left again."

Magmortar positioned its arms again, ready to fly away as Buizel got closer. Ash watched with intense concentration, knowing he would only get the one chance for a successful hit, and he waited as long as he dared, trying to pick the right moment.

The moment came as Buizel came within ten feet of Magmortar. Magmortar began boosting to the side again, and Buizel was continuing in its path, now headed for the stretch of wall at the edge of the platform.

"Buizel, Water Gun, aim right!" Ash called.

Ari's eyes widened with surprise. "What?!" he shouted.

Buizel spun on its feet, just like it had done so many times earlier in the day when it was facing Ash's diving Staravia. It shot a Water Gun at Magmortar who, still using its arms as boosters, was unable to shoot a fireball to stop the jet of water, which hit it square in the chest.

Ash shouted in triumph as Dawn and Brock clapped and cheered. Leoric was surprised, but at the same time silently impressed with Ash's unorthodox approach. Ari stared in utter disbelief. After several seconds, he recalled his Magmortar to its PokéBall, muttering, "Well done, Colenzo," before placing the ball back on his belt. Then he did something Ash saw as totally unexpected; he gave Ash a round of applause, and flashed a smile at him.

"Well done, Ash," he said confidently. "I never expected you to be able to hit Colenzo, I admit it. But I underestimated you, and that was my downfall. Your battle tactics are quite brilliant."

"Hey, so are yours," he said, walking to the centre of the platform to meet his Buizel. "I thought I was never going to hit your Magmortar, the way it moved like that!"

"Well, that's something the pair of us have been perfecting over the last year or so," Ari explained as he walked towards Ash, who had picked up his Buizel and put it in his arms. "But, the way you managed to land that Water Gun on Colenzo shows that we still have a lot of work to do."

He stopped in the middle of the platform, a couple of feet away from Ash. He extended his hand out to Ash. Ash looked at Ari, smiled, and shook his hand strongly. Ari smiled back, and nodded at Buizel, who clapped its hands together in joy. As their hands separated, Ari noticed the cuts on his fingers and palm, but chose to say nothing; there was no need to bring the matter up. He clapped Ash on the back and said, "Good job," before returning with him to Brock, Leoric and Dawn.

"Great work, Ash!" exclaimed Brock.

"Way to go!" encouraged Dawn, smiling.

"Thanks, you guys," said Ash, grinning widely. He looked at Leoric. He nodded at him and gave a small smile.

"Nice job you did there," he remarked. "I did things a bit differently when he tried that with me, but we both pulled up trumps in the end, didn't we?"

"If you say so," said Ash. "If it's not too much trouble, do you think we could go outside and get some fresh air? If I stay here any longer, I'm gonna turn into a prune!" he said, smiling at Pikachu.

"I don't see why not," said Ari with a chuckle as he tossed his hair back. "I think we've been here long enough to do us all more than enough good."

So the group of six made their way back through the tunnel, emerging out into the mountainside several minutes later. It was already late afternoon, and the sun could be seen trying to slowly edge its way towards the horizon.

"I think I'm gonna head back to the hotel," Ash decided after a moment of silence. "I need to calm myself down after that battle," he added, smirking at Ari.

"Well, I might as well come with you, then," said Brock, walking over to join him. "I feel like eating something home-cooked tonight, and if we hurry back, I can whip something up before night-time."

"Excellent!" exclaimed Ash, already salivating over the prospect of Brock's cooking. "How about you, Dawn?" he asked suddenly, looking over at her.

She hesitated, bit her lip, and moved over towards Ari. "I… I think I'm gonna give dinner with you guys a miss tonight," she said tentatively. "Ari invited me to—"

"Say no more," said Ash calmly. "Well, we'll see you, when, later tonight?"

"Yeah, no later than ten, I presume?" she answered, glancing at Ari.

"Sounds right," he chuckled. "I promise she'll be back in her hotel room by the time the clock strikes ten."

"Make sure you do," said Ash sarcastically. "Who knows what Dawn could get up to if she's left to her own devices?" he added, laughing at the expression on Dawn's face as he said it.

"I'll come back down with you two, but y'know, I'm sure I wouldn't be welcome as a dinner guest," commented Leoric.

"Nonsense, you're more than welcome; in fact, you're invited!" said Brock ceremoniously.

"Well in that case, I might as well go with you," said Leoric cheerily, and so Ash, he and Brock made their way back down the mountainside towards the string of hotels on the western coast, leaving Ari and Dawn together outside the tunnel.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Colenzo and Rakanishu – the nicknames for Magmortar and Electivire respectively – are taken from the names of Fallen bosses in Diablo II. Colenzo is a Warped Shaman in Act V, whilst Rakanishu is a Lightning-Enchanted Carver in Act I.**

***Gallade's nickname Galadriel is a fun little play of mine: Galadriel is the name of the female elf from the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, and I originally mistook Galadriel to be **_**Gabriel**_**, the name of one of God's archangels. But in hindsight, I think it's pretty quirky to have a male-only Pokémon named after a female character.**

***Anubis – Leoric's Gengar – is the name of the Egyptian god of mummification and embalming (Cheers to Blake Wilson for the correction!)**

***Leoric's Tyranitar is named after another archangel, Tyrael.**

**Quiz:**

***3600 degrees Fahrenheit is (to the nearest hundred) how many degrees Celsius?**


	8. Sunset Secrets

**CHAPTER 8 – SUNSET SECRETS**

The sun was beginning to sink below the ocean on the western horizon as Dawn and Ari walked through the streets of Ayers Island. The restaurants and cafés weren't open for another hour or so, and the shops and stalls had closed for the day, so the streets were practically deserted. Dawn liked it better this way; she enjoyed the quiet peace of the place, and Ari wasn't bad company, she thought to herself. Ari wouldn't have cared if the streets were empty or filled to the point of bursting; he was enjoying Dawn's company far too much to have taken much notice of anyone, whether he knew them or not.

They walked down the main street, past the bridge to the Igloo, and Ari led the two of them over to a small, out-of-the-way plaza, which was empty as far as they could tell. There was a small water fountain set in the middle of a group of tables, so they decided to sit along the edge of the stones that made the rim. As Ari sat down next to Dawn, he could see that there was something on her mind; her arms were folded in her lap, her brow was slightly burrowed, and she didn't seem to have the same exuberance that she displayed at the hot springs earlier that day. He pretended to be interested in the seam of his jeans for a minute or so, but seeing that Dawn appeared to be doing the same with her skirt, he decided to find out what the problem was.

"Dawn?" he murmured.

"Yeah?" she asked him softly, still looking at her skirt.

"What's the matter?"

She looked up; not at him, but over to a table at the edge of the plaza, where a Pidgey and a Starly were fighting over a piece of bread. She watched the two bird Pokémon until the Starly yanked the piece of bread away from the Pidgey and flew away with it, leaving the Pidgey to forage around for more food.

"Nothing's the matter," she said quietly, looking back down at her skirt.

"Come on, Dawn," pushed Ari. "I know that we've only known each other for a day, but I can tell that there's something on your mind. Whatever it is that's troubling you, you can tell me about it. You know that, right?"

Dawn pursed her lip, about to say something, but she licked her lips and simply nodded. Ari stood up from his seat on the fountain and kneeled so that he was right in front of Dawn, looking up at her clear blue eyes.

"So what's wrong?" he asked her, barely louder than a whisper.

Dawn bowed her head, and Ari lost sight of her face momentarily. When she raised her head, her eyes were no longer clear, but clouded and filled with tears. Ari thought she was on the verge of crying, but he noticed that her lips weren't trembling, rather that they were in a firm, set line. A thought came to Ari's head, but he pushed it away as he looked in Dawn's eyes. He held her gaze for a long time before she blinked and Ari saw a single tear began to fall down her cheek. He absent-mindedly raised his hand and brushed it off gently with his finger.

"Hey, if you don't want to say what it is, I totally understand that," he said, softly as ever. "I'm not gonna try and force some big confession out of you, okay?" He gave her a warm smile. Her mouth curved up for a fraction of a second before reverting to the same firm line it had been. The thought that Ari had had moments before came back to him, stronger than before, but again he pushed it away.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked Dawn helplessly, sitting back up next to her. He sat closer to her than he did before; there wasn't enough room between their hips for him to put his hand. Dawn thought about his question for a while, and as she did, Ari thought, by some trick of the light, she seemed to be swaying, tilting, leaning over; first one way, then the other, several times, before she was still. Finally, she took a deep breath and looked at the ground.

"Yeah, there is something you can do," she said, so quietly that Ari could barely hear her, although there was no noise in the plaza. "But you have to promise me that you'll do what it is before I tell you," she told him in a terrified whisper.

Ari exhaled a deep breath and looked around the plaza. The only other signs of life were leaves falling from trees, and the lone Pidgey scavenging for food across the street. Then he nodded slowly and turned back to her.

"Alright," he said finally, patting his leg with his hand. "I'll do it, whatever it is I can do to help. Just tell me what I have to do, and I'll do it. I promise," he added.

Dawn turned and looked Ari full in the face. Her tears were gone; her face showed no trace of sadness, only the fading shadows of fear. Her mouth was still set in a firm line, and for the third time, a thought occurred to Ari. He wrestled with it in his mind, and he managed to push it away, but he knew that if he thought about it again, he wouldn't be able to get rid of it. So he focused on her eyes; the eyes that had been so clear, then so clouded, and now so clear again; her eyes that seemed to shimmer at him in the glare of the sunset, as blue as the ocean he could see over her shoulder, as a slight breeze swept through the streets and the plaza, pushing the fallen leaves off the ground and along the pavements.

Dawn closed her eyes, and in the moment that she did, Ari knew what she was going to ask him to do. When she opened them again, he saw determination in them, a fiery red flickering across the blue. She looked at him for what seemed to both of them to be an eternity… Then she slowly opened her mouth, and her lips formed the two words that she had been dying to say.

"Kiss me," she whispered, and her voice was like the rustling of the leaves on the street behind her, which now seemed so far away.

Ari showed no outward sign, but the thought that he had fought off for so long that afternoon returned to him for the fourth time: _kiss her_. He had known that he wouldn't be able to fight it this time, and he had known that it would be pointless to try. So he inched his head forwards, ever so slowly, towards Dawn's. He was so close to her now that he could feel her breath on his mouth. He moved the last few centimetres forward, closed his eyes, and gently brushed her lips with his.

He moved away ever so slightly, and opened his eyes. Dawn's eyes were closed, but as he looked she opened them again, and he saw that the red flicker in her eyes was the shadow of an inferno, clearer and stronger than it was before. Dawn looked into Ari's eyes, and she saw the same thing in his, because as he raised his hand to cradle the side of her head, she did the same to him with her hand, and they kissed each other again, more forcefully than the first.

They kissed again and again, each more passionately than the last, and when they finally broke apart, the last golden rays of the sun were winking up at them from the horizon. Ari looked at the sunset, then smiled and laughed. Dawn turned and looked, but didn't seem to get the joke.

"What's so funny?" she asked him, leaning back into his chest as they stared.

"I just realised," he said quietly. "I'm watching Dawn and Dusk at the same time."

Dawn giggled. "Yes, I imagine that's quite a rare event," she said, her arms in his.

"Yes, it is," he murmured. "And the weirdest thing is that Dawn's even more beautiful at dusk…"

"Oh stop it, you," she said, blushing deeply. She punched him softly in the chest. Ari seemed not to notice as he watched the sun slip below the ocean.

"You know, you never got around to telling me what was wrong with you," he said, looking down at her lying on him.

Dawn looked up at his eyes. "You _know_ what was wrong with me," she replied softly. "You," she mouthed.

"Me?" Ari looked pleasantly surprised. "How could _I_ be what's wrong with you?" he asked, incredulous.

"How could you not be? Even _you_ must have noticed how I was looking at you, even when I first met you, with Ash and Brock and Leoric. Then all those other times, like how I ran to you at the hot springs… You _must _have known that I'm crazy about you," she confessed, placing particular emphasis on the last four words.

"Well…" said Ari unconvincingly. "I had my suspicions, but I didn't want to try anything in case I got it wrong. Sorry if I put you through a bit of trouble because of it," he added sadly.

A frown crossed Dawn's face for a moment as she said, "Well, that was why I was upset when we sat down here. I had—and I still have—such strong feelings for you, but I was terrified that you didn't feel the same way about me."

"Which is the same as what was going on with me, except, well, I had an idea that you might like me, but I wanted to be sure," Ari said, running a hand through Dawn's dark blue hair. He pulled her hat back towards the top of her head and kissed her on the forehead, and they sat there in the empty plaza by the fountain, listening to the sounds of the splashing water, watching the sky fade into night and the stars come out one by one.

* * *

**Quiz:**

***In which three mainstream Pokémon games can **_**neither**_** of the two bird Pokémon mentioned in this chapter be **_**caught**_** early in the game?**


	9. Let The Games Begin Early

**CHAPTER 9 – LET THE GAMES BEGIN EARLY**

It was nine o'clock at night, and Ash, Brock, Pikachu and Leoric, having eaten through second helpings of Brock's French onion soup, were sitting around the television in the lounge room. The reporters on the show that they were watching were announcing the victors of the first-round matches that had already taken place; a small counter was superimposed in the top-right hand corner of the screen, counting down slowly as news of eliminated Trainers came through. The counter had started at 1152, but now it had wound down to a little over 900. As they listened, a flashing sidebar on the television told them that when the counter hit 768, the second round would begin.

As Ash's mind slipped in and out of focus, the mention of his name by one of the reporters brought him back to his senses. The four of them craned in to hear. It appeared to be a special on him.

"—Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town in the Kanto region," said a female reporter. She glanced down at a sheaf of papers in front of her as she continued, "Our sources tell us that he has qualified in, at least, the top sixteen at every Pokémon League Conference he has participated in; he has also been victorious in the Orange Islands Champion match at Pummelo Island, and—" she put her hand to her ear, "—we've had confirmation from the creator of the Battle Frontier, Scott, that he was offered the position of Frontier Brain after successfully defeating the seven Frontier Brains scattered throughout Kanto. Definitely one to watch out for in the Singles, wouldn't you say, Derek?" she asked the anchorman to her right.

"Yes, indeed, this Ketchum might be one of the dark horses of the Singles Division," Derek said formally, turning to face the camera. "Pallet Town is, of course, the town of residence for world-acclaimed Pokémon Professor, Samuel Oak. Rumour has it that Professor Oak has a personal relationship with the Ketchum family and, knowing the calibre of Trainers that arise from Oak's care, Ash could be turn out to be a surprising Trainer throughout the course of the tournament. Also," he said, ruffling his papers, "Several Pokémon Trainers have seen him, over the past two days, in the company of Ari DeVarro and Leoric Reiger, whom we all remember as last year's victors in the Tag Team Trophy, and also high-finishing contestants in the Singles Division, isn't that right?"

"Yes, that's right, Derek," said the female reporter. "And if Ash has learned some extra pointers from these experienced Trainers, he'll definitely have an edge over the competition, don't you agree?"

"Absolutely," said Derek with a nod. He continued, "We've also had several references—" he held up a small stack of stamped envelopes, "from various Gym Leaders throughout the Johto, Hoenn, Kanto and Sinnoh regions, nearly all of which commend Ash on his "unique style of battle" and "unorthodox, yet effective, battle tactics". He will no doubt be an exciting personality, Jeanne?"

"I daresay he will be, Derek," said Jeanne, her eyes sparkling. "And remember, fans, Ash's first-round matches of the tournament are: tomorrow morning, ten o'clock, at Stadium 28; and again at three o'clock, Stadium 13. That's 10 o'clock, Stadium 28, and 3 o'clock, Stadium 13. And that's all for 'Trainer Spotlight', stay tuned," she finished as the show cut to a commercial.

"Congratulations, Ash," said Leoric, clapping. "You're officially a celebrity." He laughed good-heartedly.

Ash stared at the television screen for several moments, taking it all in. "Well," he finally said, scratching his head. "That certainly was, uh, refreshing…"

"Well, that little spiel might help your chances," said Brock, nodding. "When your opponents see that and hear about all your achievements, they're bound to get nervous."

"Yeah, this is a good thing!" said Ash, thumping his fist on the arm of his armchair.

"Just make sure _you_ don't get nervous," said Leoric warningly. "Remember what I told you at the opening ceremony: the crowd is gonna spook you out at first, but you have to block it all out."

"Right," said Ash, calming himself down. There came a knock at the door, and Ash hurried over to open it.

"Hi, Dawn!" he said cheerfully. "Ari," he added, noticing Ari standing next to her. "Come in," he offered, waving his hand inside the room.

As they came through the doorway, Ash noticed that there was something different about the pair of them. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but they seemed to look flushed in the face, he thought, but then again, they might have run over here to talk about his television appearance.

_No, that can't be it, it has to be something else_, he thought. But try as he might to think of what it was, he couldn't put his finger on it. So he shrugged and closed the door as he joined them, walking into the lounge room.

Brock and Leoric had been talking to each other on the lounge, and seeing Ari, Dawn and Ash, broke off suddenly. They looked at Dawn and Ari, then at each other. Ash knew that they had seen what he'd been trying to, because they stood up and sat down on two of the armchairs nearby, shooting covert glances at each other and Ari. As he sat down on the third armchair with Pikachu next to his head, Ari and Dawn took the lounge where Brock and Leoric had been moments before, Ari sitting on Dawn's left. There was a short, yet awkward silence before Leoric tried to break the ice.

"Did either of you two see what was on the T.V just now?" he asked Ari and Dawn sleepily, his head resting against his hand, his elbow on the arm of the chair.

"Nope," said Dawn. "What was on?"

"There was this show called 'Trainer Spotlight' on, and they did a whole piece just on me," said Ash, blushing.

Ari laughed. "Did they really?" he asked. "Well, that's good; the other Trainers are gonna be shaking in their boots if they find out they have to go up against a celebrity like you!"

"That's pretty much what we said," said Leoric, gesturing to himself and Brock.

Ari threw up his hand and said, "Great minds think alike, eh?"

Ash smiled absently, and suddenly realised that Pikachu was tugging on his hair. He looked over and saw Pikachu pointing at Dawn, then at Ari, and then again at Ash's hand. He gave Pikachu a confused look, and Pikachu hopped down onto his lap. He pointed at Ari and Dawn again, but this time instead of pointing at Ash's hand, he put his paw on Ash's wrist. Ash was still as confused as ever, so to avoid getting even more confused, he nodded at Pikachu and patted him on the head.

"_Pii pika…_" Pikachu muttered as it threw its hands up in the air. _Why bother…?_

Ash, meanwhile, had already turned his attention back to the others. They were talking about Leoric's round-robin matches tomorrow.

"Well, I have one at nine in the morning, and one again at noon," Leoric was saying, his hands folded. "All I need to do is knock out four Pokémon and I'm guaranteed a spot in the next round, so y'know, average it out at two Pokémon per Trainer and I should be fine."

"When are your matches, Ari?" Dawn asked, pushing her hair out of her eyes as she turned around to look at him.

"One at ten-thirty, and one at twelve-fifteen," Ari answered, scratching his nose with his hand.

It was a motion that barely registered to Ash, but as he looked, he saw that Ari was scratching the _right_ side of his nose with his _left _hand. _Why isn't he using his right hand?_ thought Ash. He kept staring, a look of suspicion on his face, until Ari noticed the stare and looked at him. His eyes fell to follow the line of vision, and he quickly stopped scratching his nose, hastily putting his hand on the lounge, looking away guiltily as though he'd just been caught stealing fruit. Ash looked back down at Pikachu, who was looking back and nodding encouragingly.

"So is that what you were getting at?" he muttered to Pikachu, so quietly that only Pikachu could hear. "What's up with his other hand?" he asked blankly.

Pikachu slapped a paw to its forehead in annoyance. Ash clearly didn't get it. Once again, he pointed at Ari, then at Dawn, then at Ash's hand. Suddenly Ash understood was Pikachu was trying to tell him. Now he needed to find out if it was true or not. He was quickly seized with an idea on how to. He stood up briskly, asking, "Hey Ari, I'm just getting a drink, you want one?"

"Ah, no thanks, I'm fine," said Ari distractedly, listening to Brock and Leoric talking about Pokémon conditioning.

Ash walked over to the condition and pulled a glass out of the overhead cupboard. As he did, he had a sly glance sideways over at Ari, sitting on the lounge. He could see some of Ari's right arm, but not much, because it was a bad angle, and beyond the elbow his arm was obscured by Dawn's frame. He walked around to the sink and poured some water out of the tap into his glass. This time, he was forced to look over his shoulder, but it was a much better angle; he could see Ari's entire arm, and he followed it with his eyes as it sloped down to where his hand rested, not on the lounge, but, incredibly, on top of Dawn's left hand, his fingers knotted through hers. He stared at their hands, dumbstruck, as he felt a cold sensation on his hand. He jumped and turned, quickly realising that he'd left the water on and that he'd overfilled his glass. He wiped his hand on a nearby tea-towel and sat back down on his armchair, winking discreetly at Pikachu, who grinned back. Brock and Leoric had finished talking, and he took this as a chance to try and catch Ari and Dawn out.

"So Ari, did you go in the Doubles Division last year?" Ash asked, totally off-topic, pretending to be curious.

"Me? No, I'm not that good at commanding two Pokémon at once. I'm not sure how people can keep track of both of them, to be honest," he answered, grinning.

"Ah, it's not that hard," said Ash nonchalantly. "My first double battle was in the Orange Islands against one of the Gym Leaders, Luana. She actually mistook me for her son, Travis, funnily enough. You just have to focus on your Pokémons' shared strengths, and look for a way to use them in tandem."

"I'll have to keep that in mind in case I'm forced into a double battle in the near future," said Ari, flicking his hair backwards habitually.

"So you're not a big fan of double battles?" Ash pressed.

"Not really, no."

"What about two-Trainer double battles, like in the Tag Team?"

"They're a bit easier, because you can focus on your Pokémon a bit more. Plus you can have a good time with your friends, like me and Leoric do."

"So Tag Team over regular double battles, eh?"

"Yeah, that's just how I roll."

"But if you really wanted, you could hold your own, right?"

"I'd say so."

"So how long have you and Dawn been an item?"

"Just since this afternoon—" Ari began, not realising what he was saying. He clapped his hand over his mouth roughly, as though he'd let slip a disgusting swear word.

"Ha!" exclaimed Ash as he smirked; his plan had worked. The next instant, he felt repulsed at himself as Ari covered his head in his hands in shame; he was obviously upset at having let Ash trick him. The smirk fell off his face immediately and was replaced by a pitiful open-mouthed stare as Dawn turned and glared at him before storming off to her room.

"Oh no," said Ash regretfully as he stared after her.

"I should probably talk to her," mumbled Ari, getting to his feet. "It's my fault, after all," he added sombrely as he went through to Dawn's room after her, closing the door behind him.

Ash turned back towards Brock and Leoric, who both looked as though they had just seen Ash do something particularly embarrassing.

"That went well," Leoric commented sarcastically, running a finger down the cut on his cheek.

"I didn't think Dawn would react like that!" Ash retorted. To be honest, he hadn't thought at all about their reactions; he'd just wanted to hear one of them confirm his suspicions. He rounded on Brock. "Did you know about this?" he demanded.

"Of course I did!" said Brock hotly. "I knew there was something between those two, but unlike you I chose to keep my mouth shut. Even when Dawn asked me for advice, I—"

"How could you have kept your mouth shut if she asked you?" Ash grunted.

"She used the oldest trick in the book; she said it was to do with 'a friend of hers'. But I played along, even though I knew she was talking about herself," Brock said calmly.

"Oh," said Ash. "Well, that makes sense, then," he admitted as he felt his face grow hot.

The three of them remained silent until Ari returned to the lounge room, followed by a bleary-eyed Dawn a few minutes later. Ash tried to get her eye silently, and when he did, he was relieved to see that she didn't seem to be angry with him anymore. Pikachu nudged him in the ribs, and he took the hint.

"Hey, Dawn," he said quietly. "I'm sorry for, y'know, tricking Ari into saying—"

"Okay, there are two things wrong with that apology," Dawn interrupted. Her voice was harsh and husky, but she was grinning at him. "First, you shouldn't be apologising to me, you should be apologising to Ari."

"And second, you don't really have anything to be sorry for," Ari finished. He too was grinning, and he explained, "You guessed the truth, and, while your method was a bit devious, you asked me a straightforward question, which I answered. It just surprised me to hear myself say it, and both of us," he looked at Dawn, who smiled warmly, "took it the wrong way."

"So really, nothing to be sorry for," he repeated, putting out his hand.

"Thanks," said Ash, smiling as he shook it with his own. "So how'd it happen?" he asked, as he and Ari resumed their seats.

Dawn and Ari turned and faced each other for a few moments. "Secret," said Dawn, smiling as she gazed into Ari's hazel eyes. She didn't want to relive the emotions she'd felt before their kiss, and he didn't think he'd be able to do it justice with words.

"You heard her," he said, glancing over at Ash, Brock, Pikachu and Leoric, who were expecting him to break and tell them. "It's a secret; can't help you, sorry," he added, laughing.

Leoric groaned dramatically, throwing his hands up in the air in defeat. "Fine, don't tell us, thanks for just ruining the mood," he said sarcastically, getting to his feet. He walked over to Ari and made quite the display as he tried to give Ari a mock-hug.

"Hey, get off me," said Ari, grinning and pushing Leoric off him. "Hate the battle, not the Trainer."

"But I'm so lonely," Leoric said in a childish voice. "I'm going back to my room and I could use some… company," he said, winking obviously and blowing Ari a fake kiss.

"You're a pain in the neck, you know that?" said Ari, embarrassed, as Ash, Dawn and Pikachu roared with laughter and Brock tried vainly to hide the grin spreading across his face. "Go on, get out of here."

"Alright then," said Leoric, heading for the door. "You'll be back later, right?" he asked Ari seriously.

"Should be, yeah," he answered warily, expecting another display of mock-affection from Leoric, but mercifully he opened the door, said goodbye to everyone, and strode out.

Dawn had stopped herself laughing, but she smirked at Ari nonetheless as she threw her arm around his waist, rubbed her head against his shoulder and said, "I don't know how you put up with him."

"To be honest, sometimes I don't either," he said joyfully, as Ash, Brock and Pikachu, sensing that they might be possibly intruding, stood up.

"I'm gonna get some sleep," said Brock, rubbing his eyes. "I've been up since sunrise, and I need to catch some shut-eye! Goodnight," he said to them all before retiring to his bedroom.

"I'm bushed as well," said Ash, with a huge, but fake yawn. He stretched his arms and scooped up Pikachu, who was also making a show of being tired. "We're gonna head to bed; we've got our first match in the morning. So I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" he asked Ari.

"Yeah of course, I reckon I might come along and see your first match; y'know, give some support. If I'm welcome, of course," he added.

"Sure you are!" Ash said cheerily.

"Well, it's settled then," Ari said confidently. "I'll head off soon; I'll stay for a bit longer and say goodnight to Dawn." Dawn blushed and put her head on his shoulder, eyes closed.

"Enjoy then," Ash said, rolling his eyes noticeably at Dawn. Ari chuckled. "See you in the morning!" he added, with a wave of his hand, as he and Pikachu went to his bedroom. He threw off his jacket and hat, changed into his pyjamas, jumped into bed and fell, almost immediately, into a deep sleep, Pikachu curled up snugly beside him. At that moment, unknown to everyone, a small speedboat docked at the harbour, and four shadowy figures walked, silently but purposefully, into the slumbering city.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Derek and Jeanne are based **_**loosely**_** on the news anchors from Family Guy – Tom Tucker and Diane Simmons.**

**Quiz:**

***On which of the Orange Islands is Luana located?**


	10. A Different Initiation

**CHAPTER 10 – A DIFFERENT INITIATION**

Ash sprang out of bed as the first rays of the rising sun hit his face. His enthusiasm sent Pikachu, who had been resting on Ash's chest, flying across the room and into the wall with a light thud.

"_Pii pikachu!_" it said, emitting sparks from its cheeks before tackling Ash. _Good morning to you too… _The two rolled around on the ground for a while before containing their excitement about the day ahead.

Ash got dressed as quickly as he could, checking to make sure that he had put his jacket on the right way round, before hoisting Pikachu onto his shoulder and dashing into the lounge room. He skidded to a stop on the wooden boards as he saw a figure lying on the lounge in the half-light. He moved silently towards the figure, trying not to disturb it, but he stopped and looked as he saw that figure was, in fact, _two_ figures, lying next to each other; specifically, Ari and Dawn. Ash reckoned that they had fallen asleep on the lounge after he, Brock and Pikachu had left to go to bed. Ari was lying on the open side of the lounge – the side that fell on to the lounge room floor – and while one hand and leg fell away with the lounge, the other arm was stretched lovingly around Dawn's shoulders, and his hair had fallen over his eyes, rising as falling as he breathed. Dawn, however, had both her hands folded over Ari's chest, all of which were also rising and falling slowly. Her cheek was resting against his collarbone, and one of her legs was sprawled over the one of his that was still on the lounge. As he stared, Ash got the increasing sense that, once again, he was intruding on something private, but as he made to move away from the sleeping couple, Dawn stirred and lifted her head. She rubbed her eyes clumsily, and at this, Ari also woke up. He looked around sleepily, wondering where he was, and then he saw Dawn, who grinned at him and draped an arm over him. He smiled back and kissed her lightly on the cheek as he sat up. Ash cleared his throat noisily, and both of their heads snapped around, red-faced, to see him standing there, eyebrows raised and his hands on his hips.

"Uh, you two right there?" he asked them coolly, as Pikachu imitated his Trainer's expression, frowning slightly.

"Good morning to you too," Dawn grimaced, making a big show of fixing her hair as she stood up and turned away from all three of them. Only then did Ash notice that she was wearing Ari's round-brimmed hat, and as he looked over at Ari, who was sitting up groggily, and sure enough, Dawn's white hat was perched awkwardly towards the side of his head.

"Nice choice of headgear," Ash remarked. Ari's eyes flew up, and he hastily ripped the hat off his head, standing up and walking over to Dawn. He lightly took his hat from Dawn, who barely seemed to notice as she was still fiddling with her hair, and softly placed her hat in its rightful place.

"Thanks for the heads-up," he said. "Ow." He rubbed his hand against his side, because, Ash realised, it was the side that Dawn had been sleeping on all night. He jammed his hat back on his own head, and was adjusting it as Brock stumbled into the room.

"Morning, Brock," said Dawn, satisfied with the state of her hair as she went into the kitchen.

"Morning," Brock replied happily as he glanced around and saw Ash frowning at Ari, who was deliberately looking away, silently pleading at Brock to intercept.

"Hey, Ari, you're here early, aren't you?" he asked. Clearly he had misunderstood Ari's plea, and had said the wrong thing, as he watched Ari hang his head in defeat, and Ash let out a grunt that sounded like a laugh.

"Yeah, he's been here a while, actually," Ash muttered cryptically to Brock. Pikachu looked strangely at him, and Ari's head snapped up for the second time in surprise, but this time he stared incredulously at Ash, who, he had thought, was going to tell Brock about him staying the night with Dawn. Brock, oblivious to all of this, simply nodded in Ari's direction and walked over to Dawn in the kitchen to make breakfast.

"Thank you," Ari mouthed to Ash, who simply jerked his head towards the balcony outside. Ari walked up to be level with him, and they and Pikachu went out to the fresh air. Once they were outside, Ash closed the door behind him to make sure no-one was heard. He turned around, his back leaning on the door, and as Pikachu hopped down onto the ground, he crossed his arms and cocked his head sideways, scrutinizing Ari.

"Why didn't you tell Brock that I was here?" he asked. "Wait… I daresay he's known from the start about Dawn and me, but surely he can't have that bad a reaction to me sleeping over."

"Brock's very, shall we say, 'protective' of the girls who travel with us," Ash snorted. It was true; he always seemed to take up the 'older brother' mantle around Misty, May and Dawn when they were at large gatherings, particularly those that had lots of older boys around. "He may have a soft spot for you, but I get the feeling that it's because of your Pokémon, which is his prerogative. I also get the feeling that he'll get _very_ touchy if he finds out that one of his new friends is getting a bit too comfy with Dawn," he warned menacingly.

Ari was surprised, taken aback by Ash's tone, but he held his ground. "A feeling that _you_ seem to be displaying with yourself," he fired back calmly. Ash blinked. "Look, I know that you and Brock really care about Dawn. I can see that," Ari continued, unrelenting as he stared at Ash determinedly. "But I came to Ayers Island to fight some Pokémon battles. I had no idea that Dawn would be here, she had no idea that _I'd_ be here, and I obviously had _no idea_ that her and I would have this attraction for each other. It just… happened, out of thin air. If you hadn't run into Horazon, we'd never have met," he added mischievously.

Ash was silent, considering what Ari had just said. Everything he said was true; neither Ari nor Dawn knew that the other would be here. Also, he was right about Dusknoir and Ash's collision on the street; as he thought, he realised that he was, inadvertently, responsible for Ari and Dawn meeting. As the thought came to his mind, Ash looked Ari dead in the eye.

* * *

A minute earlier, Brock and Dawn had been eating breakfast in the dining room, glancing every so often at the two Trainers on the balcony. Dawn looked apprehensive, while Brock was curious.

"So what time did Ari come over here?" he asked Dawn casually, cutting into a syrup-laden pancake with his knife.

"Oh, about half an hour ago," Dawn invented wildly, trying to keep her voice steady as she bit into a piece of toast.

"Ah," Brock grunted. "So the two of you are a couple now, eh?" he said cheekily, shoving pancake into his mouth. "You've been here only two days, and you've already gotten yourself a boyfriend, and he's one of the strongest Trainers going around. Good work," he added, smirking, despite having a mouth full of food.

Dawn dropped her piece of toast on her plate and stared daggers at Brock. His smirk vanished instantly as she continued to eye him dangerously. Brock quickly grabbed his knife and fork and moved them away, fearing that his remark might have earned him a cutlery-related stab wound.

"Hey, it's not like I picked him out of a thousand Trainers and thought to myself, '_Hmm, he's a really good Trainer, and I've only just gotten here, I might as well go out with him for the sake of it_'!" she stormed as she towered over Brock, who was slowly sinking into his chair. "It… just happened," she said, saying the last two words softly, unaware that Ari was saying the same words at the same time as her. She sank back into her seat as Brock sat up and eyed her curiously. And, just like Ash, Brock looked her straight in the eye.

"You _like _him, don't you?" Brock asked her, just as, outside on the balcony, Ash asked Ari, "You _like_ her, don't you?"

As Ash looked at Ari's eyes, he could see a torrent of emotions going through his mind; he felt like he was reading Ari's mind. He saw passion, determination, and love, but he also saw fear, doubt and hesitation. Brock saw a similar range of emotions in Dawn, who looked to be battling with herself. The two turned away from their questioners, and didn't look back for several moments.

"I don't know," they both said at the same time. Ari turned back to Ash and Ash saw angry tears in his eyes. He felt deeply unnerved at this show of emotion; he _knew_ he was intruding this time, but he had to push on, for Dawn's sake. Pikachu tugged nervously at his pants leg, trying to get Ash to stop the verbal offensive.

"I don't know," repeated Ari, his eyes stinging. "I think I do, but we've only just met each other. I can't answer your question for sure at the moment. I don't know her at all. I just know that we're interested in each other, because she told me, and I told her." He paused to brush the tears away from his eyes. "Are you happy now?" he asked Ash fiercely, and the latter physically stepped back in fear; such was the anger in Ari's voice, and, most of all, in his eyes. "Are you happy now that you've got what you wanted, even though you had _no_ right to ask for it?"

Ash stared, unable to speak. As someone who had never fully embraced the idea of a romantic relationship, he was of course at a loss as to why Ari was getting so enraged over the subject. He frantically tried to think of an appropriate apology, but as he thought of one, the fire in Ari's eyes died down, and his expression crumbled. He slumped to the ground and shook his head, which sent his hair down his face, covering his eyes. He stayed in that position for a long time, and when he looked up, he saw Ash's hand in front of his face. He looked up further and saw Ash's face, full of remorse, as he grabbed the outstretched hand with his own, and as Ash pulled him up onto his feet.

Ari looked at Ash, who smiled. Ari smiled back and moved towards him, throwing his arm around and giving Ash a one-handed hug, the other still grabbing Ash's in a handshake. Ash returned the gesture, confused. As Ari stood back, he laughed at the expression on Ash's face.

"From where I come, it's a sign of friendship," Ari explained to a still bemused Ash, as Pikachu looked from one to another, just as puzzled as its Trainer. "Not even close to what I'm sure you're thinking. I _am_ with Dawn, after all," he added, smirking. Ash smiled back at him, and after Pikachu had jumped back onto Ash, they walked back into the hotel room. What they saw met them with surprise; it appeared that Dawn had just smacked Brock over the head with a rolling pin, and the latter was cowering in the corner as Dawn raised the pin over her head, ready to strike.

"Who—said—that—it—was—your—business—to—interrogate—me—about—my—personal—life?" screamed Dawn in between whacks.

"Dawn! Ow!" said Brock, trying to explain while protecting himself with his arms, which were taking quite a beating. "I'm—_Ow_—only trying—_OW_—to look out for you—_that hurts!_ _Help!_" he cried as he saw Ash and Ari hurrying over. Ari responded quickly by putting Dawn in a bear hug before lifting her up, throwing her over his shoulder in a fireman's grip, and carrying the now cursing girl away to cool off. Ash rushed forward to help his injured friend to his feet.

"Geez, Brock, what'd you do to deserve _that_?" asked Ash, laughing as Brock sat down in a chair. Brock slumped, staring at the opposite wall for a moment before he answered.

"I asked Dawn about her relationship with Ari," he said indifferently.

"So you did too?" Ash commented as he sat down next to Brock, who shot upright, surprised.

"You asked _Ari_ bout it too?" he asked Ash incredulously.

"Yep," Ash said evenly. "It's a small world. I'd say our conversation went better than yours, though," he added with a snigger. "What'd you say to set Dawn off like that?"

"I asked Dawn if she likes Ari," Brock said dismissively with a wave of his hand. "What?" he asked Ash, whose jaw had just dropped.

"No way, that's what I asked Ari right before _he_ went off!" Ash exclaimed.

"What can I say? It's a _really_ small world."

"What did Dawn say?" Ash asked eagerly.

"She said that she honestly didn't know," Brock answered, rubbing his face with his hand. "She said that she'd never known what it was to like someone in that way, but she knew that they have _something_. Then…" He paused, frowning. "She started trying to pummel every square inch of me with that rolling pin."

"Geez, I should have just asked myself what she said," Ash muttered. "Ari said nearly the _exact_ same thing about Dawn." He had purposefully left out Ari's reaction after he had explained his answer, as it was something that Ash still found disconcerting, and he didn't want to worry Brock. So, the two of them sat in silence for several moments before a bump in the next room made them stand up, sending their chairs falling to the ground. But it appeared that all was well, because next moment Dawn came through into the kitchen, red in the face.

"What's up with you?" Brock asked her defensively, raising his arms a little, expecting Dawn to come after him again. But Dawn clearly had no intention of hurting Brock anymore.

"I'm sorry for getting angry at you, Brock," she murmured, honestly. "I know you're just concerned about me, and I'm glad that you are. Really," she finished, rather awkwardly.

"Hey, nothing to it," said Brock encouragingly. "It wasn't my place to pry."

"Thanks," was her reply. The two friends smiled at one another. Ari walked back into the room, smiling as well.

"Everything working out well?" he asked politely. Everyone nodded, and his smile broadened. "Cool. Well, I've got to get going, last-minute things to do before I start my big campaign," he said.

Dawn groaned sarcastically. "Can't you stay just a little bit longer?" she asked him, pouting. But Ari wasn't going to fall for it.

"Sorry, Dawn, I really have to get going," he replied sadly. He walked over and locked her in a tight embrace. She hugged him back, just as tightly, clearly not wanting to let go, and let Ari go either. Finally, Ari gave her a soft kiss on the forehead, just like he did at the plaza the day before, and she let go. She leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, and he blushed. Ash and Brock snickered, but Ari smiled back at them, seemingly impervious to it. "I'll see you in a few hours," he said, squeezing his girlfriend's hand before heading out the door.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***The rolling pin was, of course, conjured out of Malletspace.**

**Quiz:**

***Despite Dawn saying 'a thousand Trainers', how many Trainers **_**exactly**_** are participating in the tournament?**


	11. Tempers Run High, Memories Run Dry

**CHAPTER 11 – TEMPERS RUN HIGH, MEMORIES RUN DRY**

Ari and Leoric were walking along the western coastline of the island, Leoric's Salamence flying overhead as another of Ari's Pokémon, a Honchkrow, tried to keep pace with it. The two Trainers made their way towards a small formation of rocks, and sent out their other Pokémon to enjoy the morning sun before their battles. As Ari's Pokémon frolicked around with Leoric's, the latter looked at his friend with a serious eye. Ari tried to ignore the stare for a while, but it soon got on his nerves.

"What?!" he asked, exasperated.

"How come you didn't come back to the hotel room last night?" Leoric inquired.

"Oh, I accidentally fell asleep over at Ash's place," said Ari, a little embarrassed. "Sorry about that."

Leoric grunted. "Yeah, _with_ someone too, no doubt."

"Well, Dawn and I fell asleep on the lounge together, if that's what you mean," Ari retorted. Leoric fell silent, but kept staring at Ari like he did before.

"WHAT?!" asked Ari wildly.

"You know 'what'," said Leoric coolly. "You've got some part of you in everywhere, don't you?" he taunted.

Ari rose to his feet. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, eyes narrowed.

"Sorry, bad choice of words," apologised Leoric, shrugging his hands. "But you get my point."

"No, I'm afraid I don't," Ari said. He did, of course, but he wanted to hear Leoric say it himself.

Leoric sighed. He knew he was going to have to speak up. Even so, it took him a moment to phrase his statement to try and make it sound less insulting. "This relationship of yours," he said slowly, "with Dawn."

"Great, first _Ash_ interrogates me about it, and now _you're_ going to follow up?" Ari said, kicking at the rough earth and small rocks.

"_I'm_ not interrogating _anybody_," Leoric fired back, his temper rising. "I'm talking to you as an old friend. As your _best_ friend."

Ari sat down, but still remained cautious. "What do you want to know?" he asked coolly.

"Well for one, are you and her—" Leoric began, but before he finished his question, Ari realised what he was implying, and cut him off with a roar.

"Come on, Leo! I'm fifteen, _fifteen_! And Dawn's twelve! TWELVE!" he screamed at his friend. "And to answer your question, you sick-headed dolt, no we're not! In fact, the thought hadn't even crossed my mind for a second until you had to drag it in there, lights flashing and sirens sounding!"

"Alright then, _ALRIGHT_!" Leoric was also yelling, and their Pokémon turned around to listen at what was causing their Trainers to shout. "Geez, I was just _asking_, it's not like I wanted details…" he said, slumping.

"Ah, forget about it," said Ari, catching his breath and sitting down on a flat rock after his attack. After a long silence, he looked over at Leoric, who was fidgeting with a large leaf, shredding it piece by piece. "Look, man, sorry for having a go at you, but come on, you ask me a question like that, after I've been in a relationship for what, not even one day, and you've got to expect me to be a bit ticked off," he said. Leoric knew that this was the best he could hope for in the way of an apology.

"Apology accepted," he said, smirking. Ari grinned and threw a rock at him. He looked over and saw his and Leoric's Pokémon hastily return to their activities. He laughed and turned back around. "I swear, sometimes those Pokémon are worse than nosy neighbours," he muttered quietly. Leoric looked at the Pokémon and chuckled.

"Speaking of Pokémon, where's Horazon?" he asked Ari, noticing that the Dusknoir was absent among Ari's other Pokémon.

"I decided not to put him in the first couple of rounds," Ari answered, grabbing a leaf of his own.

This news surprised Leoric; he was sure that Ari would use his signature Pokémon in his opening battles. "Why not?" he asked Ari earnestly, who responded with silence. Leoric, however, discovered an answer on his own. "Not because of Paul, I hope?" he said, hoping to provoke a response.

Indeed, Leoric got a response out of Ari. But it wasn't what he expected; instead of Ari getting angry or upset at the mention of his name, Ari just smiled and shook his head. "No, that's not the reason. I need to give my other Pokémon some good match practice before the tournament hits the sharp end. I have no intentions of losing before the final match, or of losing at all," he added with a wry smile.

"Good, because I want to beat you at your best," said Leoric arrogantly. "Just like I did at Mt. Silver," he added.

"_That_ was a complete fluke," Ari challenged. "And you know it. You won that tournament because you got lucky," he remarked.

Leoric laughed. "Whatever, you got taken down, Ari. By me, Leoric, the better Trainer," he said provokingly. Then he stopped and scratched his head. "Speaking of better Trainers," he started. "What's stopped your big tirade against Paul?" he asked.

Ari glanced at him in surprise. Then he thought for a moment. "I'm not sure," he said truthfully. "Maybe I finally realised that he really _isn't_ worth hating. He's just a miserable you-know-what that can, well, do to himself what you thought Dawn and I were doing," he added. Leoric thought about what he said, then realised what he meant. While he shouted at Ari for being sick in the head, Ari just sat back and laughed as Leoric smacked himself in the head to erase the mental image he'd put in his mind.

"Oh, quit being such a baby," he said, controlling his laughter. "It's not like your little display in front of Ash and the others last night was any more tasteful. Or less humiliating," he added with a grimace. "So now we're even."

Leoric scowled. "Fine, we're even. For now," he added, with a grin. "But seriously, man, I think all that puppy love for Dawn has gotten to your head."

Ari went red. "I wouldn't call it that," he said, shifting uncomfortably on his rock. "But now that you mention it…" he said cunningly. Leoric couldn't resist asking.

"Yes, what, what?!" asked Leoric, desperately.

"I heard a rumour yesterday," said Ari, snickering. "According to one of my '_sources_', there's someone high up who has a bit of _puppy_ _love_ for Ash."

Leoric laughed, thinking that Ari was joking. "You're kidding, right? Ash has a secret admirer?" He looked at Ari, who was looking quite complacently at some Taillow flying overhead. The laugh disappeared off Leoric's face as quickly as if a Koffing had just breathed on him. He was flabbergasted. "You're serious, aren't you?" he asked Ari disbelievingly.

Ari nodded. "Yep," he said simply, following the Taillow until they disappeared behind the line of buildings.

"Well, who is it?" Leoric demanded.

Ari laughed slyly. "I'm not telling _you_!" he said. "The whole world will end up knowing before Ash does! And knowing who she is, that won't be hard!"

"Alright then," said Leoric, angry and disappointed. "Well, do I at least know her?"

Ari thought for a minute. "Yeah, you've met her once… or twice," he said, with another cunning grin.

Leoric's temper was reaching its limit. "Come on man, tell me who she is!" he said furiously. Ari just chuckled, clearly amused by his friend's tantrum. Just as Leoric was about to lose it, he noticed someone walking along the coastline towards them. He shaded his eyes in the glare of the rising sun to get a better look.

"Hey, Ari," he muttered. "Is that Dawn?" he asked. Ari stood up and squinted over.

"No, Dawn's hair is blue, like her eyes," said Ari, somewhat dreamily. Leoric snorted and shook his head.

_Hopeless romantic_, he thought. "What's the hair colour then, Eyes-Of-Wooper?" he asked Ari mockingly.

Ari peered over at the incoming figure. "Purple… maybe a mauve?" said Ari, not helping Leoric.

Suddenly, Ari let out a bark of a laugh. Leoric jumped. "What?" he asked.

Ari's eyes glinted. "I know who our mystery guest is," he said, and Leoric once again squinted to get a look at the incomer. He saw a young-looking Trainer, male, and slight of build. He really seemed to like the colour purple, Leoric thought, because most, if not _all_, of his clothing was shaded purple to some degree. The only part of the outfit that wasn't purple was the lower half of the shirt, which was white with gold trim. Something stirred in the back of his mind, but he couldn't remember what it was.

The unknown Trainer came closer, looked at the other two Trainers properly, and said, "Ah, it's good to see the two of you again."

"And you too," said Ari, walking forwards. He grabbed the Trainer's hand, lifted it up towards him, and kissed it lightly on the back of the palm.

"Hopeless romantic, you are," the Trainer said, cheeks tinged pink.

Leoric was agape. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't imagining it, but he quickly regained his composure. "Um, Ari, I know you're friendly and all," said Leoric hurriedly. "But, uh, why on earth did you just kiss that guy's hand?!"

Ari and the Trainer looked at him, surprised. Ari let go of the Trainer's hand while the latter stepped towards Leoric. "Don't you remember me, Leoric?" said the Trainer.

"_Yes_, but I can't remember your name," said Leoric, struggling with his memory.

Ari looked at him sympathetically. "Well, to avoid further confusion, let me clear this out for you. This is Anabel, a _female_ Trainer, one of the Frontier Brains. And a fine good one at that," he added charmingly, making Anabel blush and shake her head as Leoric smacked himself in the head stupidly.

"I swear, Ari, you need a girlfriend," said a giggling Anabel. Leoric took this as a chance to redeem himself from his embarrassing blunder. Besides, he was feeling gossipy after not knowing the identity of Ash's admirer.

"Well, you'd be surprised, Anabel," said Leoric. "He's got one."

Anabel _was_ surprised. "And here I thought you'd always remain a bachelor," she said, in a mock-disapproving tone. "So, who's the lucky girl?"

Ari smiled and tapped a finger on the side of his nose. "I don't think you know her, so sorry, Anabel, but you'll have to wait until a bit later. We've all got to get ready for the first round of matches. You included, I hope?"

"Of course!" said Anabel defiantly. "I'm in the tournament, and I hope you are, too, Leo?"

"Ditto," Leoric fired back cheerfully.

"Oh, poor little Ditto, thinks he's people," crooned Anabel in a honey-sweet tone, pinching Leoric on the cheek. Leoric swatted her hand away.

"Argh! Get away from me!" he said, ruffling his clothes. "Crazy woman…" he muttered to himself.

Anabel suppressed another giggle as the other two Trainers recalled their Pokémon to their respective PokéBalls. "Well, come on, boys," she suggested, waving with her arm as they caught up to her. They walked off to the east, heading for the conglomerate of stadiums on the island's eastern side.

"Which stadium are we going to?" asked Anabel innocently.

"Stadium 28," answered Leoric.

"We're going to see a new friend of ours, and an old friend of yours, Anabel," said Ari mysteriously, smirking.

"Sounds fun," said Anabel, half-sarcastically as they walked.

"So Leoric, do _you_ have a girlfriend?"

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Leoric – despite having supposedly met Anabel before – makes the same mistake that Ash upon meeting Anabel for the first time, mistaking her for a male.**

***Ditto are purple, which may have contributed to Anabel's tone when talking to Leoric as though he were one.**

**Quiz:**

***In "Talking A Good Game", what Pokémon did Anabel help at a lake, by removing a stick from its side?**


	12. Initiation: Part I

**CHAPTER 12 – INITIATION: PART I**

Ash and Pikachu sat alone in the tunnel leading to the battlefield in Stadium 28. He glanced at the clock on the wall for the fourth time in a minute, but the clock still read 9:56am. He still had four minutes before he walked out onto the field and took his first step in this tournament. He bounced his leg up and down on the ground to try and pass the time, but this only succeeded in irritating Pikachu, and Ash quickly stopped. He looked skywards, or rather, to where the sky would be if there weren't thousands of fans and spectators crammed into the seats above his head. The noise from the crowd was almost deafening; Ash couldn't hear himself think.

"I see what Leoric meant about crowd pressure," Ash said grimly to Pikachu. Pikachu frowned at Ash, then ran up his arm and batted his hat down over his eyes.

"_Pii pika…_" said Pikachu. _Focus, buddy._

"Thanks, Pikachu," Ash replied, grinning. "I needed that."

The clock on the wall buzzed 10 o'clock. Pikachu ran up to Ash's shoulder, and the latter stood up and walked slowly to the end of the tunnel. There was a buzzing noise as the large metal wall in front of him slid aside, and he and Pikachu walked out into the arena.

A roar of applause and a chorus of cheers met his ears from the moment he walked out. He stared around, stunned, at the sheer size of the crowd. Leoric was right again; it was intimidating. He stood there stupidly, trying to take it all in.

"Ash! Ash! ASH!!!"

"I'm not sure this is getting his attention…" Leoric muttered. "Besides, I shouldn't even be here. I've got a match in an hour!"

"What?! I can see your lips moving, but I can't hear you!"

Leoric waved his hands, giving a sign to be quiet. "Shut up!" he roared. The spectators above and around him thought that he was addressing them, and once they recognised him, they quickly quietened down. "_Now_ try," he muttered.

"Ash! Ash! Ash!"

Ash looked around for the voice, his frantic turning making Pikachu dizzy in the process, and nearly tripping over his own feet; he finally saw who was making the noise, an extremely familiar purple-haired Trainer waving their arms frantically in the air. "Ash! It's good to see you!"

"Anabel?!" said a dumbfounded Ash, literally running over to the near stand. As he got closer, the fans in the closest rows screamed in joy as their favourite Trainer was literally just a stone's throw away from them. "Sit down!" he said fiercely. "Anabel, get down here!" he called out.

She rushed down, pushing her way past Trainers and spectators alike, until she was at the front row, just feet away from Ash. "How goes it, hotshot?" she asked him with a smile.

Ash went slightly red. "It _was_ good, but, uh, _now_ it's great!" he said loudly, flashing a smile of his own. This turn it was Anabel's turn to go red.

"Well, here's hoping it will be even _better_when this match is over," she said, still blushing. "Come here," she said to Ash, crooking her finger.

"What for?" he asked blankly, walking closer.

"I want to give you a good luck charm," she replied. When he was right up in front of her, she smiled and held out her hand, on which rested a small purple flower. Ash reached his hand out to take it from her, but Anabel had different plans. As Ash grabbed the flower, her now empty hand snatched at his wrist, pulling him forward. Her other hand shot out, reaching at the back of Ash's head, pulling him even closer, and she kissed him on the mouth. The crowd was filled with jeers, catcalls and wolf-whistles, but Anabel didn't seem to mind. She held on for a few moments before she released Ash, who staggered backwards, and his expression made him look as though he'd just been shot, his eyes unfocused and wide, and his mouth hanging open slightly. She winked at him and said, "Good luck, Ash," before making her way back up to her seat next to Leoric, who looked at her in the same way that Ash was.

"So… _you're _the one Ari told me about," he said, trying vainly to hide his surprise. "The _someone up high who has a bit of puppy love for Ash_," he recited, his surprise replaced by an arrogant smirk.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the stadium, were two people that hadn't joined in the jeering; Brock and Dawn were sitting three rows back from the front, mouths agape, and their looks priceless. Ari roared with laughter and delight at it all, before he soberly decided to bring the pair back to their senses. He smacked Brock in the back of the head, and, choosing a less violent approach for Dawn, chose to tickle her in the side. They both snapped back in a second, but were still shocked by what they had just seen.

"W—Wasn't that Anabel?" asked Brock, smacking his head with his own hand as if to rid it of cobwebs.

"Anabel? Who's Anabel?" asked Dawn blankly.

"She's a Frontier Brain from Kanto; she's a really strong Trainer, but she seems to—"

"—want to get to know Ash's tonsils," finished Ari, roaring with laughter again.

"No, she seems to have an _interest_ in Ash," said Brock, emphasising the word 'interest' with his fingers. He watched on as Ash, recovering from his vegetative state, blinked foolishly and slowly pinned the flower to the collar of his jacket, staring at it blankly as he made his way to the side of the arena. "And I'd say she made a pretty big impression on him ahead of the battle," he said, concerned.

"Yeah, he's not gonna be any good commanding his Pokémon in battle if he's hung up on a bit of pre-match encouragement," Ari agreed, snickering. "He'd better put it out of his head quickly, or else this crowd is going to put him through hell."

Ash, meanwhile, was still stunned at Anabel having kissed him. He raised a hand and touched a finger to his lip, wondering if it was all some strange dream. He caught sight of the small flower on his collar, and sighed. "Well, Pikachu," he said. "We'd better win this one, or Brock's never gonna let me forget it. Come on," he said, taking his place on his side of the circle in the centre of the arena. As soon as he entered the circle, another Trainer stepped out into the arena. He was a young man, several years older than Ash, and he had dark green hair pushed back in a ponytail. He wore purple long-sleeved shirt and black trousers. He too received a positive reception, though there were no public displays of affection for him as he took his place in the semi-circle opposite Ash. The two Trainers stared at each other.

"Hey, I'm Ash, from Pallet Town," said Ash nervously, extending a hand to his opponent.

"Kaiden, Celadon City," replied the Trainer, shaking it. He looked around. "Wow, they really love their battles here, don't they?" he murmured in wonder.

"Yeah, that's a bit of an understatement," muttered Ash, chuckling.

"Humph. Well, good luck to you. Let's put our all in and put on a good battle, shall we?" said Kaiden coldly, walking to a green box at the edge of the stadium. A large computer display at the side of the stadium flashed Kaiden's face in a green box on the right-hand side. Ash walked towards the red box on his side, and his picture appeared on the screen, in a red box on the left-hand side.

"Welcome to this first-round round-robin match between Ash from Pallet Town and Kaiden from Celadon City!" blared the announcer over the megaphones placed in the corners of the stadium. "The match will be a three-on-three match, where each Pokémon will face only one Pokémon from the other Trainer's team. Each successful KO by a Trainer's Pokémon will earn him one point. In the case of a tie, both Trainers will receive a point."

"Bear in mind," continued the announcement. "That you are not seeking simply victory in this match. The more KO's your Pokémon deliver, the higher your chances of advancing to the next round. With that, let this first-round match begin!" A siren sounded in the air, beginning the match.

Kaiden swung into action immediately. "Go, Spinarak!" he shouted, throwing a PokéBall into the arena. In a flash of white light, the green spider-like Pokémon appeared, clicking its jaws. A picture of Spinarak appeared in the topmost of three boxes under Kaiden.

Ash thought about his decision for a moment, before taking a PokéBall off his belt and throwing it into the air. "Corphish, I choose you!"

Ash's Ruffian Pokémon appeared in a flash of white, clacking its claws together menacingly as it headed for Kaiden's Spinarak. Corphish's picture appeared under Ash, just as Spinarak had under Kaiden.

"The first battle is between Ash's Corphish and Kaiden's Spinarak. Begin!" blared the announcer as a bell rang throughout the arena. Suddenly, Ash's mind flashed back to when he had used Corphish in a battle with Anabel. He had been unable to give Corphish an attack order, and it had cost him. He snapped his mind back to the present, and saw Corphish advancing on Spinarak.

"Corphish, use Crabhammer!" he shouted, and Corphish's claw began glowing blue as it was brought down towards Spinarak.

"Spinarak, use Agility!" Kaiden ordered, and Spinarak scuttled away at lightning speed, as Corphish's claw hit the ground with pulverizing force. "Now Spinarak, use Poison Jab!" he cried, and Spinarak suddenly appeared behind Corphish, the tip of its stinger glowing a sickly purple. He thrust it towards Corphish, and the move connected, sending Corphish sprawling. Corphish reared back up, clacking its claws in rage, but Spinarak had already used Agility again, and this time it hit Corphish with a Fury Swipes attack, knocking Corphish to the ground. Corphish tried to grab it in a Vicegrip, but Spinarak used Agility again, dodging the attack, reappearing behind Corphish.

"Corphish, use Taunt!" said Ash, and Corphish flipped around and, this time, reared its backside up at Spinarak, infuriating it.

"Nice work," muttered Brock, sitting in the stands. "That Taunt attack that Corphish used has really ticked off Kaiden's Spinarak. For a little while, it's only going to think about attacking Corphish, so it can't use Agility to get out of the way!"

"That _is_ nice work," said Dawn admiringly. Ari grunted in support, eager to see more.

Kaiden bared his teeth. "Damn!" he muttered. "Spinarak, use Psychic!" he roared. Spinarak began to emit a ghostly blue aura, and focused on Corphish. In an instant, Corphish was immobilised, and struggled helplessly as Spinarak raised it high into the air.

"Spinarak, bring this arrogant little Pokémon back down to earth!" said Kaiden savagely. Spinarak nodded, and using its psychic powers sent Corphish hurtling towards the ground. Ash knew that if Corphish hit the ground from that height, it was done for.

"Corphish, use Bubblebeam to slow the fall, then use Protect!" Ash cried. Corphish sent a jet of bubbles flying from its mouth, and they did indeed slow the fall, but not enough. Just as Corphish was nearing the ground, it braced itself before it collided into the arena with a thunderous rumble, sending clouds of dust flying everywhere. The crowd gasped with anticipation as Ash and Kaiden stared at the point of impact as the dust cleared. Standing in the middle of a small crater was Corphish, completely unharmed!

"_Cor corphish!_" said Corphish happily, swinging around to face its opponent. Spinarak held its ground, but it was starting to tire. The energy it had needed to maintain its Psychic attack had greatly weakened it. Ash saw this, and took the opportunity.

"Corphish, use Taunt again!" he yelled. Corphish once again reared its backside at Spinarak, which once again exploded with anger. But it was worn out, and as it rushed over to deliver another Poison Jab, Corphish leapt high into the air above it.

"Corphish, use Crabhammer!" said Ash fiercely. Corphish's claw turned blue again, and this time it hit Spinarak at full force. The spider Pokémon was sent flying into the air, and landed on the arena with a dull thud. It raised its head for a second, but then it succumbed to its injuries, and its head fell to the ground.

The match's referee raised a red flag in Ash's direction. "Spinarak is unable to battle. Victory goes to Ash and Corphish! Ash earns one point." As he spoke the last sentence, the number '1' appeared next to Ash's name on the screen, and Kaiden's Spinarak's picture was blacked out. The crowd roared and cheered with delight at seeing the turn-around.

"Hey, looks like Corphish has gotten better," said Anabel merrily as she watched Ash adoringly. The latter seemed to be aware of the stare, as he looked around at her, and gave a confident thumbs-up, flicking the flower on his collar as he turned back to Kaiden, who recalled his fallen Spinarak, a furious look on his face. Ash returned his Corphish to its PokéBall as Kaiden pulled another out, tossing it high into the air.

"Feraligatr, let's do it!" he called, as an enormous crocodilian Pokémon emerged out of the PokéBall. It was mostly blue except for several prominent red spikes that jutted out from its spine. Feraligatr roared and bounded into the arena.

Ash, still thinking of Anabel's kiss, picked a second PokéBall out of his belt, but as he did, a third PokéBall, blue, red and white in colour, rattled and burst open, sending out another crocodile-like Pokémon. This one however was much smaller than Feraligatr, and had only one set of red spikes running down its back.

"_To-taa!_" cried the Pokémon as it jumped up and down, clapping its hands. Ash, still with a PokéBall in his hand, stared at the incomer, stupefied, while Kaiden cackled.

"I send out a Feraligatr, and you send out its pre-evolved form, a measly little Totodile? Oh, this will be a cinch!" he said, laughing maniacally. The crowd seemed to agree with him, for they were muttering and turning their heads to one each other.

Ash glared, and his thoughts of Anabel were forgotten. "Hey, my Totodile may not be big, but he sure makes up for it!" he fired, stowing his PokéBall back in his belt. "Well, Totodile, you wanted to come and face this Pokémon, so let's do it," he said softly to the small blue Pokémon.

"_To-to-to-to-diiiile!_" said Totodile happily, clapping its hands. It skipped forwards on the arena, towards Feraligatr, which had stopped on Kaiden's side of the crater that Corphish had left in the previous battle.

"The second battle is between Ash's Totodile and Kaiden's Feraligatr. Begin!" Another bell rang, and both Trainers began the battle.

"Feraligatr, use a Mega Punch!" said Kaiden. Feraligatr leapt forwards, throwing a powerful punch right at Totodile, who was sent flying backwards. Totodile regained control quickly, and gracefully pirouetted in the air, landing on its feet.

"Totodile, use Water Pulse!" cried Ash. Totodile sent out a pulsing ball of water at Feraligatr, but it quickly sidestepped it.

"Dragon Dance!" said Kaiden, and Feraligatr swung its arms across its body, tensing itself as a red aura formed around it.

"Oh no," said Brock. "Feraligatr's Dragon Dance is making it a lot stronger and faster. Ash needs to get the upper hand quickly if he wants to beat Feraligatr."

"Ash won't win this battle," said Ari bluntly. "His Totodile is being outclassed, and there isn't much he can do with the arena to turn the tide. I doubt even _his_ tactics could find a way out of this," he added, his expression grave. Meanwhile, Totodile and Feraligatr were exchanging Slash attacks, and they could see that Feraligatr was at an advantage. Ash gritted his teeth.

"Totodile, get out of there!" said Ash desperately after Feraligatr landed a particularly vicious Slash on Totodile. The latter sprang back, breathing heavily. Kaiden could see that Totodile was close to fainting, so he ordered his Feraligatr forward.

"Feraligatr, finish it off with an Aqua Tail!" he shouted triumphantly. Feraligatr ran towards Totodile on all fours, its tail glowing blue. Ash braced for the impact, but Totodile stood firm, staring its opponent down. Ash thought of an idea out of sheer desperation, and he knew he had a 50-50 chance of it working, but they were good enough odds.

"Totodile, jump up and to the right!" he yelled, just as Feraligatr began to spin around to deliver its attack. Totodile pounced right, landing on Feraligatr's neck just as it swung its tail past Totodile's leg. The crowd roared with surprise as Totodile slapped its hands down over Feraligatr's eyes, and it held on fast as the larger Pokémon stomped around blindly, trying to reach Totodile, nestled between two clusters of its red spikes.

"Totodile, Ice Punch!" Ash shouted. Totodile's hand glowed snowy-white, and Feraligatr screamed in pain as one of its eyes began to freeze over. It shook its head violently and Totodile jumped off lightly, landing on the ground some feet away, as Feraligatr roared and stumbled, and the crowd clapped and cheered. Even Ari was impressed by the display.

"Ha, maybe I was wrong," he admitted to Brock, clapping with the crowd. "I'd have never thought of an approach like that."

"None of us did," said Brock, clapping his hands enthusiastically. "Ash is pretty ingenious when he wants to be," he added, chuckling as, on the other side of the stadium, Leoric exchanged a look of surprised enjoyment with Anabel before he walked down to the exits, heading for his own first-round match which was soon to begin, leaving Anabel to cheer by herself.

Meanwhile, on the arena, Ash called out to his Totodile, "Now use Bite!" Totodile jumped forwards and clamped its jaws over Feraligatr's hand. Feraligatr roared again and wildly shook its arm, trying to loosen Totodile's grip, which held fast.

"Feraligatr!" cried Kaiden in alarm. Then a smirk snuck across his face. "Give it a Shadow Claw!"

Despite the pain in its eye and hand, Feraligatr obeyed its Trainer's command. It swung its arm back, Totodile in tow, clinging on grimly, then threw it forwards anticlimactically. The crowd looked on, confused, until Totodile fell off Feraligatr's arm and hit the ground, unconscious, with a cry of "Totodile!" from Ash. There was a moment of silence as they figured out what had happened, and then they were on their feet, hooting and applauding Kaiden's Feraligatr as the referee raised a green flag towards Kaiden.

"Totodile is unable to battle. Victory goes to Kaiden and Feraligatr! Kaiden earns one point," he declared. Kaiden pumped a fist in joy, and a number '1' appeared next to Kaiden's name on the stadium screen as Totodile's picture faded out. Ash looked on, upset that he lost but also happy that Totodile had given its all.

"Good job, Totodile," he said with a grin, recalling Totodile. "You did well."

"Well? A loss is never a job well done," spat Kaiden, returning Feraligatr to its PokéBall. His remark reminded Ash of Paul, and this comparison struck a chord in him. As the crowd roared, egging Ash on, he felt nothing but hatred for the Trainer, who seemed just as obsessed with victory as the purple-haired Trainer who Ash had learned to hate, even more so over the last three days. Kaiden smirked as he pulled out his third PokéBall from his belt, only to have the smirk slide off his face as he saw Ash glaring at him, pulling out a PokéBall of his own.

"Go, Donphan!" Ash cried savagely, throwing his PokéBall into the sky at the same time as Kaiden, who shouted, "Go, Marowak!"

Ash's Donphan appeared on the ground, roaring and raising its trunk threateningly, as Kaiden's Marowak stood on the arena, brandishing a thick white bone and spreading its arms out wide in a karate stance.

"Marowak, use Bonemerang!" shouted Kaiden. Marowak expertly threw its bone, curving it towards Donphan.

"Donphan, Defense Curl!" Ash roared, simmering with anger. Donphan tucked its trunk under its body, and curled up into a tight ball as Marowak's bone approached. It bounced off harmlessly before returning Marowak, who caught it smoothly, readying to fire again while Kaiden said, "Marowak, use Focus Punch!" to which Marowak tucked its bone under an arm, and threw its fist into the air, gathering energy.

"Donphan, use Rollout!" cried Ash, as the crowd roared. Donphan bounced on the ground before spinning and rolling towards Marowak at incredible speed.

"Ah, Ash had Donphan use Defense Curl then Rollout because the combination increased Rollout's power!" said Brock confidently, watching Donphan wheel closer to Marowak, who was standing like a statue, still gathering power for its Focus Punch attack.

"That's pretty intuitive, turning a defensive situation into an offensive one," said Dawn encouragingly.

Ash watched with fierce joy as Donphan hit Marowak square in the stomach, knocking it high into the air as its bone clattered useless to the ground. While Donphan slowed to a stop, Marowak reached the height of its rise, and started plummeting towards the ground.

"Marowak, use Double-Edge!" screamed Kaiden. Marowak wheeled in the air, tucking its arms and tail in so that as it fell, it looked somewhat like a rocket, its head aimed straight at Donphan, its body spinning slightly in the air as it fell.

"Donphan, use Rapid Spin!" said Ash. Donphan began to spin once again, but this time it stayed in its position instead of moving forwards. It continued rotating as Marowak drew closer, and at the last second, Ash yelled, "Roll back!"

Donphan slid back slightly as it spun, and Marowak was too late to change its path. Its head hit Donphan on the side, and the force of Donphan's spinning sent Marowak flying sideways, crashing into the stadium wall with a thud. It hit the ground hard, before shakily getting to its feet. Kaiden sensed he was about to lose the battle, so he turned to face his Marowak desperately. "Marowak, use Giga Impact!" he shouted.

Marowak nodded, and began charging towards Donphan, its head flung forward. But as it got closer and closer, everyone could see that Marowak was slowing down. Ash looked at his Donphan, then at Marowak, then at Kaiden. Another flare of hatred erupted in him as he stared, and he called out to his Donphan, wanting to end the battle quickly.

"Donphan, use Rollout again, full speed!" he said savagely.

Donphan planted its hind legs in the ground and trumpeted with its trunk. Marowak came within feet of Donphan before the latter rolled into a ball and charged towards Marowak, colliding with it at full speed and sending it crashing, once again, into the stadium wall. It fell onto the arena, but, exhausted, it didn't rise again, and passed out. Ash yelled triumphantly as Kaiden looked desolately at his fallen Pokémon.

"Marowak is unable to battle. Victory goes to Ash and Donphan!" shouted the referee, once again raising a red flag towards Ash. The number '1' next to Ash's name changed to a '2', and as Kaiden recalled his Marowak, its picture on the screen went black.

"At the end of the match, Ash has scored two points for the first round, and Kaiden has scored one point!" stated the announcer as the crowd erupted with applause, congratulating both Trainers. Kaiden jerked his head in acknowledgement at Ash, but Ash simply recalled Donphan and stalked off, not bothering to return the gesture. Brock and Dawn looked on, confused at Ash's lack of sportsmanship, as the spectators around them slowly stood up and left for the exits.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Kaiden's character design is based on the male CoolTrainer class – but his clothes aren't.**

***Feraligatr's knowledge of Dragon Dance means that it was bred with either a member of the Horsea family, or the Dratini family (assuming that it wasn't a chain breed).**

**Quiz:**

***What do Spinarak, Feraligatr, and Marowak have in common AS POKÉMON?**


	13. Keep Your Friends Close

**CHAPTER 13 – KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE…**

Ash stood silently in the shower in his hotel room, a hand resting on the wall as he let the cold water run down his body, burning as though it were made of fire. He stood there, thinking about everything that had happened in the last hour. He thought about Anabel; at first he thought about her surprise appearance at his match, but his mind quickly turned to the more important issue. He thought of why she had kissed him right before his match had started, and of the good luck charm she had given him. Ash opened the shower door and took the purple flower from the bathroom sink on which it had been lying. He twirled it in his fingers, staring at the centre, which was a small circle of deep purple. The colour reminded Ash of the colour of Anabel's eyes, and he impulsively raised it to his face and smelt it. The aroma of the flower wafted through his nostrils, and he let the smell consume his thoughts for a long time. He smiled inwardly, glancing down at the flower before he hastily put it back on the sink, afraid that he'd let his guard down for such a small token.

_I can't get hung up on something like that_, he thought to himself, closing the shower door. _I can't let it distract me from the tournament._

He repeated the thought in his head for several minutes, reciting it like a small child would recite a nursery rhyme. But then his thoughts turned to the tournament itself. He reflected on the battle he had just had against Kaiden, and his temper flared. He'd let his emotions get the better of him, and, in his hatred for Kaiden's battle style, very similar to Paul's, he allowed himself to become just like the two of them; eager to crush the opponent, to win at all costs, desperate not to fail and be seen as weak. He shouted in frustration and slammed his fist against the wall. He was ashamed of himself for falling into that trap, and he was ashamed of using his Donphan as a channel for his anger and ruthlessness. He'd raised his Pokémon with good intentions, and within that one battle, he felt like he'd undone all that. His self-loathing boiled in him, and he could almost feel the cold water evaporating into steam around him.

He turned off the shower and dried himself off roughly. He quickly got dressed, stowed the small flower into his inside jacket pocket, ruffled his hair into the shape he liked it, and walked out into the lounge room. There he saw an unexpected sight; Anabel was sitting on one of the armchairs, with Pikachu dozing peacefully on her lap. She raised a finger to her lips, glancing down at Pikachu, and Ash looked at her sceptically. He walked over, softly lifted Pikachu up, walked into his bedroom, and placed Pikachu lightly on his bed, covering it with his jacket. He returned to the lounge room and sat down on the armchair opposite Anabel, scrutinising her closely.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, genuinely surprised. He must have sounded disapproving, because Anabel made to get up and leave. "No, no, I don't mean it like that," he said quickly, motioning for her to sit back down. "I meant, uh…"

"I know what you meant," she said, smiling warmly. "I wanted to congratulate you on your win after the match, but you stormed off right after you won the last battle and I didn't get the chance. I met Ari outside the stadium, he told me where you were staying, and, well, here I am," she added, waving an arm.

"Oh, right," said Ash slowly. "How'd you get in?" he asked.

Anabel shrugged. "The door was unlocked, so I let myself in," she said simply. "I heard the shower running, so I decided to wait until you came out, and I had a little catch-up with Pikachu before he fell asleep." She giggled.

"Oh, I must've left the door open when I came in," he said blankly, laughing nervously and scratching the back of his head with his injured hand. "Sorry for making you wait, though."

"Oh no, it's quite alright!" Anabel said hurriedly, with another smile. As Ash put his hand down on his lap, she noticed the cuts and redness. "Oh my, what happened to your hand?" she asked, worried. She got up and walked over to get a closer look.

"It's nothing, just a little run-in with some broken glass," said Ash dismissively. "So—"

"Let me have a look," pressed Anabel, grabbing his hand and taking it in her own. Ash, remembering the events of the morning, felt a burning feeling in his hand that nothing to do with his injuries as she turned it this way and that, her fingers cool against his skin.

"Hey, Anabel, this morning at my match… why did you kiss me?" asked Ash suddenly, and he paid for it as her grip on his hand tightened briefly, sending pain shooting up his arm.

"Come on, Ash, it doesn't take a mind reader to figure it out," she said, blushing.

"Well, since you're pretty much a mind reader yourself, could you tell me?" he asked her, clearly not understanding.

Anabel's face hardened. "One, I'm not a mind reader, I just have _empathy_, and that's with Pokémon, not people," she said crossly. "And two, if you can't figure out for yourself why I kissed you today, you shouldn't put any more thought into it!" She huffed and made for the door.

"Wait—Anabel!" Ash cried, rushing to his feet. "Hey!" He ran over and grabbed her arm as she was opening the door, before twisting them both around to stand in front of her, blocking her path. "Look—I'm sorry if it sounded like I was being mean just then," he said, looking deliberately at the buttons on her shirt, "but I've just had a lot on my mind, there's been a lot of stuff going on lately, and then you show up—"

"Stop it, Ash, you're charming me to death," said Anabel coldly, shaking his hand off her arm, and Ash flinched.

"—And you kiss me right before my first match!" Ash finished angrily, his voice a bit louder than when he had started. "So I'm sorry for being a bit confused when you ask me why _you_ did what you did," he said, softly but bitterly. Anabel's expression softened, and her lip quivered.

"No, I should be sorry," she said, and Ash knew that she meant it. She manoeuvred around him and walked out the door. Ash stared after her, forlorn. She stopped suddenly, a few steps down the hall, then turned and walked back. She stopped again, inches away from Ash.

"Did you, uh, forget something?" he asked her, swallowing.

"In a way," she said airily, her cheeks turning crimson. "I just need to check something." And with that her hand reached forward and held his injured one, delicately snaking her fingers through his. She pulled his hand up and held it to her chest, her eyes staring into his. Ash could feel her heart beating against the back of his hand, and he felt no pain amongst the cuts and scars. He wanted to say something, but he was unable to speak; all he could do was open his mouth stupidly, and even that was only slightly.

"Anabel—what are you doing?" he managed to say blankly. Anabel smiled and squeezed his hand, and then she pressed herself to Ash, wedging their entwined hands in the middle, as her free hand slid up his arm and rested on his shoulder. He knew that now she could feel his heartbeat too, and, if his brain was working properly, he would have guessed that that was her intention. But right now Ash's mind was completely numb; he could see nothing, feel nothing, and think of nothing but her – her violet eyes gazing at his, the sweet yet somewhat familiar fragrance of her skin and hair, her heart beating against his hand – and Ash was utterly terrified. Terrified that he could hear his own heart, thrashing about like a caged Tauros against his chest; terrified that Anabel could no doubt feel it too; terrified to say or move anything that he shouldn't, because he had no idea what either of them were doing, or what to do next.

So he stood there, heart pounding, as he and Anabel looked deep into each others' eyes. In Anabel's, Ash saw spinning galaxies, and starlight, but he also saw an endless, deep, mysterious darkness which he couldn't begin to comprehend, and he felt shaken to his soul. He shut his eyes and let out a deep, shuddering breath. He felt Anabel slowly pull away, and she took his hand with her, keeping it close to her chest. He didn't resist, and when he opened his eyes he saw that she was beaming at him, so he smiled as casually as he could.

"So—uh—what was it that you wanted to check?" Ash asked her breathlessly.

She wordlessly guided his hand away from her chest and upwards to her face. She clasped his hand in both of hers and kissed it lightly, and again Ash felt no pain. She was still blushing, but she slowly, softly, let go of his hand, turned on the spot and walked out the door into the hallway. Ash, stunned, shaken, and surprised, took a step into the hallway hesitantly, and stared after her as she turned a corner and walked out of sight. He closed the door behind him and rested against it, still staring at the spot where she went out of sight. He slowly raised his injured hand and looked down at it, dumbstruck, before he headed back inside.

* * *

**Quiz:**

***In the **_**anime**_**, who is the only girl that Ash had ever shown a romantic interest in?**


	14. Friends And Connections

**CHAPTER 14 – FRIENDS AND CONNECTIONS**

Brock opened the door to the hotel room, letting Ari and Dawn enter ahead of him before he swung it shut. As the clock hit eleven thirty, and the two of them made themselves comfortable on the lounge, he fetched himself a glass of water in the kitchen and drained it quickly. Just as he put the glass down on the kitchen-top he heard a small noise coming from Ash's bedroom, and he strolled over to investigate.

Ash was lying spread-eagled on his bed, deep asleep, with Pikachu lying on his stomach in a curled-up ball. A small book was lying upturned on the floor, and Brock guessed that it must have fallen out of Ash's hand as he fell asleep. He smiled and walked over to the book, and glanced at the page that it was opened to. He saw a picture of a small, purple flower, petals closed, on one side, and Brock looked over at Ash, surprised.

_Since when does Ash take an interest in flowers?_ he thought to himself, closing the book and placing it on the bedside drawer. Then he noticed a small shape lying on Ash's chest. Brock quietly craned his neck to get a better look, and he saw the same purple flower he had just seen in the book moments ago, only this one had its petals opened. He caught a whiff of the flower's scent, and it reminded him of something deep in his memory, from something that had happened long ago, far away. He scrambled over to the book and snatched it up, riffling through the pages until he saw the picture of the flower again. He read the small paragraph on the opposite page, hoping it would provide answers.

"_Kasib berries_," he muttered. "_Considered to have a special power in the olden days, this Berry is sometimes dried and used as a good-luck charm. Keeping a Kasib berry close by can help in warding off malevolent spirits, which seem to fear the strange aroma that the berry gives off. If a Kasib is eaten by a Pokémon in battle, the Pokémon will resist the next Ghost-type attack that would otherwise cause serious damage to it. These berries are quite firm, and when eaten…" _he read, not bothering to read further. He put the book back down on the bedside table, and looked at the flower rising and falling on Ash's chest as he snored. Brock slowly moved his hand forward to take the flower and inspect it closer, but as he raised it off his chest, Ash's hand shot up, grabbing Brock's wrist with a grip of iron. Brock cried out in alarm.

"Let go," Ash whispered. Brock dropped the flower in surprise, and Ash relinquished his grip, his eyes snapping open. As he sat up, Brock staggered back, wringing his wrist.

"Ash, what's going on?" Brock asked, hurt.

Ash blinked, realising who Brock was. "Sorry, Brock," he mumbled, moving Pikachu onto a pillow. "I thought you were stealing—"

"Ash, why would I ever steal from you?" said Brock, picking up the book on the bedside. "So how come you were looking up Kasib berries? I didn't know you had an interest in them."

"I didn't—I don't," said Ash, holding up the flower. "But I wanted to know more about this flower."

"The flower of a dried Kasib berry?" puzzled Brock. "Where'd you get it from?"

Ash's cheeks went red for a moment, but Brock didn't seem to notice; he was riffling through the book again, looking for the page on Kasib berries. "I, uh, got it a souvenir shop on the way back here," he invented. "The merchant who, uh, sold it to me said it was a good luck charm, uh, but I wanted to check."

"Really?" said Brock, reading the rest of the passage on Kasib berries. "That's impressive; from what it says here about Kasibs, they're pretty rare to get a hand on as they are, but it's even harder to find them like that," he explained, pointing at the flower Ash was twirling in his hand.

"Must be a sign," said Ash, focusing on the flower. "I was pretty _lucky_ in the first place to find one, and now I've got one to improve my luck." He laughed. Brock chuckled, and the two stared at the flower in Ash's hand for several moments.

"So how come you stormed off right after the match?" Brock asked, taking him off-guard. "You looked pretty unhappy."

Ash stopped twirling the Kasib and sighed. "Y'know how neither of us like Paul? The way he battles, the way he is?"

"Yeah," said Brock, frowning. "But I don't see how that—"

"Well, when Kaiden beat Totodile with his Feraligatr, he said 'a loss is never a job well done', and it got to me. I don't know if it was the crowd, or him, or me, but I lost it. I wanted to beat him so badly that I wouldn't have cared if I'd done it with myself going against his Marowak; I wanted to humiliate him publicly for thinking like that. And because of that, I ended up just like him and Paul," Ash said bitterly, his eyes darkening.

Brock nodded grimly. "So you feel like you sank to their level just to teach them the error of their ways? Bit ironic, don't you think?" he asked rhetorically. "Come on, Ash, everyone who's met you know that you're a kind-hearted Trainer. Paul and Kaiden aren't important, and you need to focus on winning this tournament. You can't afford to have distractions like that keeping your mind away from your main goal," he advised.

"Distractions, huh?" said Ash, smiling weakly.

"Speaking of which," Brock added slyly, "What was with you and Anabel at the start of the match? I'd always thought that I'd be the first one out of us to have a girlfriend, but well—I always thought that you were a bit of a bachelor." He smirked.

"What are you talking about?" asked Ash defensively.

"Well, come on, thousands of people in the stadium saw the two of you kiss each other, and that match probably went out to millions more on television," chuckled Brock.

"Millions?!" said Ash, his heart jumping into his throat.

"Probably, so there's not much point in you denying anything," Brock said. "Wow, first Dawn gets with Ari, and now you and Anabel—"

"What _are_ you talking about?!" repeated Ash, throwing his Kasib on the bed.

"You two kissed each other! That _usually_ means that the two of you are in a relationship!" said Brock, feeling like he was talking to a five-year-old.

"Well, not this time it doesn't!" challenged Ash. Brock sighed and remembered who he was talking to; Ash's knowledge in relationships _was_ about as deep as a five-year-olds.

"Then what would you call it, '_pre_-_match_ _encouragement'_?" Brock retorted, snorting. Ash considered it for a moment, and then shook his head.

"Look, I don't know _what_ it was, but it wasn't a sign that we were 'going out'. It was _just_ a kiss, that's all; it doesn't have to mean anything," he said. "Does it?"

"When a girl like Anabel does something like that in front of that many people, you can be sure it means something," said Brock.

"Great, just great," said Ash, defeated, as he fell back on his bed and picked up the Kasib flower, twirling it again. Brock stood where he was, watching Ash as he blindly placed the berry book back on the bedside.

"What's the big deal with that flower, anyways?" he finally asked.

"It's… familiar," said Ash cryptically. He wasn't lying either; it reminded him of Anabel, and of the moment they'd had in the doorway of his hotel room. He wasn't sure what had come out of it, but now he was starting to finally get an idea, thanks to Brock. The latter realised that there was something Ash wasn't telling him, but he decided not to badger him over it. After all, he thought, there was enough on Ash's mind at the moment, with the tournament and everything else, without him being pressured further by anything on top of it.

"Well, I'm going to get something to drink," he said reluctantly, turning towards the door. "You want anything?" he asked Ash. After several moments of silence, he turned back and saw that Ash wasn't paying attention, instead staring at the small purple flower continuously turning between his fingers. His face expressionless, Brock walked out of the room.

Ash had heard what he had said, but he had been transfixed by the Kasib flower; staring at the petals whirling around as he twisted the stem, and the angle that the petals made with each other reminded him of Anabel's sweeping hair; he moved his gaze to the centre of the flower, and he thought he saw her eye gazing back at him like it had done so recently, so lovingly; and the aroma of the flower was her perfume, intoxicating his brain and driving out all other thought. He'd been so mesmerised by it all that Brock's last comment hadn't registered, and as Brock left, he continued looking at the flower, his face as expressionless as his friends.

_What's wrong with me?_ _All I can seem to think about is her… this can't be doing my chances in the tournament any good, this… _obsession_… then why can't I stop thinking about her?_

Meanwhile, Brock, Ari and Dawn were in the dining room, discussing Ash's strange behaviour.

"So how come he went out of the stadium right after the last battle?" Dawn asked Brock.

"He thinks that he lost control of his emotions and turned into a Paul-like Trainer when he was battling Kaiden's Marowak with his Donphan," Brock explained.

"Ah," said Ari concernedly. "Well, right at the end, that Marowak was looking pretty beaten up, y'know, as good as out, and Ash didn't let up at all. He seemed to go after it even harder with Donphan."

"Maybe that's why he was so angry," Brock suggested. "Going after the win that badly, having his Donphan listen to him while he was like that."

"Yeah, I'd feel pretty bad if I did that," Dawn agreed, glancing in the direction of Ash's bedroom. Brock looked over too, and an idea came to him. He looked back over towards Ari.

"Hey, Ari, what do you know about Kasib berries?" Brock asked him inquisitively.

"A fair bit," Ari said, smiling. "What do you want to know?" he asked casually.

"How easy would it be for a souvenir stall, or a shop-salesman, to get their hands on one?" Brock said.

Ari blew out a long breath and adjusted his hat. "Well, you're not likely to find one around these parts," he said, furrowing his brow. "The soil's too dry and the climate around here is too temperate; you need somewhere a bit cooler, with plenty of water available. Not that there isn't enough water here, though," he added, chuckling. "But no, I don't think I've ever seen a Kasib berry native to this island. So shop-owners would have a hard time getting their hands on one, they'd have to go somewhere less tropical. The Tohjo Falls area has a Kasib _orchard_, because the soil stays moist from the waterfall, and the climate seems to be perfect for growing them," he added on a side-note.

Brock nodded, his suspicions confirmed; Ash was indeed keeping something from him. "What about a Kasib berry charm?" he asked seriously.

"Well they're even harder to get," Ari said. "I certainly haven't got one. You see, the flowers of a Kasib plant last a long time, but there's only a short period of time in their growth cycle where they can be dried properly and still keep their shape. Too early and the flower will just burn up; too late and it ends up falling apart and dissolving into powder. But there's a short window where they're just right, and once you properly heat it and let it cool and dry, they're indestructible. So you have to pick them at a fairly precise time to be able to have a proper flower that you can dry and fashion into a good-luck charm. Why do you ask?" he asked Brock after he finished, puzzled. "Are you looking to try and make one yourself?"

"No, no, nothing like that," Brock said quickly. He glanced back at Ash's room before he beckoned for Ari and Dawn to come closer. "Ash has one of them, a Kasib good luck charm, and he says he got it from a souvenir stall here a couple of hours ago, but I think he's lying."

"Lucky him," said Dawn merrily, looking at him. Ari on the other hand, leant back in his seat, rubbing his chin.

"He's got one, you say?" he said, making sure he'd heard properly.

"Yeah, do you know where he might have gotten one?" Brock asked him.

"Well, your best bet is somewhere or someone in western Kanto or eastern Johto," said Ari, standing up suddenly and walking into the kitchen. Brock heard him muttering something, so he signalled to Dawn to keep quiet, and slowly edged towards the kitchen wall and put his ear out into the open space that led into the kitchen. All he could hear were pieces, which did little to give Brock any clearer ideas about the origins of the flower.

"…near Tohjo Falls… of course… gets that scent from… smells like them… the hair… the eyes… Ash sees the connection… Psychic Pokémon… help with their Ghost… need to remember… some for Horazon… still a pretty bold move… could be wrong… should ask… make sure… very sly, An—"

Brock heard Ari break off, and he knew that he'd been spotted. He dived back to his seat and tried to salvage any hope that he might not have been found out, but as he straightened up, he saw Ari leaning on the door frame, his eyebrows raised. Brock hung his head in shame.

"I hope you've gotten something out of your eavesdropping?" said Ash, his voice indifferent.

"No—not really," Brock admitted. "Look, Ari, I'm sorry for—"

"Don't worry about apologising," Ari replied coolly. "I _was_ going to tell you what I was thinking, but now I think I'll keep it to myself for the time being, don't you think?"

Brock knew that he would be out of line if he said otherwise, so he had no choice but to agree. "Yeah I guess so," he said awkwardly.

"Well, I've got to go for my first match," said Ari, checking the clock on the wall. "It starts in under half an hour and it wouldn't be a good look if I turned up late."

"I'll come too!" said Dawn, bounding over to join him and grabbing his hand. "Coming, Brock?" she asked with a grin.

"What—? Yeah, sure," grunted Brock as he stood up. The three of them headed out the door, and Brock closed it behind him, leaving Ash and Pikachu alone in the hotel room.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***When I inserted the Kasib charm into the story, it was purely intended to be just a purple flower used as a good luck charm – its purple colour was simply meant to represent Anabel. But a day later, I checked through the BerryDex on and found that Kasib berries shared the exact same properties! Talk about coincidence!**

***Ari's vast knowledge of Kasib berries can be attributed to his Dusknoir; all members of the Duskull family, in the games, can occasionally be found holding Kasib berries in the wild.**

***Anabel's Battle Tower is located near Tohjo Falls, which could explain where she had obtained such a rare object.**

**Quiz:**

***In the 4****th**** generation of Pokémon games, which number berry is the Kasib?**


	15. Invitation For Four

**CHAPTER 15 – INVITATION FOR FOUR**

It was just before one o'clock in the afternoon, and Ari and Leoric had both swept through their first-round opponents, earning the maximum three points each. Short of losing their other match three-nil, they had guaranteed themselves spots in the next round, as, in the event of two or more competitors being on equal points, a count-back system would come into effect, and the Trainer that wins the most consecutive battles, starting from the first, would advance. The two Trainers walked back towards the mass of hotels, confident after their wins.

"Sorry I couldn't make it to your match, Leo," said Ari apologetically, as the pair strolled lazily down a side street.

"Hey, it's alright, you didn't miss too much," Leoric reassured him. "I made sure it was fairly quick."

Ari laughed. "What were the matchups?"

"Umm… his Camerupt, Delibird and Ivysaur against my Rhyperior, Absol and Altaria," said Leoric, ticking them off on his fingers.

"Nice," said Ari, considering each Pokémon. "How long did it take?" he asked.

"Fourteen minutes," said Leoric arrogantly, and Ari laughed again.

"That _was_ quick," Ari conceded.

"Quicker than yours," Leoric smirked. "You looked like you were tormenting her for a while, letting her get back in the battle before you sent her Pokémon flying."

Ari looked at him blankly. "I didn't think I was tormenting anybody," he said.

"Well you must've been off your game then, because you looked close to losing one or two battles a few times," joked Leoric. Ari pulled his hat lower over his head, and Leoric frowned.

"Wait, _were_ you off your game?" he asked, shocked.

Ari stopped walking, and he looked around, worried, as though afraid that rival competitors were following him. "Alright, maybe I was off by a little bit," he admitted, emphasising the word 'little' with a gesture. "But it doesn't matter; I still got myself three points." He continued walking, but Leoric caught up and grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks. He grabbed Ari roughly by the shoulders, and searched his eyes for an answer, and he soon found one.

"You got spooked," he said firmly. "You got nervous because Dawn was watching you."

Ari shook Leoric's hands off him and turned away. "Alright, I admit it. I saw her watching me, and I lost my nerve. Happy now?!" he said, his anger showing in the tone of his voice. He heard Leoric let out a barking laugh and he whipped his head around. "What's so funny?"

"The great Ari DeVarro, one of the greatest Trainers in the world, reduced to a nervous wreck by a twelve-year-old girl," he said, shaking with laughter.

"Well, when you say it like that!" said Ari, as if to cry foul.

"'_This boy's in love',_" sang Leoric, in an extremely bad attempt of an opera tenor's voice.

"Oh, shut up, Leo," said Ari angrily, blushing. Several passers-by turned to see what the noise was, but quickly went on their way. Ari began walking away, and Leoric rushed up beside him, keeping pace with him.

"You deny it?" asked Leoric tauntingly, and Ari promptly shut his mouth and blushed further. "Thought not," he said with another barking laugh.

"Hey, how about you, me, Anabel, Ash, Dawn and Brock have lunch together?" he suggested, out of the blue, and Ari's head popped up.

"That's not a bad idea," Ari murmured, looking over at him. "At least you can come up with _some_ good ideas when you need to," he jested, earning himself a smack in the side. "Well, Ash and the others should be in their room, go and fetch them. I'll get Anabel," he said, picking up his pace.

"Shouldn't _you_ be the one to go see _Dawn_?" asked Leoric cheekily, and this time it was he who was hit in the side.

"No, because I think you've had no time with the three of them to acquaint yourself with, and this'll give you some time to _socialise_," Ari fired back. "Besides, I need to talk to Anabel before she sees Ash again."

"Does it have anything to do with her attempt to dig out Ash's tons—?" began Leoric, but Ari punched him in the ribs.

"Grow up," he said scathingly.

* * *

Five minutes later, Anabel opened her hotel room door to find an out-of-breath Ari waiting outside, bent over and trying to catch his breath, having sprinted up the stairs to get up there.

"Hey—Anabel—" he wheezed between gasps. "Can I—come in—?"

"Sure," she said, surprised, ushering him in. "To what do I owe this visit?" she asked, mock-politely.

"Well," said Ari, still slightly out of breath. He sat down and sucked in a few deep breaths and relaxed. "I'm here to ask if you'd like to join me and some friends for lunch."

Anabel looked at him doubtfully. "_Some friends_? Y'know, I'm not stupid. I know how this works: I say yes, then once we get there, you say 'oh, it looks like they couldn't make it' and then you try and pull a fast one. I'm not even sure you really _have_ a girlfriend, anyways," she said, regarding him with a cold stare.

Ari stood up, noticeably taken aback by her comments. "Where the heck did you get _that_ idea?!"

"Oh come on, Ari, there's no way that you can be _that_ polite to me and not expect something," she said coolly, her eyes narrowed.

Ari walked briskly over to her, stopping barely a foot from her face. She saw that his jaw was tensed, his eyes boring into her. Then he spoke softly, but she could hear the danger in his voice, crashing onto her louder than his words.

"Okay, let me make this perfectly clear to you. One, I am polite to you because I respect you as a Pokémon Trainer, as a person, as a woman, and as a friend," he hissed softly. "I would have liked to think that that was enough, but I'll make it even clearer. I _do_ have a girlfriend. Her name's Dawn; you must have seen her at my match earlier, she was sitting right next to Leoric!" he said desperately.

Anabel frowned, thinking back to the match. She'd been focusing on Ari's performance, but she remembered that as she'd turned to talk to Leoric about his second battle, she'd seen, out of the corner of her eye, a blue-haired girl with a white hat cheering Ari on, sitting between Leoric and Brock. She brought her mind back to the present and saw Ari looking at her, waiting for an answer.

"Ari, I'm so sorry," she mumbled, casting her eyes down. "Yes, I saw her at the match, the one with the blue hair, right?"

"That's her," he said, relieved.

"I thought she was just a friend of Brock's! I didn't realise that the two of you were—"

"Hey, don't worry about it!" Ari said merrily, trying to raise her spirits back up. "How could you have known? But next time, try not to attack my morals quite so much, yeah?" he added with a laugh.

Anabel let out a small laugh. "Alright," she said humbly.

"So you'll come to lunch? Leo and Brock ought to be there, and I want to properly introduce you to Dawn," he offered again. "Plus, with a little luck, Ash is gonna be there too," he added with a twinkle in his eye.

Anabel nodded, and then did a double-take. "Wait, did you say Ash?" she demanded.

"Yes, I most certainly did," he answered politely. "Which leads me to the other reason I came here. Sit down," he requested, sitting on a nearby stool.

Anabel sat on a stool of her own, and Ari swung round on his to face her, studying her momentarily.

"When you kissed Ash this morning at the stadium," he began. Anabel opened her mouth to protest, but Ari wasn't concerned about the kiss itself, so he waved her down, and she closed her mouth. "When you kissed him, you gave him something else, didn't you? A small, purple, flowery something?"

Anabel opened her mouth again, but in surprise this time. "How do you know? Did you see it?"

Ari shook his head innocently. "No. The only two people who have seen it after you gave it to him are Ash and Brock. Brock's the one who told me that he has one, but Ash is saying that he got it from a souvenir shop after the match was finished."

"Now from what Brock told me, Ash has only had that Kasib charm for a few hours. Now, I know quite a bit about those berries; after all, they're quite popular amongst Pokémon of the Duskull family. I've been doing research on them for a year or two, and I know where, when and how to grow them, and what to do with them. I even showed you how to make perfume out of them, which you seem to have taken a liking to; don't worry, I'm just making an observation."

"But none of my knowledge of Kasib berries is what is concerning me. The thing that worries me is the rather obvious connections between you and the charms that can be made from them, specifically the one you gave him. Even a Zubat would be able to tell that your hair is in the same shape as the petals, or that you smell so much like the flowers, or that your eyes are the same colour as the bud at the centre. How much more do you think a Trainer like Ash is going to notice?"

Anabel blinked; she hadn't thought of it like that. "Well I wanted him to have it!" she said, her face flushing. "I wanted him to have something to… to think of me by."

"Yes, I know, and there's nothing wrong with that," Ari said calmly. "But you gave him something that powerful, right at the start of the tournament, and sooner or later he's going to become _obsessed_ with it. He's not going to be able to focus on his matches, and I'm sure you know that he's a very battle-orientated Trainer."

Anabel rose to her feet, her anger rising. "Is that all that you men care about, Pokémon battles?! Don't you realise that there's more to life than just winning?!"

Ari got to his feet too, but he was nowhere near angry. He put his hands on Anabel's shoulders and looked in her eyes, just as Leoric had done to Ari himself minutes earlier. "I know, Anabel. I know, believe me, I know that now. But you have to remember that this is bigger than you. You've got to consider Ash as well."

His words struck home, and he felt Anabel go limp. He helped her into an armchair, and he waited for her to speak.

"You're right," she whispered, burying her face in her hands. "I've got to think of Ash as well. But is it too much to ask for a little romance?" she asked him, pouting.

Ari grinned and laughed. "By all means, romance away. But," he added, "not so much that you put Ash off, alright?"

Anabel smiled. "Of course not," she said. "Well, come on, we don't want to be late for lunch, now do we?"

* * *

Leoric knocked on the door of Ash's room just as Ari and Anabel left hers; Leoric had gotten lost in the hotel and had to head down three floors from where he had taken the lift to find the right room. He waited, cursing his bad judgment, for someone to answer the door. After about a minute, it opened, and he was greeted by Ash and Pikachu, who was in Ash's arms.

"Hi, Leoric," he said, clearly surprised to see his visitor. "Ah, come on in."

"Don't mind if I do," Leoric said gratefully, walking into the lounge room. He waved casually at Brock, who was reading the small berry book that he'd seen in Ash's room, and then he smiled and nodded at Dawn, who was playing with her Piplup and Pachirisu.

"Hey, congrats on your first match, Ash," he said, shaking Ash's hand.

"Thanks!" he said confidently. "Sorry I didn't get to see yours; how did it go?"

"Good, good, I got three points so I'm happy," Leoric answered, grinning.

"So Leoric, what brings you here?" Dawn asked, looking up from her Pokémon.

"Well, after our matches, Ari and I got to talking, and we thought it'd be a good idea if we all went out to lunch together!" he suggested, rubbing his hands together. "Y'know, something casual, and we might get to know each other better."

Brock looked up, marking his book and placing it on the coffee table. "That sounds like a great idea!" he said brightly. Dawn and Ash agreed, while Piplup and Pikachu clapped their hands together with glee.

"So who's going to be there?" Ash asked, grinning at Pikachu.

"Well, it'll be me, Ari, you, Brock and Dawn," Leoric said, counting them on the fingers on his hand. Then he put his other hand up and threw out a finger. "Oh, and Anabel," he added, his face giving nothing away as Ash's eyes glazed over, and his hand impulsively reached, unknown to everyone else, to the Kasib flower hidden in his jacket pocket. Brock and Dawn glanced at Ash, then at each other, and both hid a snicker as they got to their feet and stood next to Leoric.

"Well this should be fun, shouldn't it, Brock?" Dawn said slyly.

"Absolutely. Don't you think so, Ash?" Brock asked him smartly.

Ash managed to snap himself out of his reverie. He saw the three of them staring at him, smirking. "Yeah, I suppose so," he said, waving an arm lazily. Then he looked down at Pikachu, and saw that it, too, was smirking at him. "What's so funny?" he asked, laughing nervously.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," said Leoric mischievously. He looked at Brock and Dawn, and tossed his head back. Dawn quickly jumped in.

"Well, let's go!" she said impatiently. "I'm starving!" she added, and she recalled her Pokémon and ran out the door. "Come on!"

Brock laughed and followed her. "Don't be so impatient," he called out after her as Ash made for the door. As he passed Leoric, the latter flung his arm out to stop him.

"Hey, what gives?" he asked as Leoric sidled past.

"I see that Anabel's made quite an impression on you," he said, sneering. He reached the door, then sniffed the air, cocking his head. "I can smell it too," he added, and he tapped his shirt pocket, looking at Ash's jacket. Ash stared at him.

_How did he know?!_ he thought, as Leoric walked out the door and around the bend in the hallway. He hastily scooped Pikachu up, put him on his shoulder, and ran down the hall after his friends, slamming the door shut behind him.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Anabel's conversation proves that she and Ari have past history, although it appears to be a pleasant one.**

**Quiz:**

***In this chapter, which Pokémon generation has the most of its Pokémon referenced?**


	16. Under The Table

**CHAPTER 16 – UNDER THE TABLE**

Ash, Pikachu, Brock, Dawn and Leoric met in the hotel lobby at quarter past one. Barring Leoric, who hadn't had a chance, they had all changed clothes to wear to lunch; Ash had forgone his usual black jacket, but he still kept the Kasib flower in his jeans pocket; Brock had quickly changed his vest for a white zip-up jacket, whereas Dawn had, despite Ash's protests of her wasting time, changed her entire outfit. She wore a bottle-green long-sleeved shirt, and long black jeans, which clung tightly to her legs and accentuated her features.

Within about a minute, Ari and Anabel came through the doors to the hotel, and Ari, having gone past his own room on the way, had switched to a blue shirt with a white collar and sleeves, and a pair of full-length chocolate-coloured pants, which suited him quite gracefully despite the clashing colours. The two groups met in the middle of the lobby, and as other Trainers walked around them to and from the elevators, they turned and looked at the six people in the centre of the room before heading on their way.

"I'd say we're turning quite a few heads," giggled Dawn, looking around as she stepped over to Ari.

"Well if we are, it's all because of you," he said charmingly. "You're looking gorgeous."

"Thanks, you're not bad yourself," she replied cheekily, and he grabbed her around her waist and pulled her, giggling, in for a hug. Brock exchanged a glance with Leoric, who rolled his eyes and shook his head. Anabel, meanwhile, had sidled right up besides Ash.

"Hey," she said conversationally, her eyes twinkling at him.

"Uh, hi," he said awkwardly. "Umm…"

"Still a bit confused about earlier?" she said.

"See, you _can_ read minds," Ash commented, smiling. "And 'a bit' would be putting it lightly," he added.

"_Pii pika_?" Pikachu said, its head snapping around to face Ash, then Anabel. _Huh? _Anabel sighed sarcastically at Ash before picking Pikachu up off his shoulder.

"Ash didn't tell you, did he?" she asked, to which Pikachu shook its head blankly. "Well I can assure you that you didn't miss much," she said, tapping it on the nose, returning it to Ash, who put Pikachu back on his shoulder. Ash gave her a questioning look, but she pressed a finger to her lips, and Pikachu, still shifting around on Ash's shoulder to get comfortable, took no notice.

"Geez, all these couples are making me feel so lonely," Brock muttered to Leoric, quietly enough that only he could hear. The latter looked back at him suspiciously.

"What are you, coming on to me or something?" he remarked sarcastically, feigning to edge away from him.

Brock laughed. "No, I can assure you, I'm as straight as they get; just ask Ash about my innumerable attempts with women."

"_Attempts_? What keeps going wrong?" Leoric asked. "Actually, don't answer that," he corrected, waving a hand to silence Brock.

"So where are we going, anyone?" Ash asked wildly.

"A nice little café, a few minutes' walk away," Ari explained, letting go of Dawn. "It's called the Crescent Moon Café, and… well, you'll see why I like it when you go in," he said with a wink.

"Well it certainly sounds… nice," Ash mumbled. Anabel flashed him a grin, and he couldn't help but smile back at her. Just then, Ash's stomach gave a loud rumble, which everyone heard over the din of their surroundings.

"Oh, man… so hungry…" he said, embarrassed, patting his gut.

"Uh oh, sounds like we need to hurry up, otherwise Ash might pass out from malnourishment," Anabel ribbed, jabbing Ash in the side with a finger. She winked at him, and he stared back, confused by the gesture, before she turned to Ari. "Well, lead the way," she proclaimed.

"With pleasure," Ari beamed, taking Dawn's arm in his own. "Follow me!"

And with that, the two of them ran out into the street, waving exuberantly for the others to follow. Brock sighed before jogging along, closely followed by Leoric. Pikachu bounded forwards, then looked back expectantly at Ash, who took a few running steps towards the doors, then turned back to Anabel.

"Hey, you coming?" he asked. Anabel hesitated, and so he pounced backwards and grabbed her by the hand. He gave it a quick squeeze, flashing a grin, and he pulled her along. Anabel gasped in pleasant shock, and she blushed furiously from ear to ear, but she let Ash take her by the arm, and Ash, already heading briskly for the door, was oblivious to all of it.

* * *

Five minutes later, the group reached their destination, the Crescent Moon Café. As he looked, Ash saw why Ari liked it. The café was shaped like a Cresselia; the Pokémon's head rose majestically above the surrounding restaurants and shops, whilst the 'arms' had been replaced by a garden of purple and pink flowers, which swayed to and fro in the breeze. Where the hands met in the middle at Cresselia's torso, there was a large hollow entrance which led into a surprisingly spacious area, clustered with tables and chairs.

"Here we are," Ari said, making a point of stating the obvious. "Come on in, they ought to have a table for us," he added, leading Dawn inside.

"Ooh, just look at all the purple!" said Anabel ecstatically, looking around at the building and flowers. Then she looked down, seemingly at the ground, and an eyebrow flew up, almost in surprise. Ash followed her gaze, and his mouth dropped open in definite surprise as they both saw that Ash was still holding Anabel's hand.

"Y'know, you don't have to hold on for the sake of holding on," she said respectfully, but again, she made no sign that she was uncomfortable. On the contrary, as Ash looked, she gave his hand a playful squeeze, and she could have sworn he gave a small one in return.

"Oi!" Brock's voice cut between the two of them standing outside. They glanced up, red-faced, and Ash hastily took his hand away from Anabel's and stowed it in his jacket pocket as Brock tried to usher them inside.

"I guess we should go in…" Ash murmured, and he shuffled into the café, his face hidden. Anabel simply stood and looked on, amused, as though Ash's actions were part of an entertaining show. She shrugged her shoulders and strolled in peacefully behind him, with Leoric lazily bringing up the rear. Ari, Brock and Dawn had already taken their seats at a table of six towards the side, and the remaining three took their places, so that Ari, Dawn, Brock, Ash, Anabel, and Leoric sat in a circle, from left to right, around the table.

As they looked through their menus looking for what to order, Pikachu noticed that Anabel was shooting Ash covert glances, trying to catch his eye. It wasn't meeting much success, as Ash was intensely focused on the pasta section of the menu, scratching his chin and furrowing his brow.

_Oh boy, Ash is impossible_, Pikachu thought. Suddenly it found itself staring at Anabel, who was looking back, a slightly unfocused look on her face.

_Pikachu, do you think you can help me out here? _she asked him telepathically.

_How do you think _I'm_ going to be able to help?_ Pikachu thought.

_Because you know Ash better than anyone else,_ she answered. _And… well… I really want to get to know him better. _Much_ better,_ she added, her face tinged with pink.

_Oh… _Pikachu pondered her comment for a few seconds. Then its mouth dropped. _Ohhh…_

Anabel went even redder. _Yes, so, um, I'd really appreciate your help… please?_ she asked audaciously. She waited with baited breath as Pikachu considered her request, and she smiled and breathed a sigh of relief as Pikachu nodded happily. She was so happy to have gained Pikachu's co-operation that she didn't pay any attention to Ash, who, having ordered meals for everyone, was trying to ask her a question.

"Anabel? Uh, Anabel, you okay?" he asked her, concerned, as he leant over towards her. He tapped Anabel on the shoulder, which made her jump and let out a small squeal, shaking her head around crazily.

"What—? Oh, sorry, I must have zoned out for a while," she said, laughing apprehensively. "What was it you were saying?" she asked, smiling at Ash.

"I… uh… I was just asking if you'd entered in the tournament," he said, still looking anxiously at her. To his right, Pikachu was suppressing a laugh.

_Well played, Anabel… well played! _Pikachu thought provokingly, knowing that Anabel could hear. She heard him alright, but she didn't know if Pikachu was being sarcastic or not, so she paid no heed to it.

"Yeah, I've entered into it," she said after a moment. "I had my matches yesterday, right after the opening ceremony, and I already qualified for the next round."

"That's awesome!" said Dawn encouragingly. "Hey, later on, you might end up facing Ari or Leoric or Ash!" she added.

"Well, in that case, don't expect either of them to go lightly on you," Ash said, tilting his chair back. "Just because you're good friends doesn't mean that it'll show on the battlefield."

"And what of you, Ash?" she asked him, seeing the possible loophole in his statement. Ash flushed slightly, and unfortunately for him, everyone saw it. Pikachu wasn't the only one suppressing a laugh, as now Brock and Ari had joined in the humour.

"Well—I'd put all my effort into it—you'd do the same for me, wouldn't you?" Ash asked, hoping he had deflected the question well enough.

"Of course I would! When it comes to you, Ash, I'll never back down!" she agreed fiercely. Ash was slightly taken aback by her blunt honesty, particularly from the several meanings that her second sentence could take on. Anabel quickly realised it too, because she went beet red. She felt embarrassed, and knowing that the others were hiding their laughter, she turned to Pikachu for reassurance. The yellow mouse smiled and nodded its head, giving a small thumbs-up which went unnoticed due to the restraining efforts of the other five.

_I must admit, Anabel, you're quite the brave one,_ it thought.

_Why thank you Pikachu, as long as that _is_ a compliment,_ she replied. _What is it?_ she asked, as Pikachu starting making discreet gestures towards Ash. She saw Pikachu's thoughts and her eyes widened.

_Oh… um… well… hehe… ah… oh my…_ she blubbered, flexing her fingers nervously. Pikachu twitched an ear and stared at her inquisitively. _Well of course I want to! _She said, answering the look. _But, what if he pulls away?!_

Meanwhile, Brock and Leoric were once again in deep conversation about their Pokémon, and Ari and Dawn had their heads together, talking — _and who knows what else_, thought Anabel — quietly to each other. Pikachu caught Anabel's eye, and she saw it as a signal that now was as good a time as ever to make a move.

"Hey, Ash, when is your next match?" she asked him, trying to build up her confidence.

"Three o'clock," Ash said, looking around for any sign of his lunch. "So that's in about… an hour and a half," he added, checking a clock mounted on the wall.

Anabel nodded knowingly. "How many battles will you have to win to progress?"

"Just the one," Ash said confidently, his hands on top of his head. "That Kaiden guy beat him three-nil, so he's got four points. All I need is the one point to qualify in second and make it through."

"But you're going to go for all three, right?" she queried.

"Absolutely! I want to go through with as much of an advantage as I can get, physically or psychologically," he told her, throwing his hands down to his lap.

"Well I know you can do it," she said, her face glowing. She smiled eagerly at him and reached a hand across to his lap, holding Ash's hand in hers.

_What's going on…? _Ash thought. _Why'd she suddenly hold my hand? Why'd she get right up against me in the doorway earlier? Well for that matter, why did she kiss me?! She said she was giving me a good luck charm, but she gave me that Kasib berry, so what was the kiss for? Surely it can't b— no, she _can't_ be thinking that! But… it all makes sense… the kiss… her heartbeat… this… right now… I wonder if she does… But then again, this doesn't feel that bad. Oh no, I'm getting that burning feeling in my hand again, but it's not my bad hand! What the—? She's looking at me. I'd better do something!_

"Thanks, Anabel," he said tenderly, moving his other hand over to clasp hers in both of his. Little did he realise that she was able to understand his feelings, and her eyes widened in shock.

_O-Oh my! Did I make myself that obvious?! Well, the kiss _was_ a bit of a dead giveaway… And I made a pretty big statement at his room… I wish I'd have stayed a bit longer and kissed him again. I probably would've died if I had, though… He's just… ah; I can't even explain it to myself! I'm the Salon Maiden of the Battle Tower, a Frontier Brain for crying out loud, and yet when I'm around him, I seem to just lose myself… Whoa, why'd he just do that, then? Is he doing it out of respect? Is he just trying to get me to stop? Or… does he feel the same way? I-I-I-I… oh, if he does…! _Her mind went numb with bliss as she thought about it, almost to the point where she passed out.

Unknown to Anabel, their lunches had arrived, and Ash quickly turned to his, letting go of her hand in the process.

_Aw, Ash… _she thought, disappointed. Then the whiff of her food got her attention, and she whipped her head round to see the steaming plates of food on the table. _Oh, good, I was starving!_

The seven of them piled through their food in silence, savouring the meal. Pikachu happily nibbled away at a piece of chicken on Ash's plate while he shovelled mouthful after mouthful into his already packed mouth, apparently not wanting to enjoy the flavour of the food. Anabel, slowly eating her favourite minestrone, glanced up and giggled at the display.

_He's cute even when he's stuffing his face_, she thought dreamily.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Despite Anabel telling Ash in Chapter 13 that she isn't psychic (and several times before in the anime), she can still communicate with Pikachu mentally.**

**Quiz:**

***Traditionally, what kind of meat is found in minestrone?**


	17. Initiation: Part II

**CHAPTER 17 – INITIATON: PART II**

_Here we go again,_ Ash thought, standing once again in the dimly lit tunnel leading into the stadium. _Here I am in this stinking tunnel, waiting to go out and battle for my spot in this tournament. Well, the only consolation is that I'm only gonna have to beat _one_ of his Pokémon to go through._ He absent-mindedly patted Pikachu, sitting on a bench next to him, on the head.

"_Cha…_" it said joyfully_. _The sound of approaching footsteps made its ears twitch and fly upright, and both it and Ash turned to see the newcomer.

"Um… hi, Ash," said a female voice, disembodied, in the shadows. "I—just thought I'd come over—and wish you luck—personally." Her voice seemed to rise as the sentence went on, and Ash took a cautionary step towards it, Pikachu leaping to the ground. As the figure became clearer, Ash realised who the voice belonged to, and he gasped in surprise.

"A—Anabel?! What are you doing here?!" he asked.

"I just told you, silly," she said, and even in the darkness both could tell that the other was blushing.

"Oh, right," he muttered awkwardly.

Anabel looked over his shoulder as a clock on the wall buzzed three o'clock. Right on cue, the metal entrance to the stadium slid open soundlessly. "Well, good luck!" she said brightly. She skipped over to him and wrapped him in a tight embrace.

_Geez, Anabel, way to go,_ she thought to herself as she hugged him even tighter.

As she gripped him tighter and tighter, Ash began to have trouble breathing. _Uh, Anabel, you're crushing me,_ he thought, albeit impressed that she was so strong in her arms. "A—Anabel…" he gasped.

Anabel looked up at his face and let go immediately, staggering back, her hand flying to her mouth in horror. "Oh Ash, I'm so sorry!"

Ash doubled over, catching his breath. "It's—okay," he wheezed. Once he'd recovered from her crushing embrace, he stood upright and grinned. "Wow, I had no idea you were that strong!" he joked, chuckling.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, mortified.

"Seriously, I'm fine," he reassured her. "But I've got to get going or I'll be late for the match."

"O-Of course!" Anabel stammered. "Good luck again!" she said, rushing forwards. Ash took a step backwards, and she realised that he was scared of possibly losing a rib to another hug. She hesitated, and chose a safer, but no less bold, approach instead. She smiled then walked up to him, leaned up, and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

_What the—? _He thought, but her eyes answered his question.

_I hope that was better for you than the hug was._

"Uh, I'd better go," whispered Ash, his face an inch from Anabel's. He turned and started walking away, leaving Anabel, upset and flustered, in his wake. A foot from the door, Ash turned around.

"Thanks," he said with a smile.

"I love you," Anabel said at the same time. _I love you! Oh wait; did I just say that out loud?! _For the second time, her hand flew to her mouth, as she realised that she hadn't simply thought it; she'd said it to his face.

At that moment, Ash felt like he'd just been king-hit by a Hitmonchan. He gasped and looked at Anabel. Her face was covering her trembling mouth, but he could see the rest of her face, which had instantly gone the deepest shade of crimson. Her eyes, filling with tears, were shimmering in the light coming from the small patch of stadium behind him, and he kept staring at the girl who'd just sent him reeling. Those three words had struck him speechless, not to mention immobile.

_What did you say? _he thought, the cogs in his mind turning frantically and snapping. _D-did you just say that y-you l-l-l-love m-m-me?_

"Ash Ketchum, please make your way to the centre circle immediately," said a robotic female voice over the megaphones. Ash was still rooted to the spot, and Pikachu ran over to him and hit him with a Thunderbolt attack. He snapped out of his already-induced paralysis, gave Anabel a final dumbfounded stare, and ran off onto the field, Pikachu in tow.

_Oh no, what have I done?! _Anabel thought desperately. _Ari told me not to put Ash off and now look what I did! _She punched the wall next to her in frustration; she immediately regretted it. _Ow! Oh, Ash, please focus on your battle; I'd never forgive myself if you got knocked out of the tournament because of three stupid words! B-but… I _do_ love you…_

Ash took his place on the green box at the edge of the field, having just met his opponent for the match, Dean, from Mahogany Town in Johto. He had barely registered anything since stepping on to the field; he was still trying to comprehend the events of a minute ago.

_Did she really say she loves me?! No, no she can't have! I must have just been imagining it! I must have misheard it while I said thanks. I'm sure she said '_I'll be rooting for you!_' instead. Yeah that must be it! …No, no. I know what she said. _He let out a soft sigh. _Oh man, did she really mean it? I-I…_

He was so occupied with his thoughts that he barely noticed the siren in the background that signalled the start of the tournament. But the crowd let out a massive cheer, and Ash looked up.

"Oh, right!" he said quickly, taking a PokéBall from his belt. "Staravia," he murmured, sending out his brown-and-white bird into the arena.

"_Staaa!"_ cried the Pokémon, circling in the air.

Dean snatched a PokéBall of his own from his belt and threw it high, crying, "Come on out, Drapion!"

A grotesque-looking purple scorpion launched itself into the arena in a flash of white light. It rose up on its four hind legs and clicked its claws and its jaw, its burning eyes focused on Ash's Staravia. Its lips mouth formed into a hideous snarl as it awaited its Trainer's command.

"Drapion, kick things off with a Dark Pulse!" Dean shouted. Drapion put its claws together, roaring, and a black ball of dark energy formed between them. As it gathered power for its attack, Ash was struck by something completely different from an attack; the purple colour of Drapion's shell looked remarkably similar to Anabel's hair and eyes, and the arrangement of the stripes had him hypnotised. He couldn't think of anything but her, and his preoccupation left him unable to give Staravia an attack command. The bird Pokémon continued to circle in the air, confused by its Trainer's hesitation.

"_Staraa!_" it cawed, trying to snap Ash's attention back to the battle. But Ash continued to stare at Drapion, mesmerised, and the latter Pokémon sent out its Dark Pulse as a shockwave of energy, severely winding Staravia. Staravia began to nosedive, but it pulled out at the last moment, sending a tail of dust flying into the air.

"What just happened?!" Brock asked from his position in the stands. "Ash just let Staravia take a full hit from Drapion's Dark Pulse!"

Dawn looked at Ash, confused. "Do you think this is some kind of strategy?" she asked.

Ari leaned forward, frowning. "If he wants his Staravia to lose intentionally, then yes, it is a strategy."

"Something's wrong," Brock muttered.

"I'll say," Leoric agreed. "Hey, where's Anabel?" he asked, surprised as he glanced around. She was nowhere to be seen. "I thought _she_ of all people would have turned up to cheer him on, seeing how she was earlier today."

"Maybe she didn't want to turn up and distract him for the match," Dawn suggested.

_Yeah, like that ever stopped you and me, Dawn,_ Brock thought. _It's something else, and it's got something to do with Ash. Hmm… maybe Ash did something to hurt Anabel… or did Anabel do something embarrassing to put Ash off…?_

Ari, as if reading Brock's mind, snapped his fingers. Then he groaned. Brock looked at him in alarm. "What?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

He didn't seem to be paying attention. He threw his hat on his lap and ran his fingers through his hair violently. "Damnit, Anabel, I specifically told you _not_ to put him off!" he cursed. "But what could you have said or done to send Ash into a spin like that?" he thought aloud, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, she kissed him at the first match, and he seemed pretty unfazed by that," Dawn said. Ari jumped, realising they'd all heard him. "So what is there to top that?" she wondered.

Leoric shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea, but that Drapion seems to be reminding Ash of Anabel," he admitted, rubbing his hand over his chin, where a short shadow of stubble was growing. "What tops a kiss on world television?" he said, smirking.

As his three friends pondered his remark, Ash was only just recovering from his subliminal hypnosis. He shook his head vigorously and looked up at Staravia.

"Staravia, dodge that Drapion's ranged attacks!" he cried. "You've got the advantage of the air, so use it!"

"Drapion, Confuse Ray!" Dean countered. Drapion threw its head back and roared again. As it flung its head back towards Staravia, it shot a small ball of darkness, flashing black-and-white, which, despite Staravia's speed, hit it in the face. Staravia stumbled around awkwardly in the air, before plummeting to earth with a sickening thud, sending more dust in the air. As the dust cleared, Ash saw that Staravia, confused by Drapion's attack, had flew itself into the ground, knocking itself out.

"Staravia is unable to battle. Victory goes to Dean and Drapion! Dean earns one point!" cried the referee, raising his red flag. Dean and Ash recalled their respective Pokémon as the counter next to Dean's name clicked over to '1' on the scoreboard.

_Damnit! How could I let that Drapion beat Staravia so easily?!_ Ash thought angrily. _I got so distracted by Drapion's colour, I forgot about the battle!_

"Well, I'm not gonna let that happen again," he muttered. Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder, concerned.

"_Pii?_" it said quietly. _What's the matter?_

"Don't worry Pikachu, I'm fine," Ash said, not believing it himself. He took a second PokéBall from his belt and tossed it onto the field. "Go, Sceptile!" he yelled, as his Sceptile sprung out in a flash of light.

"_Sssssscepp_!" the green Pokémon hissed as it moved a small twig around, sticking out of its mouth.

Dean snatched a this second PokéBall in reply. "At the ready, Espeon!" he cried, sending out a small mauve-coloured feline Pokémon onto the arena.

"Uh-oh," Brock muttered. "If Ash got tripped up on Anabel because of a Drapion, then that Espeon is _really_ gonna mess with his head."

_Gee, an Espeon, eh? _Ash thought, on cue. _I haven't battled an Espeon since—Anabel… Oh no, not again! _But try as he might to ward off his hovering thoughts of Anabel, they came back to him, flooding his mind.

_Her Espeon coming out of its PokéBall in a flash of light… The two of them outside the Battle Tower as he said goodbye…Their first kiss at the other stadium just this morning… His body pressed up against hers… And just now, her confession in the tunnel… '_I love you'_… I love you…_

"Espeon, use Psybeam!" Dean commanded, and his Espeon sprang forwards towards Sceptile. It shot a multi-coloured beam of light straight at Sceptile, which hit it in the chest, knocking it backwards a few feet, landing on its stomach.

"Ash, snap out of this, right now!" Brock yelled, his voice carrying over the thousands of fans in the crowd. "You need to focus on what's happening right here and now!"

"Huh?" Ash's head looked vacantly around to see his friend waving his arms like a mad-man. He cursed silently. "Oh no," he said, looking back around to Sceptile, which was taking a battering from Espeon's Psychic attacks. "Sceptile, leap away!" he cried.

Sceptile cringed slightly as it jumped backwards, landing roughly on its tail to avoid Espeon hitting it with another Psybeam. "Sceptile, use Leaf Blade!" Ash commanded. Sceptile charged forwards, the leaves on its arms glowing bright green.

Dean smirked. "Espeon, dodge it and use a Signal Beam!" Espeon lightly sidestepped the advancing Pokémon and fired a red-and-green beam, which struck Sceptile in the small of the back. Sceptile cried out in pain as it was sent crashing into the far wall by the force of the attack. It staggered to its feet, swaying dangerously. "Use Calm Mind, then finish it off with another Signal Beam!" Dean shouted.

"Sceptile, use Solarbeam!" As Espeon began to emit a pale blue aura, Sceptile opened its mouth wide, and the yellow bulbs on its back began pulsing as they absorbed the sun's energy. A small ball of yellow light formed in front of Sceptile's jaw as it readied its attack.

"Go!" cried both Trainers. As Espeon fired its Signal Beam, Sceptile roared and let loose its Solarbeam attack. The two beams of energy met in the centre of the battlefield, but instead of causing an explosion, Espeon's Signal Beam tore right through Sceptile's attack, and straight onto Sceptile itself. The power of the attack was too much for Ash's Pokémon, which collapsed in a heap on the ground.

"Sceptile is unable to battle! Victory goes to Dean and Espeon! Dean earns a second point," the referee stated, raising his red flag once more.

"What the heck just happened?" asked a stunned Dawn.

"Well, Sceptile just got beaten," Leoric put simply.

"Well, duh, but how?!"

"After Sceptile took all those attacks from Espeon, it was severely weakened," Brock analysed. "And even though Solarbeam is a more powerful attack, pound for pound, Sceptile was too weak to be able to form one strong enough to fend off a Signal Beam attack, especially since Espeon raised its Special Attack with that Calm Mind."

"Well, it doesn't matter _how_ Sceptile lost, the result is that now, Ash and Dean both have two points," Ari observed, as Dean's counter ticked over. "So whoever wins this next match-up is going through to face Kaiden in the next round. If Ash screws this one up, he's out of the tournament," he added grimly.

Ash, having only just realised this fact, felt his hands shake in desperation. He had been all set for this match only ten minutes ago, and now he was facing elimination.

_Why did Anabel have to say that she loves me?! Oh, no, now I'm thinking about her again! Snap out of it, Ash! _He thought, and he physically smacked himself in the cheek. He heard the crowd gasp on confusion, but he didn't take any notice. He'd learned from Leoric to ignore them, and he was doing quite well at the moment; he didn't plan on letting them affect him now, of all times. _Okay, Ash, you've been in tighter spots than this and you've still managed to pull out a win. You just have to take a new angle on it all. Stop thinking about Anabel, there's nothing you can do about it for now._

But of course, if you tell yourself to stop thinking about the colour red, you think about the colour red, and the same thing happened here to Ash, only his red was Anabel. Pikachu, sensing a possible calamity for its Trainer, climbed down his jacket and stuck its hand inside his pocket. Pikachu quickly found what it was looking for; the small purple flower that Ash had been carrying around with him like a talisman. Holding the charm between its teeth, Pikachu pulled its head out and scurried back to Ash's shoulder, waving the flower in front of Ash's face.

_What's Pikachu doing? _Ari thought, standing on his feet. _If he's thinking about Anabel _now_, that Kasib ain't gonna help him, it's gonna make things much worse._

But, it seemed, Ash's mind works in mysterious ways. The scent of the flower stole into his mind, banishing his thoughts of Anabel. Rather, they banished them in the sense that Ash _now_ felt that she was there _with_ him, on the stadium floor. He closed his eyes, savouring the aroma, and when he opened his eyes again, Pikachu saw the steely determination and raw hunger that Ash always had for Pokémon battles.

"Thanks buddy," he muttered to his Pokémon, which pinned the flower back on his jacket collar.

"What's that thing on Ash's shirt?" Leoric asked. Brock snapped around, glancing discreetly at Ari, who shook his head ever so slightly from side to side.

"Uhh—no idea," Brock lied, slowly facing back to the stadium. "Ari?"

"Don't ask me, I haven't got the fuzziest," Ari said comfortably. "But whatever it is, it seems to have brought Ash back down to earth," he commented, pointing a finger.

"Let's go for the win, Gliscor!" Dean bellowed, sending out a towering purple Pokémon that looked like a cross between a large bat and an even bigger scorpion. It glided through the air, baring its fangs murderously.

"_Gliiiii!" _it seethed, hovering next to its Trainer.

_A Gliscor, eh? _Ash thought, a smirk forming on his mouth. _Thankfully, I've got one of my own, and I know how to counter most of its attacks. But which Pokémon should I use…? I can't use Pikachu because he has a type disadvantage… Hmm, maybe I should use…_

He grabbed at his third and final PokéBall to use in the battle. He hurled it high and proud with a cry, "Chimchar, I choose you!"

A small red primate Pokémon jumped onto the arena, banging its chest with its paws. "_Chim cha cha!_" it shouted, shouting the words like a battle cry as the flame on its rear blazed on. It could hear the crowd muttering, thinking that Ash's choice had been a poor one, and it was eager to prove its strength against a foe as powerful as its own.

_Let's see how doubtful they are when Chimchar beats that Gliscor,_ Ash thought arrogantly.

"Chimchar, kick things off with a Flamethrower!" Ash shouted. Chimchar let loose a powerful stream of fire straight at Gliscor, but the latter flew up into the air, unharmed.

"Argh!" cried Dean as he felt the heat from the attack, which began to singe his hair slightly. He quickly pounded his hands on his hair, extinguishing the small fire on his head. He gritted his teeth, ordering his Pokémon forwards. "Gliscor, use X-Scissor!"

Gliscor flew towards Chimchar, its spread-eagled arms spread wide and glowing a sickly pale colour.

"Chimchar, use Dig!" Ash cried, and Chimchar burrowed into the ground just as Gliscor swung its arms together, which would have crushed Chimchar had it been still above ground just a moment ago.

"Where'd you go, you little punk?!" Dean screamed, his Gliscor hovering nervously over the hole in the ground where Chimchar had gone under. Ash suddenly remembered his battle with Paul, where Chimchar, as Paul's Pokémon, had used a similar tactic against his Turtwig. He shook his head. It couldn't be that easy.

"Chimchar, use Flamethrower!" he shouted. A small tremor shook through the stadium, and a dull red light shone out of the hole in the ground. Suddenly, a column of fire erupted from the hole, engulfing Gliscor whole.

"Gliscor!" Dean cried in disdain.

The flaming geyser died down, and as the smoke faded, everyone saw Gliscor, stock-still in mid-air and curled tightly into a ball. Its leathery skin was scorched black, but otherwise it didn't appear to have been damaged much by Chimchar's attack.

"No way!" Ash said in disbelief.

Dean took advantage of his opponent's surprise to launch his counter-offensive, "Gliscor, Earth Power!"

His Gliscor uncurled itself gingerly, still feeling the effects of the Fire-type's attack. It roared and showed its fangs again, shooting down to the ground, its tail pointed like an arrow. It slammed its tail into the rocky earth with crushing force, sending cracks spidering across the surface, and a small earthquake ensued.

"Chimchar, get up and out of there!" Ash ordered his Pokémon, his eyes clouded with concern. As the dark cracks sped towards Chimchar's hole, it leapt up out and landed lightly on the stadium's boundary wall, just as the hole splintered and collapsed on itself. "Good work!" he encouraged. Chimchar smiled fiercely and beat its chest again.

"_Chaa chim!_" it roared. Meanwhile, Gliscor had pulled its tail out of the ground and it flew back into the air, level in height with Chimchar, clacking a claw threateningly and baring its fangs for the third time.

_Hmm, Dean's Gliscor really knows how to battle, _Ash thought. _Good thing Pikachu got that Kasib charm out for me, or its colour would have had me done for, right there and then. This guy really likes purple Pokémon. Anyways… if I'm gonna beat this guy and make the next round, I need to trump Gliscor. What's an advantage that Chimchar has that Gliscor can't try and turn the tables with?_

For the second time, an ingenious came to him. _Of course! It worked earlier today, so I don't see why it can't work now! But wait, Gliscor are a lot bigger… maybe… that's it! I'll do that!_

"Chimchar, use Taunt!" he cried. Chimchar made an extremely silly and ugly face at Gliscor, and, just like Kaiden's Spinarak had against his Corphish, the fang-scorpion Pokémon roared in rage and charged at its foe, tail positioned to strike.

"Nice move," Ari muttered, back at the stands. "That Gliscor must really be hankering to get back at Chimchar after that Flamethrower stunt, and well, it looks like Chimchar is inviting him in for an easy take-down."

"No sarcasm there?" Leoric asked.

"Nope, but a Gliscor is a lot bigger than a Spinarak," Ari pointed out. "So Ash had better know what he's up to, or he could be seeing the door."

"Chimchar, dodge the tail!" Ash yelled. As Gliscor swung its tail forwards for a powerful Iron Tail, Chimchar agilely sidestepped it. Gliscor's tail smashed into the hard metal of the wall, leaving an enormous dent in the painted steel. "Now jump up onto its face!" Chimchar obeyed, leaping up and to the right, just like Totodile had done several hours ago, landing on Gliscor's face as though it were simply a tree branch.

"Ah, doesn't _this_ look familiar?" Dawn smirked, cheering.

"Yeah, only this time Chimchar can't freeze Gliscor's eyes out," Ari said, but he too was cheering Ash on. "Go for it, Ash!"

"Send Dean packing!" Leoric shouted.

Ash turned and gave them a thumbs-up, grinning widely. "You heard them, Chimchar, do what you do best!"

Chimchar gave Gliscor a savage smile and began to scratch every square inch of the Pokémon it could reach. As Chimchar paws raked across its skin, already tender from the Flamethrower, Gliscor screamed in agony and flailed its claws wildly, trying to knock Chimchar off or kill it trying. But Chimchar saw each swipe coming, and expertly dodged them. Gliscor was so enraged by Chimchar's Taunt attack that it didn't register the miss, and its claws carried straight on and bashed into its body. This only made the Pokémon angrier, and it continued to attack Chimchar.

"Gliscor, snap out of it!" Dean cried desperately. But his Pokémon couldn't hear its Trainer's plea; it kept at its relentless barrage, and each blind miss became a painful hit on itself. Dean shook with anger and sadness as he saw his Pokémon slowly beating itself into unconsciousness. "Gliscor—" he choked.

"Chimchar, let's finish this!" Ash cried. "Use a Flame Wheel!"

Chimchar slid down Gliscor's body, avoiding the desperate blows that it was trying to connect, stopping on its tail. There it curled into a ball and set itself on fire, rolling back up towards the Pokémon's agony-filled face. Gliscor screamed further as Chimchar continued on its path, blazing up Gliscor's mid-section. As Chimchar neared its destination, Gliscor let out a final desperate flurry of swiping claw and swinging tail, but again, Chimchar avoided the onslaught. Chimchar reached the Pokémon's jaw and it seemed to explode with fire as it connected the final blow. The small fiery Pokémon jumped off its opponent as the latter let out one last anguished scream before falling limply to the ground, smoke trailing from its body, landing unconscious in a cloud of dirt and dust.

"Gliscor is unable to battle! Victory goes to Ash and Chimchar! Ash earns a third point and advances to the second round!" the referee roared, dramatically raising his green flag for the first time in the match. The crowd shattered the air with screams of fanatic joy and cheering as Ash punched the air triumphantly with his fist, Pikachu doing the same. The two of them ran over to Chimchar, panting slightly but overjoyed nonetheless, and the Pokémon bounced up into its Trainer's arms, pumping its fist along with him and Pikachu.

"Ash! Ash! Ash!" the crowd chanted, and Ash turned around on the spot, thanking them for the support he hadn't even known they had given.

"_Pii pii pikapi!" _Pikachu said excitedly. _Thank you, you're all wonderful! _Ash stopped and saw a reporter and camera crew dashing over to him, ready to interview him on his performance. Dean stalked off, disappointed by his early departure, as the crew came closer.

"Ash Ketchum, I'm Jeanne, from Trainer Spotlight!" said the reporter, her over-sized earrings flopping as she screeched to a halt.

"Oh, of course!" he said, remembering her familiar face. "You and that Derek guy did that piece on me last night, didn't you?"

"That's right! And I'm actually quite the fan of yours, Ash," Jeanne said, flattening down her outfit with her hands. "I was the one who nominated you for that piece, and now I get the chance to finally interview you in person! I was sorry I couldn't get the chance after your first match, but you mysteriously disappeared."

"Ah, well, the crowd, y'know," he mumbled, shifting his eyes side to side.

"Of course, they can be a bit intimidating for first-timers," she reassured him, flashing a smile and showing her dazzling white teeth. "Okay, start filming in ten," she said to her cameraman, who stood by, fixing the angle of his camera.

"Five… four…" muttered the cameraman, flicking a switch. A red light appeared on top of the camera, and Jeanne turned to face the lens.

"Welcome to Trainer Spotlight, in another segment of our coverage on one of the exciting new faces on the stage of the World Pokémon Championships! I am, of course, talking about none other than Pallet Town's very own Ash Ketchum! So Ash, on behalf of Trainer Spotlight, welcome to the show!" she announced, extending her hand out to Ash as she turned to him.

"Uh, thanks, Jeanne," he said nervously, shaking it with his own. "Umm, great to be here," he added, with a laugh. He looked around and gulped. He was looking at the stadium's enormous scoreboard, but he could see Jeanne, and the back of his head, spread across the screen.

"First of all, congratulations on your progression to the next round, Ash," Jeanne said, turning back and forth between the camera and Ash. "Now, I'm sure you have much preparation to do before your second round match, but before you go, all our viewers are eager to know more about you, so would you mind if I asked a few questions on their behalf?"

"Go ahead," Ash said, turning his back on the screen and crossing his arms.

"Well the first one is from several people who saw your first match and are curious, albeit concerned, about the, uh, injuries you've sustained on your hand," she said, pointing towards his side.

Ash raised his hand towards the camera, showing the small bandage over his palm. "Wow, they sure are keen observers," he joked, and he felt his stomach do a little leap as the crowd laughed along at the joke. "This? It's not that bad, I just had a rather unfortunate accident with a large number of small glass pieces a day or so ago," he explained, to which the crowd grimaced and hissed.

"Well, you know what they say about battle scars," Jeanne hinted. "Now on to our next question." She was handed a small card from off-camera by one of her crew.

"Okay, this one is from Max of Littleroot Town in the Hoenn region, who says—" Jeanne began, but Ash cut in with a laugh.

"Does that Max mention anything about having a sister?" he asked her devilishly. Jeanne was taken aback.

"How did you know that?" she asked, her question forgotten.

"Because I travelled with the pair of them for a year while I was in the Hoenn region," he answered, laughing again. He turned to face the camera. "Max, I'm sure you already know a fair bit about me, so if there's anything more you want to know, just give me a call!" he said brightly.

"Yes—well—" said Jeanne, recovering her composure. "Our next question comes from Dallas, who lives on Cinnabar Island in Kanto, which is your native region, isn't it?" she asked conversationally to Ash, who nodded blankly. "He asks, _Ash, I've been a fan of yours for a few years, ever since I saw your Silver conference campaign in Johto. It's always fascinated me to watch the way you use your Pokémon in battles, so what I wanted to ask was where you got your ideas from?_" she read off a card in her hand.

Ash thought about this for a second. "I'm not sure I can really answer that," he said. "There's not really a secret or a proper way to think about battles. You just have to take a really deep look at your Pokémon, how they battle, and how much they get along with you. Focus on their strengths, and never their weaknesses, and always look for ways for the both of you to improve, as Trainer _and_ Pokémon. But never push them too far or you'll end up failing them as a Trainer. And that's really all the advice I can give; the rest comes naturally," he finished.

"What an amazing and insightful response!" Jeanne said, her eyes twinkling at the camera. "But I'm sure that's nothing special for a Trainer as skilled as you!"

Ash squirmed with embarrassment, and Pikachu and Chimchar suppressed giggles. Jeanne was shuffling through more question cards, and she seemed to find the one she was looking for, because her eyes sparkled mischievously, magnified a hundred times on the stadium screen.

"Oh, no," said Brock, a scared look in his eye. "I know that look…"

"What look?" Dawn asked.

"Jeanne's a shark who just found her bait," Brock said, preferring the analogy. "And now she's circling in, waiting for the moment to strike."

Dawn frowned. "Not helping," she said grumpily.

"So, Ash, I found a… somewhat _personal_ question for you here," Jeanne continued, teasingly tapping her new card. "_This_ one comes from Sasha of Tangelo Island, in the Orange Archipelago."

"Okay?" Ash said anxiously. Pikachu smirked, and so did most of the crowd.

"_Sasha_ wants to know if…" Jeanne paused.

"…Yes?" Ash asked, curious to hear more.

"She wants to know if you're single," she said, smirking wider than everyone else. The crowd jeered and wolf-whistled at him, just like they had at him that morning when Anabel had kissed him. Ash went beet-red as he remembered that moment, and unfortunately for him, the crowd saw it, and so did millions of people who were watching the _live_ broadcast around the world. They all thought he was blushing because of the question itself, and not of what he was really thinking of.

"I take it by your facial expression that you're _not_ single?" Jeanne asked.

"Well—I—uh—the thing is—" Ash stammered, while Pikachu and Chimchar fell into fits of silent laughter.

"Does this help with your answer?" Jeanne said impishly, and she turned to face the scoreboard. The cameraman pressed a blue button on the side of his camera. After a few seconds of frantic whirring from inside the camera, a new image flew up on the screen. As the crowd exploded with noise, Ash whipped his head around and cricked his neck. Rubbing it to ease the pain, he looked up at the screen and felt like he would die of embarrassment. There he was… a hundred-foot-high image with his backed turned, mercifully, to the camera. He knew it was him, despite his clothing, because there was no mistaking the purple-haired girl glued to his lips. As his face grew hotter and hotter, he saw the hundred-foot-Anabel pull away from him, a wild look in her eyes.

_Oh God no,_ he thought, wishing that he could hide behind a Golem right now. _Do they _really_ have to show that _now_?_

"W-W-What does that have to do with me being single?" he asked, desperate for them to turn the graphic off. To his dismay, the crowd seemed to have convinced the camera crew to repeat the same eight seconds of video, in which Anabel had kissed Ash, over and over again.

"Well, _our_ viewers, and _your_ fans, are very… interested… in your relationship status," she sniggered.

"Well, if Ash isn't going to be forced to answer that question, then I don't think he will be," said a harsh voice behind them.

"Hey, the public has a right to know about public affairs," Jeanne snapped, her airy demeanour gone.

"Public affairs? You mean _gossip_," said the voice, getting closer and clearer. "You're pathetic," it spat.

That particular phrase got Ash's attention to divert from the screen. _Paul?!_ He turned around and breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't Paul; it was Gary. But he could tell that Gary was severely annoyed by the reporter's questions, and so did she, so her and her crew quickly departed, muttering to the camera.

"Hey Ashy-boy, you alright?" he asked, walking up to his side.

"I'm fine," Ash muttered, a little rudely. "Thanks, Gary."

"No worries." He started to walk away, glancing murderously at the camera crew moving down the tunnel. "Ash," he said, his back to Ash.

"What?" the latter asked.

"Congratulations on your win," Gary said, walking back and giving him a handshake.

"Thanks again, Gary," Ash said quietly.

"Anytime," Gary said with a sneer. Then he lowered his voice to a whisper so that only Ash could hear. "But really, is that purple-haired chick _really_ going out with you?!"

"Get out of here!" Ash said fiercely, his eyes burning. Gary took his advice and walked off, cackling.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***The name Dallas (the boy from Cinnabar Island with the question for Ash) is coined from the DreadZone commentator in Ratchet: Gladiator. I thought it would be ironic to have the name of a commentator in the interview of another commentator.**

**Quiz:**

***What species of Pokémon is Drapion?**


	18. Question Time

**CHAPTER 18 – QUESTION TIME**

"Oh, man! I'm stuffed; I couldn't eat another bite!" Brock moaned as he crashed down on the lounge.

"Hear hear! But I think I might have eaten too much…" murmured Dawn, her face tinged a slight green as she flopped down onto an armchair.

"What a pair of whiners," Ash said, grinning, as he sat down on the armchair opposite Dawn. "And I don't see _why_ you're complaining, either. I was the one who paid for dinner, after all," he added.

"And we're very thankful for that," Dawn said, holding back a cough. "It was a lovely gesture for you to _share the joy of your success_ with us."

"Be happy I won for my Pokémon, not just because it meant you could eat to your heart's content," Ash joked, scratching Pikachu's ears.

"Well, don't get cocky that you won," Dawn said cheerily. "You only just managed to scrape a win right at the death."

"_Scrape a win_? That Gliscor never stood a chance against Chimchar!" Ash defended.

"Hey, even if not, your first two Pokémon hit the dirt pretty quickly," Dawn retorted. "And I _am _glad that your Pokémon won, by the way, but it wasn't much due to you."

Ash flinched at this last remark. "Why are you making such a big deal out of this?" he asked her, puzzled.

"Because you got spooked," Brock intervened.

_Was I that obvious?_ Ash thought. "What could have possibly spooked _me_?" he asked with an insincere laugh. His pulse quickened as Brock and Dawn shot each other an odd look. "What?" he asked crazily.

Dawn bit her lip and looked away, but Brock looked at Ash, trying to stare him down. When this didn't work, he sighed and threw his head back onto the headrest of the lounge. "Dawn and I—well, _I_," he corrected, as Dawn looked ready to bring out the rolling pin again, "think that you got spooked by Anabel."

Ash tried to keep his face impassive, but he couldn't help the slightest look of shock flashing past his eyes. _How could they have figured that out?! _he thought. _Wait, maybe they're bluffing! I have to try and bluff them back… _"Anabel?! Are you serious?" he asked incredulously, roaring with laughter. He stopped after a few seconds and looked back at Brock and Dawn, both of which seemed rather surprised. "Wait, you are serious, aren't you?" He tried to pass off a surprised expression, and they seemed to buy it.

"Well, we, uh, noticed that she didn't turn up at the match this afternoon," said Dawn hesitantly. "But, uh, I guess we were, well we were wrong," she said, hanging her head.

"Hey, everyone gets one or two wrong," Ash said comfortingly. Inside his head, though, little tiny Ash's were doing somersaults in the air and dancing the cha-cha. _I was right,_ he thought, his head aching with relief. _They were just guessing._

"So Ash, what was that thing on your shirt that Pikachu pulled out of your jacket?" she asked him, trying to keep up the offensive.

"Oh, just a good luck charm I got on the island," said Ash truthfully.

"Oh, that Kasib thing?" she said to Brock, who slapped his forehead with his hand. "What, wasn't I supposed to say anything?"

"No, you weren't, but now that the Caterpie's out of the bag," Brock said, defeated. "I asked Ari about those Kasib charms," he said to a confused Ash.

"Oh, did you? Well, uh, what did he say?" Ash asked tentatively.

"He told me that you can't find Kasib berries on this island," Brock said, glaring at Ash behind his squint. "You lied to me, Ash."

"No! Well, I didn't tell the _exact_ truth, but I didn't outright lie!" Ash countered. "I told you that I got it from a merchant, and the person I got it from travels around, so, technically…"

"Ash, to be honest, I don't care that much about _technically_," Brock cut in coldly.

"Right, well," Ash mumbled. "What else did you find out about these things?" he asked, pulling his charm out of his pocket and twirling it in his fingers again.

"That the most likely spot to find one is Tohjo Falls," Brock said bluntly. "Do we know anyone at Tohjo Falls?" he asked Ash blankly.

Ash began thinking furiously. "Nope, I don't think so," he said. _Oh no, Anabel's Battle Tower is near Tohjo Falls!_ "Anything else?" he asked, trying to steer the conversation away from the charm's probable origins.

Brock frowned. "Well, I overheard something when Ari went into the kitchen after he told us about Kasib charms."

"What did he say?" Ash asked impatiently.

"All I heard were bits," Brock said, waving his hand back and forth across his lap. "But he said _'the hair' 'the eyes'_… and… wait!" Brock snapped his head up. "He said _'Ash sees the connection'_!" He rounded on Ash. "What connection?!" he demanded.

"Don't look at me!" Ash fired. "I don't know about any connection! I have absolutely _no_ idea what he's going on about. Besides, why were you _overhearing_ anything anyways? Were you eavesdropping on him?"

"Stop avoiding things, Ash," said Dawn sternly. "Now, we're gonna ask you two questions, and I hope you're a good enough friend to give us two sincere answers."

_Curses, she's using the friendship card_, Ash thought. _Well, it's not as if they weren't going to find out anything anyways._ "Alright, fire away," he said, keeping himself calm.

Brock leaned forwards. "Okay, first off, who _really_ gave you that Kasib berry charm?"

Ash sighed. "Anabel did. She gave it to me right before she, well, gave it to me," he said, not wanting to actually say that she kissed him. Brock slapped a hand on his knee and Dawn gave a hoot.

"I knew it! You sneaky dog!" he cried, smacking Ash on the back. "So, wait, oh… that connection thing was the colour! It all makes sense now; the geography, Tohjo Falls, the colour, the Psychic Pokémon thing! How could I have been so stupid?!" But he was laughing nonetheless.

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Brock," Dawn remarked. "So what's the big deal if Anabel gave you a good luck charm, Ash? No, wait, don't answer that, I'm sure it's not important."

"Whatever you say, Dawn," Ash said lazily. "What's your second question?" She thought carefully about it for a couple of minutes, intentionally trying to turn the pressure back onto Ash; it was working. "Come on, Dawn," he said, wiping his brow.

"What was it that spooked you right before your match with Dean?" she finally inquired. Ash gulped noticeably and she saw that she'd asked the right question as he actually began sweating and wringing his hands nervously.

"Well, ah, that's, umm…" he said incoherently, looking around jerkily. "A bit complicated, you see… ahh…"

Dawn narrowed her eyes, as if daring Ash not to answer the question. He quailed and threw his hands up in the air.

"Alright, alright! It was Anabel again, happy?!" he snapped. Dawn's eyebrows shot up and disappeared in her navy blue hair as her mouth flew open.

"Then how come we didn't see her at the match?!" she cried.

"Because she met me in the tunnel right before I went out to start the match," Ash explained, his voice soft.

"Well, alright, that makes sense," Brock grumbled. "But just _seeing_ her can't have spooked you. I mean, she _kissed_ you at the start of the other match, and you won that one pretty convincingly. What'd she do to put you off, Ash?"

Ash's face flushed, but he shook his head and sneered. "Hey, you said you'd ask me _two_ questions for _two _answers! I've given you three! So I think I've actually been _generous_ in telling you two what I have. Sorry, but you'll have to wait."

Brock and Dawn booed him, jerking their thumbs down at him.

"No fair!" said Brock.

"You teaser!" Dawn shouted, throwing a cushion at him, disappointed that he'd found a loophole.

"Hey, those were _your_ conditions, and you even used the whole _friendship_ thing too, so don't complain," Ash said, scooping up Pikachu and heading off to bed, leaving his friends to wonder what Anabel could have done to him.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***The chapter title "Question Time" is named from the ABC political show, for those of you playing in Australia.**

**Quiz:**

***In the 2****nd**** generation games, what TM is given to you by the woman living in the house outside Tohjo Falls?**


	19. Two Years Without The Win

**CHAPTER 19 – TWO YEARS WITHOUT THE WIN**

Even though the sky outside and the other rooms were the deepest black, a small island of yellow light glowed in the bedroom. The island was mainly a bedside table, the lamp that made the light, and a large bed. But, propped up against the pillows and wrapped snugly in the blankets and sheets was a slender figure, scribbling slowly into a small black book.

_I can't believe that I finally did it. I finally told Ash how I really feel about him. God, it feels so good to just let it all out after all this time. How long has it been since these feelings began?_

With this, she stopped writing and stared blankly at her bedroom door. She closed her eyes and cast her mind back to when they'd first met. They'd been set upon by a Beedrill and a rather angry Gyarados, and as she reminisced, a giggle escaped her as she thought of how scary it had seemed to him at the time. That first moment had been nearly two years ago.

_Two years… _she thought, leaning her head back against the bedroom wall. _That long… and I never told him… Well, it wasn't like I had the chance_...

* * *

It was a beautiful sunset as Ash and Anabel shook hands and said their goodbyes. As he, Brock, Max and May walked off, heading for Brandon and his Battle Pyramid, and disappeared over the next small hill, Anabel had clasped the hand that had shaken Ash's in her other. Even then she had known that she had feelings for him, but back then it had just been a schoolgirl-style crush. So she hadn't been prepared for what had become of it over the next six weeks.

The morning after his departure, Anabel woke from her sleep drenched in a cold sweat, shaking and crying. She'd had a dream about him; he'd been battling Brandon atop the Battle Pyramid, and a stray attack had sent him flying over the edge of the structure and down hundreds of feet to the firm ground below. After calming herself down to the point where she could walk around, she trotted to her kitchen and fixed herself a small breakfast while her beloved Espeon strolled around, weaving between the kitchen table and chairs. But her nightmare was reaching out to her, making her hands tremble, and she eventually screamed in distress when she dropped a full glass of Oran juice onto the floor, sending the contents splashing over her bare legs.

"Damnit!" she cursed, grabbing a nearby tea-towel to soak up the spilt juice. She knelt down and mopped up most of it, and methodically picked up the broken shards of glass and threw them in the bin. "What the heck is wrong with me?" she muttered. Espeon hopped up onto the kitchen table and gazed at her Trainer.

_I was wondering the same thing, Ana,_ she said. _It's like you got out of the wrong side of the bed or something…_

"I think it started long before I got out of bed," Anabel sighed. "Come on, Espeon, I'm sure there's a Trainer or two waiting to challenge us for the Ability Symbol."

She jogged upstairs, changed into her formal, and favourite, purple outfit, combed her hair, and made her way outside. She gasped and stopped short in her tracks as she saw a wild Pikachu scampering across the empty field in front of her.

_Calm down, Anabel! It's just a Pikachu! Sheesh…_

_If it's only a Pikachu, why did it just scare the living daylights out of you? _her Espeon asked, nuzzling Anabel's leg.

_Because… _she began. _Well, you know why, Espeon!_

_We both know why, Ana,_ Espeon fired back. _But you'll feel better when you admit it, trust me. Even if you don't say it out loud._

_Well, alright, it scared me because I thought that it might have been Ash's Pikachu,_ she admitted, shaking her head. _But I don't know why it scared me _that_ much… I mean, I like Ash, but that's gotta be going a bit over the top, don't you reckon?_

_Hey, I'm a Pokémon, not a person, _Espeon said quickly. _You people seem to go completely insane whenever you love someone; I've seen it._

_Yeah, I guess so… wait, what did you just say?! _Anabel asked, her head swinging down to look at her Pokémon. _Are you implying that I _love_ Ash?!_

_I'm curious, Ana, why did you jump straight to that? _she teased her Trainer. _And… why are you blushing so much?_

_I'm not blushing! I-I'm just… a-ah… never mind, you wouldn't understand. Like you said, you're a Pokémon, not a person._

_Touché, Ana, _she remarked. _But there's no point denying your feelings for this boy._

_Who said I was denying them? I said, just now, that I like Ash, didn't I?_

_Well, I'd say that the term _like_ is possibly an understatement,_ Espeon returned, with what was unmistakeably a smirk.

_Grr! You can be such a pain when you want to be! You're just lucky I love you so much, _said Anabel motherly.

_And if I don't watch out, Ash might be taking some of that love of yours,_ her Pokémon replied meekly. _She'll come round,_ she thought to herself, and thankfully Anabel didn't hear, her mouth falling comically open at the last comment.

Just as Espeon had predicted, Anabel soon found her feelings for Ash slowly shifting from what she had described as a simple crush, to what she was now starting to believe was full-blown love for him. Everywhere she went, she could pick out at least one thing that reminded her of him, from a Pokémon in the wilderness, to a piece of clothing hanging in a shop window. And every time she thought of him, she smiled and giggled at her memories of him, but afterwards she felt like someone had chipped away a small part of her, and she felt cold, empty, and most of all, lonely. After a week or two, even her fellow Frontier Brains took notice of her strange new mannerisms.

"Anabel, you alright?"

"Yeah, you're acting really weird."

"What's going on, Anabel?"

"I don't know," was the answer she'd keep giving, which only increased their concerns.

One day, about a month after Anabel met Ash, she'd become so caught up by him that Brandon, at the behest of the other Brains, and because he was the senior Frontier Brain, decided to intervene.

"Hey Anabel," he said as the seven of them stood up to leave the dinner table after their weekly get-together meal. "Come help me clean the dishes, would you?" he asked, stacking a small pile of plates and hoisting them on his arms as he walked to the kitchen. The other Brains made their way to the living room to watch some television, and so Anabel felt obliged to help out.

"Yeah sure," she said merrily, taking the glasses and cutlery and putting them next to the sink. As she went to get the bowls, Brandon stuck his hand out and stopped her.

"Anabel, what's going on with you?" he asked her, with an almost pitying expression.

"What do you mean?" she asked, deliberately looking the other way.

"Don't play dumb, Ana," he said, and Anabel registered the use of her rather personal nickname. "You've been acting really weirdly lately. For the last month, actually. So what's happened?"

"Nothing!" she said vehemently, crossing her arms. Brandon crossed his arms in response, shifting his stance to block her way out of the kitchen. He fixed her with a steely gaze, his jaw jutting out, until she finally gave in. "Alright, there's…" she started, but she couldn't bring herself to finally admitting it out loud.

Brandon looked at her like a worried father looks at his distressed daughter. _Poor kid, wonder what she's going through…_ he thought. _Hmm, maybe I'll ask her Espeon._ He asked Anabel for the PokéBall, which she silently handed over before walking back out to the living room, and he brought out her Pokémon in a flash.

"Espeon, I know I'm no mind reader, but can you try and tell me what's wrong with Anabel?" he asked sympathetically.

"_Pyohhhhh,"_ she mewed, and she swung her twin tails around several times. Brandon found himself following them, and moments later his eyes widened with shock as the two tails twisted around to form a love heart shape. He glanced around shiftily to make sure that Anabel wasn't nearby, but he hesitated as he saw her climbing the stairs to her bedroom. He let out a surprised grunt.

_So, Anabel's finally found love,_ he thought proudly. _I wonder who the lucky bloke is. Hmm…?_ he added, as Espeon starting jumping around, flicking its head this way and that, continuously pointing a paw at the PokéBalls on Brandon's belt. _A Trainer?! Wait a moment…_ He pulled the phone off the receiver next to the fridge and pressed a speed-dial button. After a few seconds, he heard a familiar jolly voice on the line.

"Hi, you've reached Scott! Which of my fabulous Brains might I be talking to?"

"Scott, it's me," he said simply.

"Brandon! Goodness, when was the last time you actually _called_ me in your own time?! What's the occasion?" Scott joked.

"I just need to check one tiny little thing," Brandon said, again checking that no-one was around.

"Well, alright, but you owe me another case of _sake_, okay? I've already run out of that last batch after only a couple of months!"

Brandon chuckled. "You should see someone about that, Scott, you might have a problem. But you've got yourself a deal."

"Excellent! So, what can I do you for?" Scott asked excitedly.

"I need you to pull up the records of the people who challenged Anabel for the Ability Symbol," he said.

"Well, my boy, that's quite a few people… Can you give me an approximate time?"

"Six to four weeks ago," Brandon urged him.

"You don't mind me asking why I'm looking this up?" Scott asked him.

"Only if you don't mind me not answering," Brandon said drily. Scott snorted.

"Ever the master of quid pro quo, you are," he said suavely. Brandon heard a pinging noise on the line. "Okay, there were five Trainers who faced Anabel in that time. I'll send you a fax of the names, if that's alright?"

"That'll be fine. Thanks, Scott."

"Anytime, friend! Just remember to get me that _sake_!" was the bubbly reply as the connection was cut.

"Yeah, that'll depend on what I can get," Brandon muttered. He recalled Espeon to its PokéBall and strolled powerfully over to the fax machine in the lounge room, where a sheet of paper came out moments later. He snatched it up, his eyes scanning the names on the list. He was instantly drawn to the name second from the bottom: _Ash Ketchum, Ability Symbol obtained._

_Ash Ketchum, eh? Ah, I remember him… adventurous kid, unorthodox battling style… great morals, but absolutely dense at times…_ He chuckled. Then his eyes widened again as he looked back down at the scrap of paper in his hand. He set Espeon's PokéBall on the coffee table before he rushed back over to the telephone, his finger mashing the redial button.

"Come on, Scott, come on…"

"Scott here! Who's this?"

"It's me again," Brandon said gruffly.

"Twice in one night?! Is it my birthday?!" Scott asked, not hiding the surprise and jubilation in his voice.

"Let's pretend it is," he commented impatiently. "How long ago were you tending to the Battle Tower?"

"Ooh, that'd be… a little over a month ago," Scott replied.

"So you'd have seen Ash Ketchum there, wouldn't you?" Brandon pressed on.

"Of course I saw him there, he's such a lovely chap!"

"Okay, Scott, now pay attention. Did you see Anabel's other challengers around that time?"

"Yep, I think all their names are on that slip I just faxed over," Scott said, growing slightly suspicious. "Why—?"

"Was Anabel any, uh, friendlier, with Ash than she was with the other four Trainers?" Brandon interrupted.

"I'd say she was. Actually, when Ash left to go for you and that Bravery Symbol, she seemed quite upset that he'd gone," Scott muttered. "But I don't see how this is relevant… to _anything_…" he added, and Brandon realised that pretty soon Scott would ask him to explain his curiosity.

"Believe me, it's relevant enough for me to give you another case of wine," Brandon said, replacing the receiver hastily in its cradle. He leaned against the fridge, tipping his head backwards as he considered what to do.

_Hmm, so Ash is Anabel's mystery love? Well at least she knows a good Trainer when she sees one. But last I heard, he's gone to Sinnoh to compete in the League there… He's not going to be back for a long time, knowing him, maybe not for a year… Well, I guess the only thing I can do is to let her know that I'm there to help her out… Hmph, I should get the others to keep an eye on her as well._

"Well, I guess I'd better talk to her then," he thought aloud, grabbing her Espeon's PokéBall off the coffee table. He made his way up the flight of stairs and down the hallway towards her room. Unsurprisingly, her door was shut, and, as he tried the doorknob, locked. He knocked on the door politely.

"Anabel, can I come in?" he asked. After not receiving a reply, he tried a different approach. "Well, come on out here; I've got Espeon with me and I know she doesn't like being away from you for too long." He waited patiently for an answer, and then he heard a small click as Anabel unlocked her door.

"Here you go, Ana," he murmured, handing her PokéBall back to her.

"Thanks…" she muttered, closing the door. Brandon stuck his foot in front of the door frame. "Hey, what are you doing?!"

"What needs to be done," he said firmly, pushing the door open and walking inside. "Sit down," he muttered, motioning towards her bed. Anabel glared at him, not appreciating being told to do something in her own room. "Please," he whispered, shutting the door behind him.

"What's this about?" she snapped, crossing her arms as she flopped down on her bed.

"What's wrong, Ana? You haven't been yourself for a month! Has something happened?" he asked knowingly.

"In a way," she grunted. Brandon decided to try and work down her guard.

"Has someone close to you died?" he asked, shooting a blank question.

_It feels like someone has,_ she thought grimly. _Like I'm gonna tell him that._ "In a way," she repeated, casting her eyes down to the floor.

"Well, losing someone close to you is never a good thing," Brandon said softly, sitting down next to her. "And you never fully get over it. I was really upset when my father died a few years ago, but then I realised that there's no point wallowing in sorrow. As they say, _ashes to ashes—_" He broke off suddenly as Anabel burst into furious tears. "Sorry, bad choice of words, I know," he said to her.

She blinked and looked up at him, shocked and confused. "H-How do you kn-kn-know?" she murmured between sobs.

Brandon gave her a fatherly smile. "Come on, Ana, it's pretty obvious if you look at it. You spend some time with him, he leaves, and you haven't been the same since," he explained.

"I was—so sad—when he left," Anabel sniffed. "And—I keep seeing him—everywhere—I don't know—what's wrong with me?"

"What do _you_ think it is?" he asked. She fell silent and starting rocking back and forth, her knees brought up against her chin. Brandon frowned. "Anabel—?"

"I love him!" she screamed, and her voice was eerily magnified in the large room, echoing throughout the house and outside. Pokémon in the gardens' bushes paused and raised their heads at the noise, and the other Frontier Brains stood up as one and walked out of the living room to investigate. Tears flowed freely down Anabel's cheeks as her body was wracked with shaking sobs, and Brandon did the only thing he could do; he put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her.

"Then don't cry!" he joked, with a forced smile. "Love is a good thing, there's no need to get upset over it."

"But—I can't tell him!" she sobbed, leaning on his shoulder. "Because I-I just thought it was—a stupid crush—and I didn't realise until—until he'd gone away—!" After those last words, Anabel gave a cry of anguish and hung her head, eyes closed, as though she really was mourning the loss of a loved one.

Brandon sighed and patted her on the arm. "Anabel, take it from me, what matters is what _you_ feel, not what _he_ knows. If you love him, that's the important thing! You'll get the chance to tell him soon enough, just wait and see," he said.

"But—what if it's t-t-too late?!" she wailed. "W-W-What i-if he f-finds some-someone else?" she asked in a mortified whisper. Brandon smiled and winked at her.

"Don't worry, Ana, you won't be too late. I've got a gut feeling that you two are right for each other."

Anabel sniffed and looked up at him. "Thanks, Brandon," she said, throwing her arms around him for a hug. "You always know what to say."

Brandon returned the embrace before pulling her away roughly. "Come on now, don't get used to giving me hugs or anything. I've got an image and a reputation to uphold!" He let out a booming laugh. "I'm out of here," he said, getting to his feet and striding to the door. "Stay positive, alright?"

Anabel nodded, wiping her eyes. He opened the door, nodded back, and walked out, closing the door behind him.

"I love you, Ash Ketchum…"

* * *

The present-day Anabel lay on her bed, her eyes closed, thinking about that moment when she'd finally admitted to herself that she loved Ash.

"I love you, Ash Ketchum," she whispered, and her words were as true now as they had been two years ago.

* * *

**Quiz:**

***What **_**kind**_** of wine is '**_**sake**_**'?**


	20. The Cover Of Darkness

**CHAPTER 20 – THE COVER OF DARKNESS**

"No, no that way, you moron, _this_ way!" hissed a cold female voice.

"Check the map, dumbass, it's _this_ way!" retorted an equally cold male voice.

"Silence," said third voice, belonging to another male. The other two fell silent, obediently and immediately. "Sometimes your endless bickering makes me wonder why I picked you for this assignment," he whispered, his voice sizzling like meat on a spit.

"Sorry, sir," said a fourth, female voice. "We don't intend to cause such hostility amongst ourselves. Besides," she snapped to the other two, "It's _this_ way. Learn to read a scanner."

"Damn, she's right," muttered the male.

"Told you so," the female retorted. "And it's quite hard to believe your navigational skills are _that_ bad, considering that we came to this place two days ago," she said, smirking.

"Watch your tongue before I cut it out, Emily!" he hissed. "You too, Alex!" he said to the other female.

"Hey, can't help it if she gets fired up, Mark," Alex smirked. "She's fiery by name and nature."

"Well maybe we should throw her into the harbour where we landed, that might cool her down," Mark muttered.

The unnamed male smirked at the comment. "Boss?!" Emily asked. "Did you just find that funny? I'm in shock!" she teased, smirking at him.

"If only you put as much conviction in your efforts _with_ your fellows as you do _against_ them," he said, quickly losing his grin. "Now, let's focus on the plan," he said mechanically, placing a small laptop on top of a nearby oil drum. He typed in a command, and a pale-green 3-D map of the island appeared on the screen. Emily, Alex and Mark crowded behind their boss as he began to navigate around the map, apparently looking for something.

"See, Mark, _this_ is how you find your way around on this accursed island," Emily said cockily. Mark was about to throw a punch at her, but the boss stopped him with a deathly glare.

"Mark, Emily, stop this nonsense now or else I'll have you reported, and you can kiss your salary and your jobs goodbye," he said, flicking his head in irritation. "Ah, there's our friend now," he smirked as a red pulsing light showed up on the computer screen.

"Where's that, boss?" Emily asked, craning her neck closer.

"Somewhere near the western coast," he answered. "Now go and find him!" he hissed. Emily rushed out from behind the shadows of an abandoned warehouse and into the pale moonlight. 'Boss' had opted for these meetings to occur only at night, because the sight of simply one of the four of them would have raised suspicions in the public, and if anyone saw all of them gathered together, the police would definitely have become involved. After all, the three of them were easily recognisable, he thought, as Emily ran into a small circle of light given off by a street light; their space-age-style costumes were a dead giveaway that they were members of Team Galactic. He waited for Emily's bright blue hair to disappear around the bend before he turned back to the other two. His eyes fixed on the only female remaining, and her hand flew to her red hair in a salute.

"Boss?"

"Alex, I want you to…" Boss said, hesitating.

"Yes, sir?" she asked. He frowned, although his two remaining subordinates couldn't tell in the darkness.

"Begin gathering information about the variety of Pokémon that the Trainers here are using. I want to know which ones are worth stealing."

"I thought we were here because of that tip-off, sir?" Alex said, worried.

"You wouldn't be questioning me, would you, Alex?" he whispered threateningly, and his colleague quavered.

"R-Right away, sir," Alex stammered, standing briefly at a frightened attention before running off in a direction different to Emily's.

"I swear, you could scare that girl with a Caterpie on a stick," he remarked, smiling and shaking his head.

"What should I do, Boss?" Mark asked his commander.

"Find this child, who may prove _useful_ for our superior's plans," he said emotionlessly, passing Mark a colour photograph.

"It will be done," Mark said obediently. "What should I do once—?"

"Bring the child to me. They're my orders."

"Right away, sir!" he muttered, giving a military salute before rushing off, leaving his commander to stand alone behind the warehouse. He glanced around quickly to check that he wasn't about to be followed, and he began walking down a side alley, manoeuvring between dumpsters and cardboard boxes.

_Why the heck did I sign up for this assignment?_ he thought as he kicked a trash can over in frustration. _Well, the promotion offer _was_ a pretty big incentive,_ he admitted,_ but what does that kid have to do with anything? Kids are harmless… so what reason could the higher-ups have to want to kidnap one? I wonder if it has to do with that sour-looking kid that keeps showing up… He said that he'd made some sort of deal with the Galactic Admins, but that doesn't sound right… Since when does Team Galactic bargain with brats? And why am _I_ the one who has to take the other kid to them? It's not like I have nothing better to do… I could be relaxing on the Seafoam Islands, an ice-cold beer in my hand, without a worry in the world… But no! _He kicked over another trash can, looking around shiftily in case the unnaturally loud noise gave him away. _I'm stuck here with all these annoying Trainers and their snotty-nosed kids, running around like a bunch of idiots! _They're_ the ones who don't have a worry in the world! Lucky bastards… Oh well, once all this is over, I'll get that promotion I did this stupid mission for, and then I can enjoy that beer. _He nodded to himself and quickened his pace, ruffling the collar on his jacket to try and hide his determined face as he was swallowed up by more shadows.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***The laptop that Boss uses is an identical make to the one that Gary uses in Episode #513 - Ill-Will Hunting, where he scouts the terrain for safe passage of the Shieldon that J is hunting.**

**Quiz:**

***In the anime, what Pokémon does Jesse successfully capture while the group are at Seafoam Island?**


	21. Issues

**CHAPTER 21 – ISSUES**

"Ash…"

_Go away…_

"Aaaash…"

_Leave me alone._

"Ash! Wake up or I'm kicking you off the bed!"

_I said, leave m—! Wait… what?_

His head hit the soft carpet of the bedroom floor as a white shoe pushed in him the side and off the bed.

"Ow! What was that for?" asked Ash, his nose squished against the floor.

"I told you I'd kick you off if you didn't get off," said a bubbly voice.

With much difficulty, Ash managed to remove his face from the floor with a sound like ripping Velcro. He twisted himself round and pulled his legs out of the sheets that he'd been caught in, giving a small hiss of pain as he smacked his hand against the bed frame. He looked up and saw Dawn standing over him with Pikachu on her shoulder, and both of them were laughing hysterically at him.

"What? What?!"

"_Pii pika-ka,_" giggled Pikachu, hopping down and giving Ash a small hug. _Morning!_

"Morning, buddy," he said, grinning.

"For a Trainer as popular as you on this island, you sure do have a lot to improve on," Dawn remarked.

"Such as?" Ash asked, ruffling Pikachu's fur.

"Well, to start with, the way you get out of bed. Also, you need to close your windows when you go to sleep," she suggested. "God only knows what lengths that Jeanne reporter is gonna go to, just to get some prime footage of _her favourite little Trainer_." She leant down and pinched Ash on the cheek.

"Oh come on, I don't think journalists are _that_ desperate for news," he chuckled. "That the only thing I have to _improve_ on, Miss Privacy?"

"Just one more thing, Ash," she said, smirking. "Don't mutter so loudly in your sleep."

_I was muttering in my sleep?_ _What the heck was I muttering then?_ Ash thought. _I can't even remember what I was dreaming about…_ He stood up and jammed his cap on his head. "Muttering?" he said. "What was I muttering?"

Dawn turned away to hide the grin spreading across her face. "Oh, just random little things," she said, her back turned to him. She'd heard every word he'd said in his sleep for the last hour; he seemed to enjoy talking in his sleep. _I think I'll just keep that information to myself for the time being. There's no point telling you what I heard… _She giggled evilly. _But that doesn't mean I'm not gonna tell a certain someone else what you said…_

"What's the time?" Ash asked. "And where's Brock?"

"Nearly seven-thirty," Dawn answered, facing back to him. "And Brock went shopping for some food. By the way, your second-round match is at eleven, so I suggest you hurry up and get ready."

"The second round? Oh, it's my rematch against Kaiden, isn't it?" he said sourly.

"That's right, and you know what happened last time, so focus on beating him the right way this time around," she advised him, standing in the doorway. "I'm going to go see Ari's match, it starts in an hour. And before you ask, Leoric and Anabel both made it through to the next round," she added with a smile. "They should both be at Ari's match too, so if you want, you can tag along with me and, uh, _congratulate_ Anabel in person." Her smile changed back to a smirk.

"Okay, I'll just get changed then I'll be right out," Ash said, taking his hat off, not hearing the sarcasm in Dawn's comment. Dawn nodded and shut the door as she left, leaving Ash to change in privacy.

"Hey, Pikachu, did _you_ hear me saying anything in my sleep?" Ash asked, stripping down to his underwear.

"_Chuu_," it answered, shrugging its shoulders. _Nope._

"Well if you didn't hear anything, maybe I wasn't muttering," he pondered. "Maybe Dawn's just trying to get me all roused up before the match." He smirked and barked a laugh. "It's working too," he added, pulling on his shirt and pants.

"_Pi-ka pii…_" _You worry me sometimes, Ash._

"Don't worry Pikachu," Ash said, understanding Pikachu's comment. "A _lot_ of freaky stuff happened yesterday. A lot."

_You can say that again, _Pikachu thought to itself. _And the day before that, as well._

"So the way I see it, all the weird and crazy stuff that's been going on is out of the way by now," he continued, replacing his hat on his head. "Which is a good thing, because I don't think we could afford any more distractions once the competition thins out and the battles get tougher."

He thought back to his first night on Ayers Island, where Ari had told him of his history with Paul; where'd he'd sustained the cuts on his hand. He subconsciously ran a finger along one of the newly-forming scars on his palm as he remembered Brock's words before he'd gone to bed that night.

'_Today's been a long day, and I get the feeling we're only just at the beginning, in more ways than one', you said,_ he thought. _I sure hope this was what you meant, Brock; I hope that now we're at the end._

"Come on, buddy, let's go with Dawn and see Ari's match," he suggested, hoisting Pikachu up. "It'll get us all charged up for our own match." And with that, the two of them walked out into the lounge room.

"What the—?" he muttered, casting his eyes around the room. Dawn was nowhere to be seen; she'd presumably disappeared. _That girl can't stay still for two minutes,_ he thought, grunting. _I mean, Ari's match doesn't start for a little under an hour!_ He chuckled as a possible reason came to his head. _Geez, Dawn, never thought you'd be so eager for anything that wasn't offering a Ribbon as a grand prize…_

"_Pii! Pii!!_" _Ash!!!_

Ash looked down at Pikachu, who'd leapt down onto the coffee table and was crouching next to a folded piece of paper.

"What's that?" he asked. Pikachu shrugged and tapped it with its foot, before snatching it up and handing it to him. "Thanks," he said, unfolding it carefully.

_Ash—_

_Sorry I ran out on you just now, but I was really impatient to go and wish Ari good luck before his match… just like Anabel wished _you_ good luck yesterday morning! Ha-ha, sorry but I couldn't help myself. But I'm sure you've heard enough of Brock and me questioning you about her and you, so I decided to take off early and not tempt myself with taunting you further, so no need to worry. Well don't just stand there reading! Kick your butt into gear and hurry over to Stadium 17, would you?! _

_See you soon!_

_Dawn_

_P.S: I need to talk to you after Ari's match. Meet me outside the Crescent Moon Café at nine-thirty, please. And by the way, don't try and sneak out of it; I do know where you live, after all._

Ash finished reading the note, Pikachu looking worriedly from its spot back on his shoulder. He frowned as he read the post-script, wondering what she could possibly have wanted to talk to him about.

"What the heck's this all about?" he asked his Pokémon.

"_Piika?_" Pikachu replied. _How should I know?!_

"I swear, ever since she met Ari, Dawn's started going around the bend," he remarked. "Pretty odd when she even admitted to Brock that she doesn't know if she loves him or not."

"_Pika-pii chu-kaa, pika pii chu-pi kachu…_" Pikachu sighed. _For someone who has all the clues right in front of him, you sure are dense, Ash._

"Dense? Me?! I… Really?" he argued. "Ahh… well, you _could_ have a point there," he admitted. "But just so you know, Pikachu, I _can_ see the clues, I just prefer to go on _what I know_ for sure," he added, poking his tongue out.

"_Pii pika pikachu._" _Okay then. _

_Well we'll see how much you 'know for sure' soon enough, Ash,_ Pikachu thought to itself.

* * *

An hour later, Ash stumbled into his seat next to Brock inside Stadium 17 just as spectators were stopped from being admitted into the now capacity stadium.

"Where have you been, Ash?" Dawn asked from across Brock, her Piplup rocking its head to and fro on her lap.

"Well, the match didn't start for an hour, so I didn't see the point in rushing!" he shouted, trying to make his voice heard above the crowd. "Thanks for waiting around!" he added sarcastically.

"Hey, I left you that note!" she fired back, a nerve twitching in her temple. Brock, sitting in the middle, didn't want to see this escalate into a world war, and their bickering was getting on his nerves, so he decided to intervene early.

"Ash, Dawn, shut up and watch the match!" he said fiercely. "Dawn, you came here to cheer Ari on, so do that! Ash, you're here because you were invited, and this will give you a chance to observe Ari's battle methods, so pay attention to _him_ and not _Dawn_! Sheesh!" he said, ruffling his hair.

Ash and Dawn stopped arguing, but they instead turned to Brock, surprised by this rare outburst.

"Hey, sorry man," Ash mumbled. "Didn't realise we were that annoying," he added, to which Dawn agreed.

Brock frowned at himself, but Ash and Dawn thought he was frowning at them, so they decided to keep silent for the time being. Unfortunately for Ash, he still needed to ask Dawn about their upcoming meeting after the match.

"_Dawn! Dawn!_" he mouthed desperately, trying not to draw Brock's attention. Thankfully, the latter was focusing intensely on the scoreboard, so Ash snuck his hand around Brock's back and tapped Dawn on the shoulder, gesturing with his other hand for her to keep quiet.

She gave him a questioning look that was clearly given to mean, _What is it now?_

Ash signalled for her to wait a moment as he took the note she'd written him out of his pocket and unfolded it quickly. He showed it to her and pointed to the P.S at the bottom, raising an eyebrow. _What's with this?_

Dawn rolled her eyes. She pointed at Ash, then at herself, her Pokétch, and she jerked her thumb over her shoulder and shrugged. _You, me, 9.30, Crescent Moon Café, what else is there to know?_

"_Why me?_" he said soundlessly.

"I'll tell you later," Dawn yelled, frustrated. She snuck a frightened glance at Brock, worried that he might get angry again, but he seemed not to have heard her. He was busy thinking about things of his own.

—_someone. Now that I think of it, after all these years, I haven't really had a girl who liked me that much… Five years travelling with Ash, nearly two with Dawn, all my miserable attempts at romance, and all of a sudden not one, but _both_ of them are in relationships, hardly lifting a finger! I suppose I'm just jealous… I should be happy for both of them instead of letting my temper get away from me._

"Hey, Ari's coming out," he said brightly, pointing out on the field. Ash and Dawn breathed a sigh of relief that he'd seemed to have calmed down and given them a break.

"Huh?" Dawn said, too happy that he'd talked to them to take in what he said. She looked down at the field and suddenly jumped up, squealing with delight. A frightened Piplup was almost thrown violently off her, and only Brock's quick thinking and reflexes stopped her from flying into the person in front of her.

"Oh, I'm sorry Piplup! Thank you, Brock," she said, scooping her haughty Pokémon up out of Brock's arms and putting her carefully on her shoulder, holding her there with a hand.

"No need to worry, Dawn," Brock replied cheekily, putting an arm in front of his face in case Dawn whacked him for using her catchphrase.

"Come on, Piplup, let's cheer Ari on!" she shouted, pulling out the pink pom-poms she so often used to support Ash in his Gym battles. "Go Ari!" she cheered, throwing her pom-pom-covered hands in the air dramatically as Ari made his way to the centre circle. Ash hid his head in his hand to stifle his laughter as Brock slowly began to sink down in his seat.

"Arrri! Arrri! Arrri!" Dawn chanted repeatedly, throwing an arm up in rhythm with her cries.

"_Pip-lup! Pip-lup! Pip-lup!_" mimicked Piplup, moving her head to the beat.

Ari looked over and couldn't help but grin, and blush, at the sight of the two of them. He gave an over-enthusiastic wave at Dawn, and for good measure he blew her a kiss. Dawn's cheeks turned the same colour as her pom-poms.

"Good luck!" she screamed, returning the gesture and waving at him before he turned back to the circle.

"Calm down, Dawn," Ash said, covering his ears. "He'll be fine. And so will the rest of us if you lower your voice a little."

"_Piika…_" grumbled Pikachu, jabbing Ash in the side. _That was rude._

"I swear, if I have to get involved _one more time_," Brock said, in a dangerous voice, although he was only joking.

"Sorry," Ash said quickly. "Again."

Back on the stadium floor, Ari shook hands with his opponent, who, Ash saw, was the tall blue-haired man he had seen talking to Brandon when he first arrived.

"Hey, Brock, Dawn, any idea who that guy is?" he asked, still looking at the man.

"I think his name's Dewey Blanch," Brock said, rubbing his chin. "He qualified into this match with three points, so he must've beaten the other Trainer in their bracket three-nil."

"How do you _know_ all of this stuff, Brock?" Dawn asked, awestruck. Brock shrugged playfully.

Dewey threw a PokéBall out onto the field to begin the match. "Meganium, come on out!" he shouted, and a green dinosaur-like Pokémon with a wreath of petals around its neck appeared.

"Let's dance, Myotis!"Ari cried, tossing out a green PokéBall.

"What's that?" Ash asked.

"A Net Ball," Brock answered. "It works well on Bug- and Water-type Pokémon."

And, sure enough, a large Bug-type Pokémon flew out of the PokéBall; a Scyther. "_Thaaaa!_" it hissed as it flapped its wings, hovering several feet in front of its Trainer. Both Trainers and their Pokémon waited anxiously for the bell to signal the start of the match. As the starting bell rang out a single, clear note, Ari and Dewey sprang into action immediately.

"Meganium, Vine Whip!" Meganium sent two long vines out of the flowers on its neck, which shot straight towards Scyther, snaking around in the air.

"Scyther, counter it with Quick Attack!" Ari shouted. Scyther dashed around the incoming vines with enormous speed, dodging and weaving this way and that as they tried to strike it.

"Good job, Scyther!" Ari applauded as his Pokémon sped around the field. "Now go for that Meganium and hit it with your X-Scissor!"

Scyther dodged another vine with ninja-like dexterity and pounced forwards, its arms spread wide like Dean's Gliscor's had been against Ash's Chimchar.

"Meganium, use Reflect!" Dewey bellowed. Meganium swung its head in a large circle, and a thin green shield appeared, glinting in the sunlight. Scyther charged right against it, knocking it down with its X-Scissor attack, leaving Meganium unharmed.

"Now use Iron Tail!" he yelled, and Meganium's tail glowed right and swung round to smash into Ari's Scyther.

"Scyther, use Endure!"

At the last moment before the tail made contact, Scyther tensed its body and crossed its arms in front of itself for protection. Meganium's Iron Tail hit it with crushing force, sending it sprawling across the field twenty feet away. The crowd gasped with discomfort at the sight of the damage the attack had done; Scyther was barely able to stand up on its two feet, and was using one of its scythes as a support.

"Meganium, finish it off with a Body Slam!" Dewey said triumphantly. Meganium ran forwards towards Scyther, ready to deal the finishing blow.

Ari's eyes glinted cunningly. "Scyther, you still got some fight in you?" he asked. Scyther defiantly rose up, swinging its scythes like battle swords. "Good," he said. "Now dodge with Quick Attack again!"

Scyther grimaced as it shifted its weight, but managed to evade the rampaging Meganium, jumping to the left nimbly.

"Okay, Scyther, now use Reversal!" Ari ordered. Scyther planted its feet in the ground and swung its arms back in front of its body. But this time, instead of defending itself from an attack, it began to build up energy. In seconds, a bright red aura had enveloped the Pokémon, growing and growing with each moment.

"_Scyyy-thaaa!_" it shouted, and suddenly it charged at Meganium, lifting it up on its stomach and hurling it into the air. The Pokémon cried in alarm as it began to fall back to earth. But Scyther stayed where it was, tensing itself as Meganium got closer and closer to the ground. Just before Meganium crashed down, Scyther launched itself at it, colliding into it with overwhelming force and sending the Herb Pokémon into the stadium wall. It slid down to the ground unconscious, and the crowd roared with excitement.

"Meganium is unable to battle! Scyther is the winner!" announced the referee, as Dewey returned his beaten Pokémon to its ball.

"You did well, Meganium," he muttered, bringing out a second PokéBall as he stowed his first back to his belt. "Let's rock, Manectric!" he shouted.

Dewey's Manectric, a blue-yellow canine Pokémon, shot out a small bolt of lightning as it appeared on the field. Ari and Scyther appeared unfazed as another bell rang out, signalling the start of the battle, and Manectric galloped towards them.

* * *

"Well done, Ari! I'm so happy that you made it through!" Dawn yelled as she ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck.

"Thanks, Dawn, but your cheering was a real boost," he said as he tried to keep his balance. Once she let go, he turned over to Ash and Brock. "What, no hugs?" he joked.

"Not unless you win this tournament," Ash said, laughing. "And there's no way that's gonna happen, because that trophy is going to me!"

Ari gasped. "So no hugs ever?!" he said, looking at Ash with puppy-dog eyes. "Have it your way then," he chuckled. "Brock?"

Brock laughed as well. "I'll tell you what I told Leoric. I'm as straight as they get."

"Geez guys, what's with the cold shoulders?" Ari snorted. "Ah, whatever, I don't really mind."

"Damn right you don't," Dawn said aggressively. "You've got me, after all."

"Damn right I do," Ari agreed. "Well, I've gotta head off and heal my Pokémon, but I'll be seeing you all at Ash's match, alright?" he said.

"Aw, ok," Dawn mumbled, a little crestfallen. "See you then," she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Bye," he replied, walking off towards the Pokémon Centre at the Igloo.

"I should get going as well," Brock said. "I was so caught up in the match, I forgot that I'd gone shopping!" he exclaimed, holding up a pair of plastic grocery bags. "I'd better get these in the cupboard and fridge before they go sour!" And with that he rushed off towards the hotel, bags swinging at his sides.

"I think I might eat out tonight, just to play it safe," Ash mused, turning to Dawn. "So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" he asked, Pikachu climbing safely onto his shoulder.

"Hey, not until 9.30, like it said on the note," Dawn said mysteriously. "Besides, that way I still get to go back to that café!"

"Well Dawn, you're probably better off telling me what it is _now_ than if you tell me an hour before my match," he rallied. "I'll pay more attention to what it is you're saying now, because if you tell me later I'll be focusing too much on the match to worry about what it is."

Dawn considered it for a few moments. _He does make a good point,_ she thought to herself. _Since when did he get so smart? Well I suppose I might as well ask him now… it'll give me more planning time too._ She looked at Ash and nodded, smiling.

"Okay, Ash, I'll tell you," she said, shifting on her feet. "But please, don't laugh at me or anything, and try and help, alright?"

"Sure, why wouldn't I want to help you?" he asked her. Dawn simply shrugged, making him laugh. "So, uh, what was it you wanted to tell me?"

Dawn's face flushed a small shade of pink before she spoke. "Well, I want to do something… romantic for Ari," she told him.

"That's a good idea," Ash encouraged, although he was a bit puzzled. "And…?"

"I was hoping that you could help me," she finished.

"Me?!" Ash spluttered. "What could _I_ possibly help _you_ with when it comes to romance?!" he asked, stupefied, to his frowning friend.

"Well, surprisingly, Ash, you happen to be a guy and I happen to be a girl," she huffed. "And as such, you know what guys like when it comes to romance and I don't."

"Then why didn't you ask Brock?" he countered. "He knows a million times more than me when it comes to romance."

"_Brock_," Dawn said, emphasising the name, "is a breeder, not a _Trainer_ like Ari is. You, on the other hand, _are_ a Trainer, and you're also not a big romantic."

"Geez Dawn, lay up on the compliments, would you?" Ash said sarcastically as Pikachu giggled.

"Sorry, but it's true."

Ash smirked. "Alright, maybe I'm not the best romantic around," he admitted. "Which makes it all the weirder because you're asking _me_ for love advice!"

"Well I don't know Ari really all that well!" she cried. "And you two are both Trainers, you've probably got similar tastes in this sort of thing!"

"I still don't know…" Ash said hesitantly.

"Okay then, let's try something," Dawn said, snapping her fingers quickly. "What would _you_ consider a romantic thing for a girl to do for you?" she asked.

"What _I _consider?!"

"Yeah, that way I can get a rough idea," she explained.

Ash was rather taken aback; he wasn't the kind of guy who put much thought into romance. _Although,_ he thought,_ the last few days have been a bit of an eye-opener…_

"Uh…" he mumbled, "Well… I suppose a nice small gift would work for me. Nothing too big, or else I'd just get embarrassed, but something that's enough to have a lot of meaning," he suggested.

"Like that Kasib charm Anabel gave you?" Dawn asked cheekily, to which Pikachu gave another laugh.

"Yeah, I suppose so, that sort of thing works fine," Ash said unhelpfully.

"Anything else?!" she asked, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently.

_Well knowing you, Dawn, there are probably a million other things you could do,_ a voice in his head said. _But somehow I think they'd get lost in translation, so let's stick to the simple stuff._

"Just do the simple things," he told her. "Go see a movie, grab a bite to eat… or three bites, knowing your appetite," he smirked, which earned him a bonk on the head.

"Very funny, mister," Dawn said, glaring at him.

"Thanks, I thought it was too," he said meekly, to another smack in the head. "Well, other than that, I dunno, just buy him something in his favourite colour. I mean, I like anything green, so if you were trying to be romantic, I'd be happy with a little green gift. You could do that with Ari, but y'know, check what his favourite colour is first," he added.

"I suppose so," she said uncertainly. "But come on, is there anything that'd just bowl you over?" she asked desperately.

_You have no idea…_

"Well—uhh—if you mean it," Ash said, making sure to tread carefully and not give himself away. "You should get the two of you—alone—somewhere—and just tell him that you love him—but only if you really do mean it," he added.

Dawn stared at him for a full minute, mouth slightly agape, and Pikachu turned its head to look confusedly at its Trainer as Ash began to wonder if he'd said the right thing or not.

"That's… actually quite beautiful," she finally said, wiping an eye. "Where did you hear that from?"

"Hey, that was pure Ketchum!" Ash replied, smiling and poking a finger into his chest.

"Well maybe I was a bit wrong about you, _Ketchum_," Dawn smirked. "You might know a bit about romance _after all_."

"Whoa, don't get any ideas. Like you said before, I'm not a big romantic type," he fired back, grinning wider. "So was that all you wanted to run by me?"

"Yep," she answered, looking around. "Why, were you hoping to 'impart more wisdom' on me?"

Ash laughed. "I think I did enough for now, don't you reckon, Pikachu?" he asked.

"_Pii pii_," Pikachu replied, nuzzling Ash's cheek with its face. _Yeah I'd say so._

"Besides," he said excitedly, looking over at Dawn, "I've got to get ready for my match!"

"Like _any_ amount of help will do you any good," said a snide voice behind him.

Ash spun around on the spot and saw a familiar purple-haired Trainer standing arrogantly a few feet closer than him to the stadium.

"What do you want, Paul?" Ash asked warily. Paul let out a sinister laugh.

"What do _I_ want?" he repeated, pretending to think seriously. "Well for one, I want you off this island. We can't have weak little Trainers like you bringing down the standards here."

"Why you little—" Ash fumed, but Paul wasn't finished.

"But if I can't have that…" he smiled evilly, "I'll be happy to take that brat off your hands," he said.

"Brat?" Ash asked blankly. "Who's the brat?" He looked around wildly, but all he could see was Pikachu, teeth bared as it sat on the ground, and Dawn, clearly not happy to see Paul. _Well that's understandable,_ he thought, smirking. _Paul was a pretty big jerk that time, but hey! She served Paul up pretty good._

"Wait, you mean Dawn?" he gasped. "What the heck would you want _her_ for?"

"Lay off with the compliments, Ash," Dawn shouted in the background.

"Shut up," Paul yelled harshly at Dawn. He turned back to Ash with a sneer. "Oh, you'd be surprised as to why. I think I owe her a little… _favour_… after our last encounter. But other than that, you needn't worry your little mind."

Ash clenched a fist as he glared at Paul with contempt. "You're sick, you know that? You insult our friends, you spit at their feet, then Dawn puts you in line, and you think that _that_ deserves a retaliation?! You had that slap coming, and just be happy that Brock, Leoric and I didn't get involved any more than what we were," he said, jabbing himself in the chest with a finger. Paul rolled his eyes, and Ash bared his teeth, waiting for a chance to set him straight.

"You really are a moron," Paul said, putting his hands in his pockets. "Do you think that your new 'friend' is a saint? Or that his little girlfriend—" he jerked his head at Dawn, "—knows that's he such a good guy because she decided to get in his p—"

"Watch yourself, Paul," Ash seethed, restraining Dawn from leaping on him.

"My point is," he continued, annoyed that he'd been interrupted. "Everyone has skeletons in their closet. You, me, even _Ari_—" his eye twitched as though trying to shake off a fly, "—has a secret to hide. I know his, and, unfortunately… he knows mine."

"We all know your little secret!" exploded Dawn, ready to hit him again. She was even angrier now than when she'd struck him on the bridge, and the expression on her face frightened Pikachu back to its Trainer, who was in half a mind to let her let fly at him. "We know what you did to Ari! And we know that—"

"Shut up, Dawn!" Paul snarled. "What happened between him and me, despite being none of your business, is rather common knowledge around here. Like I give a damn what the morons on this island think of me anyways," he spat, his face shadowed. "And I daresay he never told you exactly _why_ I taught him that—" a savage look of satisfaction passed his face for a brief moment, "—rather _painful_ lesson, did he?"

"Whatever it was, there's no way it could warrant torture," Ash said venomously. But he couldn't help but ask, "If that's not your secret, then what _is_?"

For the first time that he could remember, he saw a flicker of emotion in Paul's face. His eyes widened as he realised that Paul looked scared. "Paul?"

"That," he muttered, his eyes hardening again, "is between Ari, me, and our families." And the familiar hateful smirk found its way across his face.

"Ari's family?" Dawn said. "What could his family have to do with anything?"

"Everything!" Paul yelled, back on the offensive. "I'm sure if you ask him, your precious _boyfriend_—" he restrained himself from spitting on the ground as he said the word, "—would be happy to answer your questions."

"Well, Paul, I'm quite happy to ask you those questions, right here and now," Ash challenged.

"And I'm quite happy to tell you where you can stick them," he retorted. "But I will say this…"

"J_amek coha geoma y nowe,_" he recited. "Betrayed by the father and son," he translated, answering the puzzled looks on his audience's faces.

"What do you mean by _father and son?_" Dawn asked suspiciously. "Ari never mentioned his father."

"There's a shocker," Paul said sarcastically. "You ever wonder _why_ he never told you?"

"We never asked," Ash said coolly. "There's nothing wrong with that; _I_ never knew _my_ father."

"It must be a common thing with weak Trainers," Paul observed, smirking as Ash gritted his teeth in rage.

"Well what does that _karma joe ha_ thing mean then?" Ash rallied. "Does it have to do with _your_ father?"

"_Jamek coha_," Paul corrected him. "And yes, yes it does have to do with my father. But if you think either of us is going to tell you, you're _very_ mistaken. I'm not the kind to tell my enemies my weaknesses, and my father is the same. Besides, he's far too important a person to be caught meddling with you or your twerp friends."

_Twerp?! Who's he calling a twerp?!_ Dawn thought, and her fingers twitched as she imagined them strangling Paul to within an inch of his life.

"Twerp? That's an original name," Ash remarked. "I've had Team Rocket call me that for about six years, so if you think that's going to affect me, then _you're_ the one who's mistaken."

"Team Rocket? Those three goons in that balloon?!" Paul gave a dark laugh. "I'm surprised they were accepted."

"What did you just say?" Dawn asked him, her anger disappearing.

"I said that I'm amazed that those buffoons were accepted into a proper criminal organisation," Paul said, in the tone that one would use when talking to a small child.

"You sound like you admire those thugs," said Ash, his eyes narrowed.

"Admiration is an overstatement, but they _do_ know how to take care of their business."

"This is Team Rocket you're talking about, right?" Dawn said, stunned. She giggled suddenly, and Paul's temper seemed to flare.

"What's so funny?!"

"He seems to have quite the liking for Team Rocket, doesn't he, Ash?" Dawn smirked. "I wonder what'd happen if he met their leader. He'd probably wet his pants with excitement," she added, and Paul's face creased in anger as Ash laughed along.

"Yeah he'd be a—wait, Giovanni? He's pretty intimidating," Ash said, more to himself than anyone else. "Plus, y'know, he seems to hate everything, even Jessie, James and Meowth. I can't really see P—No way!" he cried, and Paul and Dawn both looked at him, surprised. Ash rounded on Paul, his eyes narrowed and wary and his suspicions rising.

"What?" Paul asked him, his brow creased. "Why are you looking at me like that? And who's Giovanni?"

Ash opened and closed his mouth foolishly before he steadied himself. _He doesn't know? Maybe I'm wrong… better keep my mouth shut for now. _

"Never mind," he muttered. "Dawn, we should get going. I've got to get ready for my next match, and I think if I hang around Paul any longer I'm gonna do something I'll regret."

"You and me both," she whispered back. Ash nodded and the two of them started to walk back in the direction of their hotel.

"Weakling," he heard Paul say as his voice carried over to them. He stiffened and turned back around. Paul was sneering at him, his arms crossed and his head thrown back arrogantly, and it took an enormous effort for Ash not to walk over and punch his lights out, but to turn back and walk away.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Dawn's trademark comment is used in the letter (however "No need to worry" is actually a mistranslation of "**_**Daijōbu!**_**" [****大丈夫****] meaning "it's alright!")**

**Quiz:**

***Meganium made its anime debut as the Pokémon of which of Ash's rivals?**


	22. Before The Game

**CHAPTER 22 – BEFORE THE GAME**

"Come on, Ash, you can do this."

"Yeah, this is a walk in the park."

"Ash, you're one of the toughest Trainers in the world. You wouldn't be here otherwise. Now go out there and show Kaiden what you've got!"

"These are just some of the hundreds, thousands even, of supporting messages that our fans have been sending in via video and phone to cheer on Ash Ketchum in his sudden-death second round match!"

Jeanne's voice rang out on the small television in the stadium tunnel as the clamour above Ash's head rose to fever pitch.

"Not her again," Ash moaned as he stared on. Jeanne and her co-anchor Derek were performing their show live on the stadium floor, on which Ash would be staking his tournament in ten minutes' time.

_I swear, if I'm in here one more time, I'm gonna start counting the bricks on the wall,_ he thought, looking gloomily at the blank stretch of wall opposite him. _Well, I guess that there won't be any more surprises this time around._ But nonetheless he looked around, as if he were paranoid that the same purple-haired girl would come rushing through the darkness to tell him that she loves him.

_Now that I think of it, I didn't see Anabel after the match… I haven't seen her since the last time I was in here… I wonder where she is… how she's doing… I want to talk to her… I need to tell her about… yesterday…_

"I'm an idiot, aren't I, Pikachu?" he murmured, stroking his Pokémon's yellow fur.

'_Kachu pii-pika_." _Just a little bit._

Ash muttered a laugh. "Thought so."

"_Pii pika pika-chu-pi?_" _You know what you should do?_

"What's that?"

"_Pii pika chu ka pii pii pikachu, chuu pika ka pichu_." _After this match, whether you win or lose, you should talk to her right away. You'll thank me for it._

"I was thinking something like that. We hang out with emotional girls way too much."

"_Pika pikachu piika…_" _Nothing wrong with that, Ash._

"Yeah, I never said I was complaining. But seriously, I think they've brainwashed me. All this… love business… What?" he asked, as Pikachu cocked its head and smile wryly.

"_Ka pika chuu-pii pikaa pii._" _You say 'love' like it's a bad thing._

Ash tried to think of a response, but all he could come up with was poking his tongue out at Pikachu, who returned the gesture and smirked before sitting back in his lap.

"Are those locusts done yet?" he asked himself, looking over at the small television.

"…just as we're all hoping that Ash can continue on his way despite that rather unfortunate injury, right, Derek?"

"Well, as part of the media, we don't try to be biased if we can help it, Jeanne," Derek reminded his co-host. "But, like you, I can't help but feel that Ash might be a champion in the waiting!" he admitted, his eyes twinkling.

"Indeed, and remember that the two of us will be personally commentating this match, which commences in just three short minutes' time! So stay tuned Pokémon-lovers, Ash vs. Kaiden, coming up, on Trainer Spotlight!" she finished, as the television screen cut to a Pokétch commercial.

"Finally," Ash groaned, standing up and stretching his legs. "I think Dawn's right about that Jeanne. Maybe I should just throw the match so she won't interview me. I'm kidding, of course!" he added to a shocked Pikachu.

"_Pii pika…_" _Not funny…_

"Sorry, buddy."

The metal sliding door moved aside once again, flooding the tunnel with sunlight, sounds and smells. Ash sighed, boxed with the air for a moment to pump himself up, took one last look down the tunnel, then walked out into the stadium, to the cheers and roars he'd begun to grow accustomed to. He heard a new sound mixed in with the old; a slow yet steady chant, the same word over and over again.

"Ash…! Ash…! Ash…!" they were screaming. Ash felt his heart – and unfortunately his ego – swell as he walked further and further towards the centre circle. He cast his eyes around, shading them with his hand in the glare of the sun, looking for his friends amongst the mass of coloured banners and bobbing heads. About three rows from the front, next to the western set of stairs, he found a familiar row of heads and hats; a mass of spiky dark hair next to a white hat on top of a sheet of blue, and along from that was a round-brimmed hat, then a brown-and-yellow mop of hair, and finally a flash of light purple.

"Anabel…" he breathed, and Pikachu slapped itself on the forehead.

_Oh boy…_

"Hey Pikachu, watch and tell me what Anabel does, okay?" he asked smartly, winking at his Pokémon. He turned so that his body was facing her and his friends, and he gave them a sweeping wave. _Start out politely, Ashy boy,_ he thought, smirking as he used the nickname that Gary so often called him by. "Keep watching," he instructed to Pikachu, who looked on, confused.

_Well, now's as good a time as ever_, _Ash. You might as well do it._

"_Pika?_" W_hat's going on?_

"Just watch." Ash half-turned away, then hesitated deliberately before turning back around to his friends. He shifted his weight slightly to the right to make sure he was centred towards Anabel, and he made a small gesture with his hands, which he repeated for a little while, and turned back around, Pikachu still looking back towards their friends.

_Ash, I think you've lost your ma—,_ Pikachu thought, but it stopped mid-sentence as it saw something extremely unexpected.

* * *

"Hey Leoric, pass those hot-dogs this way, would you? I'm starving!"

"Geez, Dawn, do you ever _not_ eat?"

"Come on guys, let's not get testy," Brock said, snatching a lemonade out of Dawn's hand. "And that's _mine_," he added, taking a gurgling sip.

"You sure do love your lemonade, Brock," Ari commented, passing a hot-dog down the row. "I'm surprised you don't drink alcohol at all to be frank. You've got to be at least 21, right?"

"21, yeah," he replied. "But I left on my journeys when I was 15, and because I travelled with Ash, Misty, May, Max and Dawn, who are all a lot younger, I decided I'd never touch the stuff in case something got ugly. And I'm glad I don't, it leaves much more room for glorious lemonade!" he said as he gulped down more.

"That's responsible of you," Leoric said, three seats away. "I don't mind the occasional beer, but only for celebrations, y'know. I think the last drop of alcohol I touched was when I won the Mt. Silver Conference last year."

"You were setting a great example for upcoming Trainers, getting drunk at fifteen, Leo," Ari said sarcastically, and Leoric responded by putting him in a headlock.

"Boys," Anabel muttered across to Dawn as the two in between them scuffled. "Can't keep them separate, can't let them near each other."

"Hear hear," Dawn agreed, raising a lemonade in toast, only to have it snatched back by Brock with a cry of '_My_ lemonade!'

"Hey quit it, you two," Brock said over to Ari and Leoric. "You'll get us kicked out, and Ash is about to come onto the ground."

"How do you know that?" Ari asked, pulling his head out of Leoric's arm with difficulty.

"Because, if you'd bothered to check, his door is open," Anabel said excitedly.

"So how come you weren't at Ash's last match, Anabel?" Brock asked between sips of his drink, still looking over at the square gap in the stadium wall where Ash would come through, and so he didn't see the blush that swept across Anabel's face.

"I was there," she said, looking away to the scoreboard.

"Really? None of us saw you there," Dawn said distractedly, tearing through her second hot-dog. "Or was that because you were only there at the tunnel before the match?"

"Yeah, I just wished him good luck," she said. _Amongst other things,_ she added in her head, and she found herself blushing again. Fortunately, at that moment, Ash walked out onto the ground, and no-one took any notice of her as the five of them stood on their feet and cheered.

"Ash! Ash! Ash!" they shouted, and soon the crowd all around them took up the chant, which echoed all around the stadium and back again. Ash gave them all a whole-hearted wave and they clapped and whistled at him along with the chorus of voices.

"Where are your cheerleading props?" Ari muttered in Dawn's ear as they applauded. "Actually, don't answer that," he added, sitting back down in his seat. "What's Ash doing?"

"Huh?" four voices answered back, staring down at Ash. He seemed to be trying to communicate with them in sign language because, of course, they'd never be able to hear him over the din of the crowd.

"What is that, a circle?" Leoric said, scratching at his fringe.

"Looks more like a triangle," frowned Dawn.

"An arrowhead pointing down?" suggested Ari.

"That's not an arrowhead, that's a…" Brock said, looking over. "Which one of the five of us would you say Ash is aiming that more at?" he asked his friends. "It's to the left of me so it must be one of you four."

"Uh-uh, not me," Dawn said.

"Can't be me, his feet are pointing a bit to the left of me," observed Ari, looking at the last two.

Leoric looked back at the three on his right. "Oh come on, like he'd ever send _me_ a message when Anabel's sitting right next to me," he joked.

"Well, Anabel, what do _you_ think he's making a symbol of?" Dawn asked sardonically.

"Hmm, tough one," she said peering down. "It looks like an arrowhead, like Ari said, but why would he do that? It doesn't mean anything… and it's right over his chest, right in front of… oh my…" she broke off, her face instantly turning maroon.

"What? What?!" Leoric asked desperately.

"It's… a love heart…" Anabel gasped, and her eyes rolled back into her head and she fainted, falling sideways onto his lap.

"Argh! Anabel, get off me, for God's sake!" he shouted, struggling to push her upright into her seat. "Next time you pass out, give me some warning!"

"Move over, Leoric, let Dawn take care of her," said Brock, and Ari agreed with him as he stood up, and shuffling over so she could move into the seat that Leoric had now hurriedly vacated.

"Leo, right here, buddy," Ari said, patting a hand on Dawn's former seat as he sat back down on his own.

"If _either_ of you faint on me, I'm gonna smack you in the gut," Leoric warned to the two boys sitting next to him.

* * *

"_Pii pika pi pii?_" Pikachu said worriedly. _Maybe you should turn around, Ash?_

"Ah come on, just tell me what she did," Ash said, waving at the crowd on the other side of the stadium as he waited for Kaiden to enter.

"_Pikachu pika pii!_" _No, you really need to take a look at this._

"Alright, Pikachu, but you really sh—" caved Ash, but he stopped short as he saw Anabel collapsed in her chair, with Dawn fanning her down with a handful of hot-dog wrappers. "What the heck?"

"_Pikaa pii_," smirked Pikachu. _Nice work, Romeo._

"What happened?" Ash asked, looking wildly at his Pokémon.

"_Pika pii chu pika pii, pikachu-pika pii pika_," Pikachu explained. _You did that little sign language thing, she turned red, and then she fainted._

"She fainted?! Oh no, I didn't want that!" Ash said remorsefully. "Come on, Anabel, wake up!" he shouted, as though she'd be able to hear him from that distance over the noise.

* * *

"Anabel, wake up, girl!" Dawn said, shaking her friend's shoulders lightly.

Anabel's eyelids fluttered and she shook her head drowsily. "Huh…? What's… going on…?"

"Don't stress yourself," she said motherly. "You just passed out right before Ash's match, that's all."

"I… passed out?"

"Yep, right after Ash gave you a cute little sign language message," giggled Dawn.

"The love heart? So I wasn't just imagining it?" she asked groggily, sitting up in her seat.

"Nope, we all saw it, but we're all pretty sure he was sending it to you. I mean after all, who's more likely to get a heart from Ash? You or Leoric?"

Anabel laughed weakly. "True," she said. "But do you reckon Ash just did that to be a…?"

"A _pain_? Not likely," Brock butted in. "Hey, Anabel."

"Hi, Brock," she said politely, looking over at him. "And Ari and Leoric too."

"At least I don't get mentioned last," Ari said cheerfully before Leoric put him in another headlock. Three pairs of eyes rolled in their sockets as Anabel turned back to Brock.

"Believe me, if Ash really was making a heart symbol to you, he meant it," Brock continued. "He usually avoids anything remotely close to romance with a ten-foot pole if he can; he's not normally the type to even think about doing something like that."

"You think so?" she asked hopefully.

"Well, let me put it this way," said Brock. "I've been Ash's friend for nearly six years; I've seen a lot of him, and to my knowledge, you're the first person, _ever_, that Ash has made a romantic gesture towards."

"Wow…" whispered Anabel, leaning back in her seat to get comfortable. _Maybe he really does feel the same way_...

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Brock's age (21) is based on Ash's journeys throughout the various regions taking a year each, and that he turned sixteen sometime during the Kanto saga.**

**Quiz:**

***How many episodes after Brock's **_**anime**_** debut did he catch a Pokémon, and which Pokémon was it?**


	23. Reunion

**CHAPTER 23 – RE-UNION**

Ash watched on as he saw Kaiden emerge from his tunnel and walk onto the stadium grounds, his dark green ponytail swinging as he waved at the crowd. He remembered their last encounter; he'd won the first battle convincingly, valiantly lost the second to an unfortunate piece of luck on account of his Totodile's overexcitement, but then he'd lost his cool and used Donphan as an instrument of battle instead of as his friend. He blanched with shame as he recalled what he'd done, and he made a silent vow to himself not to repeat his mistake as he took his charm out of his pocket and, with Pikachu's help, pinned it to his collar defiantly.

"Well, Ash, we meet again," said Kaiden, taking his place at the centre circle. "You'd better be ready for me, because if you don't give it your all, I'm going to embarrass you in front of the entire world. Including your _girlfriend_," he added with a horrible grin.

_Nice try, Kaiden, but I'm gonna fall for your tricks,_ Ash thought confidently. "Two things wrong with that, Kay," he said calmly, his eyes flashing as he saw Kaiden tense.

"What did you call me?!" he hissed, a fist clenched.

"Come on, nothing wrong with a little comradery, Kay," Ash said, repeating the nickname. "But like I said, there were two things wrong with what you said. One, Anabel isn't my girlfriend—" _At least not that I know of…_ "—And two, if you treat your Pokémon in this battle like you did with the ones you used in our first battle, _I'll_ be the one who embarrasses _you_."

"We'll see, Ketchum," said Kaiden coldly.

"Damn right we will," fired Ash, putting his hand forwards roughly for the traditional handshake. Kaiden grudgingly returned the gesture, and Ash was thankful that he'd put his unharmed one forwards, for Kaiden seemed to be trying to break his fingers in his hand. But Ash showed no pain, and intensified his grip, showing no mercy either.

"Game on," he muttered, releasing his hand. Kaiden swiftly turned his back and strode towards his end of the stadium as Pikachu stared angrily at the back of his head.

"_Pii pika pika…_" _What a creep._

"You said it, Pikachu," said Ash as he, too, made his way to his Trainer box at the edge of the ground. "Let's teach him a thing or two," he added, turning back to face his opponent.

"Welcome, Trainers and spectators!" rang out a clear male voice over the P.A system. "I'm Derek…"

"And I'm Jeanne!" interjected a female voice.

"…and we'll be your hosts and commentators for this second-round elimination match between Pallet Town's Ash Ketchum and Celadon City's Kaiden Hayes!" finished Derek, and the stands erupted with cheers for their favourite Trainers.

Ash groaned. "I forgot these two would be commentating," he said, shaking his head in annoyance. Pikachu reassured him by turning his collar up, so that the charm resting on it was closer to his face. "Thanks, buddy," he said calmly.

"This match will be a three-on-three battle," stated the referee, laying down the rules. "To advance to the next round, a Trainer must eliminate _all three_ of his opponent's Pokémon. Substitutions will not be allowed at any point for the duration of the match."

"In the rare event of a tie," she continued. "Both Trainers will send out an additional Pokémon to use in a sudden-death overtime match. This scenario will be repeated, if necessary, until a victor is determined."

"Are both Trainers ready?" she asked. Kaiden nodded his head darkly, and Ash gave her a thumbs-up. "Very well." She gave a small tap to an electronic device clipped to her belt.

"Let's get it on!" announced Derek, as the starting siren blasted through the air.

There was a loud rumble, slowly replaced by the sound of whirring gears and splashing water that echoed through the stadium. Ash and Kaiden looked on emotionlessly as the crowd craned forwards. Then they gasped and roared in surprise as the centre circle sank below the ground and disappeared, only to be replaced moments later by a small circular pool. Ash wasn't as shocked as the rest of them since he'd seen the same thing happen during his trip on the Orange Islands; during his Championship battle with Drake on Pummelo Island.

"Excellent, a water field…" laughed Kaiden, who didn't seem fazed either, as he took a PokéBall off his belt. "Go, Gyarados!" he shouted, immediately throwing the ball forwards and into the pool. A column of white light shone from under the water, shortly followed by a steaming geyser shooting towards the sky, a dark shape twisted around in it. The water flew open and revealed the Pokémon within; a colossal serpentine creature, blue and yellow with white fins and a gaping blood-red jaw that let out a savage roar. While half the crowd shrank back in fear at the sight of it, the others leaned forwards even more to watch what Ash would send out to counter the Pokémon.

_A Gyarados, huh? Nice choice,_ thought Ash. _Misty would like to see this… maybe she is right now… Well, Misty, if you're watching, here's a Pokémon you might find familiar!_

"Snorlax, I choose you!" he called, tossing a PokéBall of his own towards the towering Gyarados. Ash's Snorlax thudded down to the ground, yawning hugely.

"_Snoooor…_" it gaped, standing up on its large feet.

In the stands, Brock looked on anxiously. "This will be interesting…" he said to the others.

"How so?" asked Leoric, grabbing his drink.

"Ash's Snorlax is an extremely powerful Pokémon, there's no doubting that," said Brock, resting his chin on his hand. "Unfortunately, it's also prone to prefer eating over battling. If Snorlax is hungry for food and not a win, Ash really is going to struggle against that Gyarados."

Anabel took note of Brock's tone, and snorted. "Come on, Brock, be positive!" she encouraged.

"And what an interesting match-up this promises to be!" said Jeanne over the microphones. "Kaiden's Gyarados, a very tough Water-Flying type, going up against Ash's Snorlax, a Normal-type that we all know is a very resilient opponent. Who will come out on top?"

"Let's find out!" Derek roared, striking a bell with a hammer to signal the battle's commencement. The crowd exploded with noise, chanting Ash and Kaiden's names.

"Gyarados, let's start off with a little shower!" shouted Kaiden. "Rain Dance!"

Gyarados let out an ear-splitting howl and swung its body around in the space it could above the pool. Suddenly, a mass of black clouds swept in from the south and enveloped the stadium. There was a flash of lightning, a clap of thunder, and Gyarados answered the noise with another howl. Then the downpour started; at first it was a light falling of water, but it quickly strengthened into a relentless torrent, saturating both Trainers and chilling them to the bone. The crowd shrieked their displeasure at the weather that Kaiden's Pokémon had brought on, but he didn't take any notice as they frantically ducked their heads under their coats and those that came prepared stuck their umbrellas high.

"And Kaiden's kicked things off with a change in the weather!" called Derek from his relatively dry space in the stands. "It really is pi—I mean, pouring—down here, and the rain is really going to suit Gyarados' typing."

Ash hurled insults at Kaiden for the incessant rain, which was now soaking into his clothes and Pikachu, but his words were lost between the murmuring crowd and the thunder. "Snorlax!" he bellowed at his Pokémon, "use Shadow Ball!"

"Shadow Ball?" repeated Brock, Anabel and Kaiden.

Snorlax opened its huge mouth wide, collecting a ball of dark energy in front of its eyes. "_Laaaaaax!_" it roared as it released the ball, sending it rocketing towards Gyarados' mid-section.

"Gyarados, block it with a Twister!" Kaiden ordered.

Gyarados pummelled the pool with a splash of its tail, and another column of water rose up from the ground, covering it in a blue veil. Snorlax's attack made contact with the pyre, but the sheer volume of the protective shield stopped it from reaching Gyarados, and when the water came crashing down, it roared again savagely, completely unharmed.

"What a superb move by Kaiden! He used his Gyarados' Twister attack to stop Snorlax's Shadow Ball in its tracks!" shouted Jeanne. "Ash is really going to have to step up if he wants to beat that Gyarados!"

"Damnit!" Ash roared, and Kaiden cackled.

"You may have beaten my first Pokémon last match, Ash, but don't think for a _second_ that I'm not going to repay the favour to you! My Gyarados isn't going to be beaten, not by that Snorlax, not even by that Pikachu on your shoulder!" he shouted tauntingly. "Gyarados, knock that ball of fat into the sky with a Hydro Pump!"

Gyarados shut its jaws for a split second before it spewed forth a cannon of water from its mouth, aimed directly at Snorlax.

"Snorlax, defend with Rollout!" Ash cried, and Snorlax curled itself into a ball, just like his Donphan had done against Kaiden, and sped forwards towards the oncoming Hydro Pump. The two met as a thunderclap shook the stadium to its core, and for a moment the irresistible force struggled against the immovable object, before Snorlax was thrown backwards by the power of the weather-enhanced attack. It collided with the wall with a sound of creaking metal, and as it fell away, a noticeable round dint was imprinted in the wall.

"Snorlax, are you okay?!" yelled Ash, restraining himself from running over to his Pokémon. Snorlax got ungainly to its feet, shaking its head clumsily.

"_Snor… snorlax…?_" _What should I do next?_

Ash grinned proudly. "Alright then, Snorlax, take a quick power nap. Use Rest!" he said, and Snorlax complied, lying down on the sodden ground, and it fell asleep immediately, emitting huge snores as its belly expanded and fell.

"Ash, you fool!" cackled Kaiden. "Now your Snorlax is defenceless!"

"My Pokémon are _never_ defenceless, as long as I'm here with them!" shouted Ash, defending his Pokémon.

"We'll see! Gyarados, launch another Hydro Pump at that snoring lummox!" he yelled to Gyarados, which sent another spray of water speeding towards Snorlax. "Let's see your Snorlax defend itself from this!" he added as his Pokémon's attack drew closer to Ash's sleeping Pokémon.

"Snorlax, Sleep Talk!" Ash cried, his command penetrating deep into Snorlax's thoughts.

"_Sn… sno… snorr…_" it mumbled, seeming to not take notice of Ash's plea.

"I told you!" Kaiden said triumphantly, but his eyes widened in shock as Snorlax rose to its feet and opened its mouth wide. An intense beam of orange light exploded from its jaw and streamed towards Gyarados' Hydro Pump, meeting it head on with the sound of a firing cannon, and creating a massive mid-air explosion. As the smoke cleared, he saw that the two attacks had cancelled each other out, leaving both Pokémon's conditions unchanged.

"Incredible!" roared Derek. "What an amazing save by Snorlax, firing a Sleep Talk - Hyper Beam combo just in the nick of time to stop Gyarados' Hydro Pump!"

"No way! There's _no way_ you could have known that your Snorlax would have used Hyper Beam! That's impossible!" Kaiden shouted despairingly.

"Nothing's impossible if you have faith in your Pokémon's abilities," Ash said wisely. "Snorlax, you ready for more?" he asked his Pokémon, which sprang awake instantly. "That's my Pokémon," he smiled.

"B-But… your Snorlax is supposed to have to have a recharge time after using Hyper Beam!" Kaiden stuttered, incredulous.

"If Snorlax doesn't know what he's doing, he's not going to need a recharge," corrected Brock, even though he knew Kaiden wouldn't hear him.

"What, so because it was the result of a Sleep Talk, Snorlax could recharge its energy while it was still asleep?" guessed Dawn.

"That's right," he said, as Kaiden screamed in fury.

"Gyarados, Hydro Pump!" he shrieked, and Gyarados once again shot a beam of water at Snorlax. But Snorlax saw this coming, and even without Ash's instructions it dodged around it, sidestepping it swiftly for such a bulky Pokémon. The attack sailed through the air past its ear and smashed through the corner of the stadium boundary, causing the pier of seats atop it to sag slightly.

"You can't dodge me forever, you little punk!" he shouted furiously at Ash.

_As much as I hate to admit it, he's right,_ Ash conceded. _His Gyarados is going to keep firing Hydro Pumps at me until Snorlax takes a hit. I've got to get close enough to it to launch a proper offensive. But,_ he analysed,_ if I get Snorlax to go up for an Ice Punch, I know that he's going to have Gyarados sweep it away. And if I launch a Hyper Beam or a Shadow Ball, it'll just send up a Twister to block it…_

A look of pure genius sprang onto Ash's face as he began to laugh uncontrollably. Pikachu looked worriedly at him, but Kaiden was infuriated at his laughter.

"What are you laughing at?!" Kaiden bellowed, pulling his hair out of its ponytail in frustration.

"You," Ash said evenly, his voice reaching him from across the ground despite the torrential noise. "You think that if you keep barraging your opponents with attacks that they'll just lay down and give up?"

"Snorlax, move closer to Gyarados and use Shadow Ball!" he declared. Snorlax roared again charged towards the pool, sending another blob of darkness towards Gyarados.

"Gyarados, use Twister again!" ordered Kaiden. Gyarados roared ferociously and summoned another cylinder of water to surround and protect itself. Like before, the Shadow Ball entered the geyser and was absorbed by it. But Ash had been expecting this; the Shadow Ball had only been a diversion to distract Kaiden's attention from his real objective.

"Now, Snorlax, use Ice Punch on the base of the pool!" roared Ash. Snorlax took five steps and stopped right at the water's edge, just inches from the churning wall of water enveloping Gyarados. It threw its fist back and held it there as it began to glow a pale white, collecting frost from the water in the atmosphere.

"_Snooooor…laaaaaaax!_" it shouted, plunging its icy fist into the wall of water. It groaned with pain as the current threatened to tear its arm off, but it held its ground, and soon the flow began to slow as the water around Snorlax's arm began to cool and freeze over. The cold shot outwards from the point in all directions, spreading down to the ground where it encased the pool in a layer of ice, holding Gyarados in place. The chill crawled upwards, slowly trapping the Pokémon in a prison of ice, and Gyarados was unable to stop it without an order from its Trainer, who watched on, astounded and numb with despair. Within a matter of moments, where the spire of water had once raged, a shining pillar of crystal ice towered over the stadium. Snorlax ripped its arm free of the structure, wincing with pain as the feeling returned to its frozen hand.

"I don't believe it!" squealed Jeanne. "Ash and Snorlax have literally turned the tide with that stunning display! That Ice Punch attack would be worthy of a Pokémon Contest, let alone stopping Gyarados in its tracks!"

"G… Gyarados?" muttered Kaiden blankly. "Can you hear me?!"

About two-thirds of the way up the pillar, a small circle of faint red began to glow in reply to Kaiden's question. Ash looked on in alarm, realising that his last attack hadn't finished Gyarados off.

"Snorlax, we need to finish this off quickly!" he shouted urgently to his Pokémon. "Aim a Hyper Beam at that red patch!"

Snorlax grunted competitively, snapping its jaws open once more. It roared and planted a foot behind itself in the ground as a small sphere of energy formed in front of its mouth, growing bigger with each passing moment. At the same time, the spot of red inside the ice was getting brighter and larger as well, and Ash could see some of the ice surrounding it melting, dripping off as water to join the pouring rain.

"Ready…!" urged Ash, gritting his teeth. "Aim…!"

Suddenly, a beam of red light shot out from the towering sculpture, obliterating a large circle in its side before the beam passed over the stadium's open roof. Gyarados' head could be seen through the hole. It gave a maddened roar and smashed its head against its prison, sending shards of ice careening towards the crowd, which scattered away from the frozen missiles.

"Fire!!!" Ash roared, and Snorlax roared with him, blasting its Hyper Beam into the hole in the ice. The tower of crystal glowed purest white before, with an ear-splitting shriek, it shattered, disintegrating into the air. The imprisoned Gyarados, finally free, fell towards the ground, sending up a cloud of dust in its wake as it crashed onto the wet earth, unconscious.

"G-G-Gyarados is u-unable to b-bat-tle!" chattered the referee, chilled by the rain. He raised a shaking arm and pointed a green flag at Ash's Snorlax, and as he did so, the storm clouds above everyone's heads disappeared, and the rain slowly eased to a light shower before it stopped completely. The crowd looked up at the sky and blinked, amazed by the sudden onset, and the just as sudden cessation, of the rain. Once they realised that the battle had been won, they stood on their feet and cheered Ash and his Snorlax, while an enraged Kaiden recalled his Gyarados, putting the PokéBall back in its place on his belt.

"Way to go, Snorlax, don't stop now!" encouraged Ash as he cheered his Pokémon on along with the crowd.

"This isn't over, not by a long shot!" spat Kaiden, reaching for another PokéBall. "Come on out, Vigoroth!"

Kaiden's PokéBall split open in a flash, and out of the light sprang a large white monkey with a tuft of red hair on its forehead. It landed lightly on its legs, hunched over, and started jumping around impatiently as though it had too much energy to keep still.

_A Vigoroth? That could be trouble,_ Ash thought worryingly. _I remember the first time I battled one of those, against Norman. I sent Pikachu out against it, and that Pokémon… it was just a lunatic! I daresay this one isn't going to be much different, so trying to wear it out won't work too well. I'm going to have to take it out by force… I can't afford to let up on Kaiden, especially not now._

"Snorlax, use Rest and get your health back!" Ash ordered, and Snorlax went straight back to a peaceful slumber.

"That isn't going to work this time, Ash!" Kaiden shouted triumphantly. "Vigoroth, Focus Punch!"

_Oh no!_

"Uh-oh," said Ari, trying to dry his hat by waving it through the air. "Snorlax isn't going to be able to stop that attack."

"But Snorlax is a pretty tough Pokémon, right, Brock?" Dawn asked anxiously.

"Even so, that Focus Punch is going to put Snorlax in a world of hurt," he answered grimly. "Vigoroth is at full strength at the moment, and you can see that it's itching to get an attack out of its system," he added as Vigoroth bounded towards its target at high speed, a clawed fist held high.

"Snorlax, wake up!" cried Ash, but it was pointless; Vigoroth leapt high into the air, howling, and brought its fist crashing down onto Snorlax's side. The sheer power of the attack had Snorlax sprawling through the air as it smashed through the damaged stadium edge, and the remaining struts creaked and groaned as they struggled to hold up the thousands of fans sitting nervously on the seats above them.

"That has _got to hurt_! I sure don't envy Snorlax for taking that massive Focus Punch by Vigoroth!" cried Derek excitedly, jumping to his feet in the commentary box.

"Snorlax!" Ash screamed, as Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and sped across to the gaping hole. The two of them heard a shaky grumble and Ash punched the air with relief as his Pokémon emerged carefully from the wall's rubble, tottering around unstably. "Can you still go on, buddy?" he asked, and Snorlax steadied itself and nodded weakly.

"He won't be for much longer!" sniggered Kaiden. "Vigoroth, finish that lard-head off with a Slash attack!" he ordered, and Vigoroth screeched and jumped forwards, brandishing its claws.

"Snorlax, Rollout again!" Ash countered, and Snorlax curled up and rolled forwards, an enormous boulder cleaving its way to Vigoroth.

"Vigoroth, pull out and dodge!"

Vigoroth, half a second from pouncing, snapped its head around and dived away as Snorlax ploughed on, missing it by a hair. Snorlax tried to turn and change its course, but the ground was still wet and slippery from Gyarados' Rain Dance, and as it shifted its weight to the right it rolled over a puddle and spun out of control. It lost control of its speed and fell clumsily onto the wet floor with an almighty crash, grimacing and shaking its fur as it got to its feet.

"Vigoroth, stay clear of Snorlax and use a few Rock Smashes!" Kaiden smirked, as Snorlax positioned itself gingerly in front of its Trainer. Vigoroth roared and dug a claw into the ground, snatching up a large rock from under the surface. It tossed it lightly in the air as though it were just a pebble, and hurled it at Snorlax, the rock whistling as it flew through the air. Barely twitching a muscle, Snorlax reflexively raised its arm and chopped down at the rock, cutting it cleanly in two pieces which thudded firmly against its stomach. Snorlax let out a small grunt of pain, but held its ground as Vigoroth picked up another rock and threw it forwards, only to have it flicked away again.

"Ash's Snorlax is getting tired," said Brock worriedly, watching on from his seat. "Every time it cuts down those attacks, they still smash into its side and do a little bit more damage. It's not going to last much longer if this continues."

Ash had the same thought as Brock, so he decided to change tact. "Snorlax, when you get the chance, stomp the ground and cause an earthquake!" he shouted, and Snorlax nodded as it blocked another boulder. It raised a foot off the ground and brought it thundering down, causing a large tremor around the stadium. A large crack appeared in the rock under Snorlax's foot, and it snaked across the ground towards Vigoroth, circling around it through the small holes where the monkey Pokémon had torn its rocks from underground. As the earth below its feet threatened to give way, Vigoroth gave a startled cry, two large stones still in its powerful hands.

"Vigoroth, what are you waiting for?! Jump out of the way!" Kaiden raged, and Vigoroth lithely leapt to safety as the small circle of dirt caved in. "Now fire those rocks at Snorlax!"

Vigoroth made a somersault in mid-air and launched its missiles forwards in unison, shooting straight for Snorlax. Snorlax moved to the side, only to cry in pain as one of the rocks smashed into the side of its head, but the second flew past its arm and collided into Ash's scarred hand.

Ash let out a scream of agony, his pain a hundred times worse than Snorlax's as he fell onto the ground, crying and twitching in pain. Snorlax looked around in distress at its Trainer, its pain forgotten, before snapping back around to face the Pokémon that had dared to hurt Ash. But all it saw was a snowy-white foot crash into its face as Vigoroth delivered a Mega Kick with crushing force, and the Pokémon beat its chest victoriously as Snorlax thudded onto the ground and saw no more.

The referee raised a red flag towards Vigoroth and announced it as the winner, but everyone else, except Kaiden, paid no attention to it; they were looking on with worried eyes at Ash, eyes screwed shut in pain as his hand started to bleed freely.

"Ash!" cried five voices together, and as one Brock, Ari, Dawn, Anabel and Leoric got off their seats and jumped down the stairs two at a time, throwing themselves over the stadium wall as they reached it, and sprinted over to Ash and Pikachu to help their injured friend.

"Ash, are you okay?" asked Brock, kneeling down next to him.

"What do you think?!" hissed Ash, clutching his maimed hand. "Of course I'm not alright!" he shouted, as tears sprang into his eyes despite his best efforts to keep them from appearing.

"Ash, don't get angry at Brock, he's only concerned for you!" snapped Dawn. "Just like the rest of us are!"

"Well I'm fine, so go away!" Ash said.

"_Pii pika! Pika ka-chu pii kaa!_" _Ash, we're your friends! So get rid of the macho act and let us help!_

"Pikachu's right, Ash," said Anabel, squatting across from Ash. "And you _just_ said that you weren't alright, and now you say you're fine? Not even _you_ believe that," she added, smiling.

Ash's mouth twitched. "Well it doesn't matter how I'm feeling, I have to go on with the match," he said matter-of-factly, as Vigoroth jumped around from behind the figures of his friends.

"Come on, this has to be illegal!" said Kaiden, disgusted. "Ref!" he called to the official on the sideline, "Shouldn't Ash be disqualified for getting outside help?!"

"Well, the rules don't exactly cover _injury by the opponent's Pokémon_," the referee replied coldly, tucking the two flags behind his back as he walked over towards the huddle of people surrounding Ash. "Are you fit to continue to match?" he asked Ash, being helped to his feet by Brock and Leoric.

"I'm fine," Ash grimaced, hiding his hand from the official's vision.

"No he's not," said Anabel with a steely glance at Ash. "Sorry Ash, but this is for your own good." She grabbed Ash's wrist and swung him around, showing his bloodied hand to the referee, who turned a slight shade of green at the sight of it.

"Ah—well in that case—" he said, putting a fist over his mouth to cover the retching spasms that it kept making, "I'm afraid you'll—_urf_—have to—go to the hospital and—see a doctor—and I think I might too," he rushed, running off towards the side gate at a frenzied pace.

"What did you do that for?!" Ash hissed at Anabel, snatching his wrist away from her.

"Because you're in no condition to keep at this battle with a mangled hand!" she shouted, angry tears forming in her eyes.

"What would you know?!" Ash roared, clutching at his hand again as it throbbed with pain. He shut his eyes and clenched his teeth to try and drown it out, but when he opened his eyes he saw Anabel striding off, her arms swinging wildly. He gave another roar of anger, but this time he was angry at himself for having upset her. "Brock…" he muttered, as he noticed Kaiden storming towards them.

"What?" he answered, a little harshly.

"Help me to the hospital," Ash said, his head swimming. "I… don't think I can… get there on my own…"

"You got it," Brock said, putting Ash's healthy arm over his shoulder, the latter leaning unsteadily on his friend as his feet sagged.

"Dawn… put Snorlax back in his ball…" he instructed, shadows forming at the edge of his vision.

"Okay," complied Dawn, her face clouded with concern as she returned the unconscious Pokémon to its PokéBall. "Anything else?"

"Stop worrying," smiled Ash, and as Kaiden came close enough for Ash to see his face, he saw the horror in his eyes as he saw the wound. Ash gave a weak nod, his eyes rolling back into his head as he finally gave in to the dark.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Kaiden's full name is taken from a real-life character, **_**Keiran Hayes**_**, who I used to attend school with.**

**Quiz:**

***What is the only non-legendary Pokémon that is heavier than Snorlax?**


	24. What Is This?

**CHAPTER 24 – WHAT IS THIS?**

Ash sat up in his bed, scratching his head and looking around. He was in a hospital room, there was no doubt about that; he could see other beds around him, each cubicle almost identical to its neighbour. But the odd thing was that all the other beds were empty. He was the only one in the room; not even Pikachu was there, which struck him as extremely odd.

"Pikachu?" he asked to the empty room. "Where are you, buddy?" But there was no answer. He threw off his sheets and walked into the doorway. "Brock? Dawn?" he called. "…Anabel?!" Still no-one. He saw a long stretch of corridor with more doorways branching off it. And still there was silence; no noise, no movement, nothing.

"Where is everyone?" he said to himself. "The silence is making my ears hurt." At the mention of pain, he hastily looked down at his left hand, the one that had been damaged by Vigoroth's Rock Smash. He saw a clean white bandage. "They must have cleaned it up and replaced the cloth right before I woke up," he muttered.

_But who is 'they'?_ he thought, and he was surprised that he could hear his thoughts echoing off the walls as though he'd spoken. _Oh, I get it,_ he realised. _I'm dreaming… this is all just a fantasy._

"Well, I might as well go exploring," he mused. He found his clothes hanging conveniently on a pair of coat-hangers nearby, and slowly got dressed.

"Come on, Ash, wake up," he said in a sing-song voice as he trudged down the hallway, glancing into the empty rooms as he passed them. When he reached the main lobby, he looked around impatiently and punched himself in the chest. As he expected, he didn't feel anything, and this only irritated him more. "What is going on?" he muttered mutinously. Suddenly, he heard a clanging sound from across the room, on the other side of a set of oak double doors.

"Oak?" thought Ash, and he laughed. "Man, that's a subtle piece of symbology right there." But he was curious about the noise, and so he pushed the doors open wide, looking at his hands in mild surprise. He knew that nothing here could hurt him, but he was a bit unused to it. Compared to the excruciating pain he'd endured for the few moments when he'd been last awake, he found it hard to believe that he was immune to it now. He walked briskly down this new hallway, stealing peeks at the titles on the doors to the side, but he couldn't see any clearly enough to make out.

"Stupid dreams, they could at least put them in high definition," Ash joked, poking his head as if to try and get better reception. But he didn't care all that much about the small wooden bars on the doors; his eyes were drawn to the next set of doors, another set of swinging double doors, made of elm.

"Elm?" said Ash loudly, blinking at this brand-new encyclopaedic knowledge of trees. "What's next, doors made of birch-wood?! And what happens when we hit the fourth door? If it's rowan-wood, I think I'm gonna scream," he smirked, pushing the double doors open.

He was in an operating theatre; harsh white lights flickering at him from the ceiling; the small steel table in the centre radiating cold like it was heat; and on the far side, another set of double doors, and they were, indeed, made of birch.

"Okay, _now_ this is starting to get creepy, even for my _dreams_," he muttered, striding over. He pushed his hands against the doors, only to find that they passed through the wood as though it were nothing but smoke. "What the…?" he gasped, pulling his hands back to the point where he could see them. He warily put a hand back towards the phantom door, taking care not to put his hand through it again. He stuck a finger out and watched as it disappeared into the wood.

"And I thought the birch part was creepy," he growled. He took a deep breath and held it as he stepped through the illusion, only daring to breathe when he was on the other side.

"What are you doing here?" he asked sharply, for on the other side of the door, his back turned to Ash, was Paul. He watched anxiously as Paul slowly turned around, but there was no evil smirk on his face. Instead was an expression Ash had never seen on his rival's face – happiness.

"This is your dream, Ash, not mine," he said sagely, crossing his arms.

"_Why_ are you here, Paul?" Ash asked stubbornly.

"I'm here because… well, not even _I_ know why I'm here. I told you, this is _your_ dream," Paul repeated.

Ash frowned, frustrated that Paul was being so cryptic. "Were you the one that made that clanging noise?"

"For all intents and purposes, yes," Paul answered, and the trademark smirk formed on his lips again, as he slowly faded away into nothingness.

"Paul!" shouted Ash, as his face melted away.

"Shouting won't do you any good," said a level voice behind him. Ash spun lightly on his feet. Barely five feet away, staring him dead in the face, was Cyrus. The man he had met at Celestic Town not too long ago; the man that had seemed obsessed with the legend of the Celestic ruins; the man he knew now to be the mastermind in charge of Team Galactic. "Getting angry over something like that won't do you any good. You might not know it, Ash, but I think _most_ things won't do you any good."

"What the heck are _you_ doing in my dream?!" Ash yelled, baring his teeth, ready to fight.

"There you go again, getting riled up over nothing," Cyrus said quietly, wagging his finger mockingly. Ash had had enough; he charged forwards, swinging his fist at Cyrus' face, but, like it had done with the birch doors, his hand passed right through, and so did the rest of him. Ash regained his balance and twisted around to face Cyrus again, who turned slowly around to face him.

"You never do seem to be capable of letting go of your emotions," he observed. "You believe that the world revolves around you, as thought you were chosen by destiny."

"_Chosen by destiny_? What kind of lame theory is that?" Ash asked bracingly.

"There's no need to be hostile," Cyrus muttered, wagging his finger at Ash again. "But we both know that you _were_ chosen. There's no point hiding it from me; I'm part of your dream, and I know what you know. I know about your… _experience_… at Shamouti Island. I know about the prophecy of which you were a part of. I know about the… _more recent_… events in your life too," he added, and he grinned sinisterly.

"Okay, stop it right there," Ash said, his anger rising again. "What right do you have to tell _me_ about _my_ life?!"

"I have every right," Cyrus said, calm as ever. "I'm just another part of your brain, like Paul was moments ago. I'm the part that keeps you in check, that tries to keep you level-headed… with extreme difficulty at times, I might add. You only see me as Cyrus because his nature is reflected in what I do; I ignore emotions."

"Great, I'm getting lectured by my own brain, pretending to be my enemy. How pleasant," Ash remarked.

"There you go again. Everything has to be about you. 'I'm_ getting lectured by _my_ own brain, pretending to be _my_ enemy_'. But you have to remember that this is bigger than you," he said, and Ash saw a strange flicker of sympathy on Cyrus' face as he said those last words.

"This?" Ash said, clearly not following his own train of thought. "And pray tell me, _Cyrus_, what is _this_?"

"This? This is that," riddled Cyrus. "And that that is, is."

Ash swore in frustration. "Whatever, I don't have time for this," he muttered.

"Then I suppose you don't want to see… _this_?" he teased, snapping his fingers, and the world around him shimmered and changed shape.

Ash revolved slowly on the spot, staring at the spectacle that had appeared in front of his eyes. He saw a rolling green hillside covered in beautiful flowers of every colour. He saw a craggy grey mountain rising peacefully against the sky. He saw trees blowing gently in the wake of a summer breeze that he couldn't feel. He saw nature; unchanged and balanced; eternally peaceful. And floating around in the air, like pieces of grass caught in an updraft, were hundreds upon hundreds of tiny bubbles, each one containing a moving image of something that Ash remembered from his past; the closest one portrayed the day that he had received Pikachu and nearly been overwhelmed by a flock of wild Spearow.

"Do you know what _this_ is?" Cyrus quizzed him.

"The Reverse World…" Ash whispered. He had the answer before Cyrus had asked the question, even though he couldn't explain why. "But… it's beautiful… it's not like it was before… it's not polluted…"

"Why are you showing me this?" he asked quietly.

"You will see soon enough," was the reply. "But for now, you must return to the real world, and, unfortunately for both of us, you must return to reality and pain."

Cyrus moved towards Ash and placed a firm hand on his dark hair, resting his palm on his head. Cyrus closed his eyes, and Ash watched with wonder as the man's figure distorted, shrinking and billowing outwards; his garments darkened and became ragged; his sharp blue hair shot skywards and turned snow-white; in moments, Darkrai hovered where Cyrus had stood, and as their eyes met, Darkrai spoke to Ash's mind.

"_Greetings, Ash, we meet again. Do not worry; I have not abandoned my post guarding the Spacetime Towers in Alamos Town._" Its visible eye flashed as a look of confusion passed over Ash's face."_I am not who that Cyrus was, nor do I have any knowledge of what transpired between the two of you, at any point prior to when I revealed myself just now,_" it said, answering the question he had just been about to ask."_I have been summoned to pass on a message to you."_

"_What kind of message?"_

"_A warning."_

"_A warning?! Warning me of what?"_

"_Warning you of—"_

"_Ash!!"_

"_Warning me of me? What could _I_ have done?"_

"_Ash, can you hear me? Wake up!"_

"_Pikachu…?"_

_Darkrai fading into nothingness as the Torn World disappears… Crushing blackness… A relentless, throbbing pain… And that voice…_

"Brock, he's waking up!"

Ash feebly opened his eyes. It was dark, possibly two or three in the morning, and he was back in the hospital bed, but this time around he saw that he wasn't alone in his room; instead, a small mass of people had crowded around his bedside.

"_Pika pika pii!!!_" squeaked Pikachu, tackling Ash in the face and nuzzling him with its cheek.

"Thank God you're awake, Ash, you had us worried for a second," said Brock cheerfully.

"Yeah, the doctors said you lost a lot of blood," Dawn said, her head on Ari's shoulder.

"But you seem to have pulled through it, better or worse," Leoric added, patting him on the head.

"Thanks, you guys," Ash said sheepishly, ruffling Pikachu's fur with his right hand. He pulled himself up into a sitting position, howling with pain as he tried to use his left hand to push up against. "Oh, that's right, I busted my hand," he joked, holding it up tenderly.

"No, that was actually _my_ fault," interjected a male voice on Ash's left. He craned his neck and saw Kaiden looking on remorsefully from his spot some distance away. "Look, Ash, I'm sorry about—"

"Hey, it was all just a case of bad luck," Ash said, waving him down. "A couple of inches here and there and I wouldn't be here, right?"

"Well, your mum wasn't too happy when she ran into me on the way to see you," said Kaiden bitterly. "She gave me a pretty big piece of her mind."

"What?" Ash said, startled. "Mum's here?!" He looked around wildly, and spotted his mother standing to his immediate right, a kind smile on her face.

"Hi, sweetie," she said, beaming. "How are you feeling?"

"Umm… well I'm still a bit—_ow_—okay, a _lot_ sore, but I'm surprised to see you here!"

"Of course I'd be here!" Delia said with a giggle. "I wouldn't miss the chance to see my son in action against the best Trainers in the world, would I?"

"Thanks, mum," Ash said, grinning back.

"And… I couldn't organise my little trip over here without inviting a friend or two," she added with a wink, motioning to five people standing in the shadows towards the back of the room.

"_A friend or two?_ I'd hate to see what you consider a large group of people," Ash joked, hissing as his hand stung.

"Thick as a post, just like always, aren't you, Ash?" said a bubbly female voice.

"Wait, I know that voice…" Ash gasped. "…Misty?!"

"Damn right," she answered, stepping forwards and next to Delia. "And don't you ever forget my voice, because I'll make you regret it, okay?" she laughed.

"That's fair enough," said Ash, chuckling as well. "But," he added, holding his hand up, "at least wait until I'm back at a hundred percent, eh?"

"I suppose so."

"But Ash, that's no excuse for you not to get better as quickly as you can," said Professor Oak.

"Professor!" exclaimed Ash. "How have you been?"

"Oh, I've been quite good. I've had Tracey to keep me company back at the lab while I tend to all the Pokémon," he answered, as Tracey himself stepped forwards into view.

"Hey Ash, long time no see," he smiled. "How's your hand holding up?"

"Hi Trace. Well, all I can say is that it's been better," said Ash passively, dropping his arm lightly onto his sheets. "So who are the other two?" he asked, craning his neck to get a better look.

"Who else could they be, but the super siblings?!" said a squeaky male voice.

"Give it a rest with that, Max, or else I'm disowning you as my brother," said the other.

"It's so good to see that they can put their rivalries aside for just one moment, isn't it, Brock?" Ash asked, loudly enough so that everyone could hear him. "It's good to see you again, May."

"Same here," May said brightly, bouncing over as Max scurried behind her.

"How have your Contests been going?" Brock asked.

"Good, good, but y'know Contest season is over for the year. Everyone who's anyone is watching this tournament!" she said.

"That's encouraging," said Ash lazily, leaning back on a pillow. He looked around and saw all of his friends and family gathered around him, smiling and looking fondly at him. He grinned back stupidly, blushing slightly, but then he noticed that amongst all the faces, one was missing.

"Where—"

"She's not here," Dawn said, cutting him off. "She was a bit, er, upset after you shouted at her during the match, and we haven't really seen her since. She's probably back at her hotel room, but we all thought that it'd be best if you talked to her first," she added sadly, looking away.

"Oh," muttered Ash, crestfallen. "Well I'd better go and talk to her. Pikachu, you stay here with mum. I've got to do this by myself." And with that he swept the covers off himself and stood up off his bed, grabbing the bedrail to balance himself as the blood swam in his head.

"No no, you're going to stay in bed and rest. You need to get better to finish your match with Kaiden," Delia insisted, putting her hands on Ash's shoulders and jerking her head towards the Trainer still waiting in the room.

"Hey, Mrs Ketchum, I'm sure they'll let the match be postponed for another day," Kaiden said nervously. "They still have to get through all the other second-round matches, and don't you think Ash will be able to recover better if he gets everything else off his mind?"

Delia frowned, impressed by the boy's logic. She sighed and let go of Ash, shrugging her hands into the air in defeat. "Well Ash, if you want to go and talk to this girl, you're more than welcome to, I'm not going to stop you now."

"Okay, thanks mum," Ash said, putting his good arm around her for a hug.

"But," she added, "I would suggest that you change into something more _appropriate_."

Ash looked down and realised with a jolt that he was only wearing a crisp linen night-gown, and the air conditioning blowing on his back told him that it was an open-backed one. He hastily put his back to the wall and glanced around, his eyes narrowing as he saw most of his friends snickering at the sight of his exposed rear.

"What do you think this is, show and tell?!" he said coldly, snatching up his clothes from the table next to him. He edged around them all, making sure to keep his back facing away from them, and he rushed into the vacant bathroom next to the hallway.

"Well, he's _show_ing, and I'm sure at least one of us will be _tell_ing," Brock muttered to Dawn, and both of them fell into a fit of laughter.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Cyrus shows Ash a glimpse of the pure Torn World, untouched by the pollution that invaded it during the events of the tenth and eleventh movies. In actuality, the pure Torn World would roughly resemble a distorted Gracidea, although in this case there are obviously no Shaymin, and the glacier has been replaced by a mountain about the same as Mt. Coronet. Just thought I should point that out…**

**Quiz:**

***Darkrai was originally speculated to be a what-type Pokémon?**


	25. Espeonage

**CHAPTER 25 – ESPEONAGE**

Ash stood in front of the door to Anabel's hotel room as the clock outside struck three thirty, and he was dreading the reaction that was no doubt waiting for him on the other side.

_Okay, Ash, before you do anything, let's think this through,_ he thought. _Well, she's upset because you yelled at her,_ was the obvious thing that came to mind. _But _why_ did she get upset? I mean, I got angry at Dawn, and she was fine with it when I woke up at the hospital just now… So what's different between Dawn and Anabel?_

_Who says that the problem lies with you?_ asked the Paul-Ash.

_It's good to see you're finally thinking things through before you rush headlong into them,_ said Cyrus-Ash.

_This isn't helping! Focus, Ash, focus! Okay, so Dawn was fine with my outburst, but Anabel wasn't. Then again, Dawn's been travelling with me for about two years, and I only met Anabel for a little while, so she wouldn't know me as well as Dawn does. That might be why Anabel took it so badly, because she doesn't know that I get like that when I'm hurt… all defensive… and I know I came across the wrong way. I just wanted them all to let me get on with the battle, and Anabel thought I was… I dunno, rejecting her or something… then I had to raise my voice at her… that was a smart move,_ he thought sarcastically.

_Again, the problem might be in Anabel,_ said Paul-Ash.

_Okay, let's just entertain that notion for a second, huh? What could Anabel's problem be, if you're so adamant about it?_

_I would think it's pretty obvious,_ said Cyrus-Ash.

_So the real me, the proper Ash, I'm the only one who doesn't see it? Well, lesser parts of my head, please enlighten me!_ Ash thought bitterly.

_Love,_ said a new voice in Ash's head.

_Oh great, now there's a part of me that thinks like Misty?! God, please kill me now… So Anabel loves me, does she?_

_Well, yeah! She dropped you all those not-so-subtle hints, like that kiss at your first match, that little thing the two of you had in the doorway, her actual confession where she said 'I love you' to you; yeah I'd say she loves you by this stage._

_You know what? Screw this. There's a reason that you're just opinions and not the real me. So I'm not going to take note of anything you three just said, and I'm going to do it Ash Ketchum style, not Paul style, not Cyrus style, not Misty style._

_You know Ash, there's no point trying to keep your mind closed from us,_ Paul-Ash said. _We _are_ parts of your mind, after all. So just admit it._

_I'll admit it to Anabel before I admit it to you three,_ fired Ash.

Once Ash convinced himself that what he was about to do was the right thing, he raised his arm and rapped on the door three times with his knuckles. He took a deep breath and waited for an answer, his ear close to the door in case he heard something. He waited ten seconds, and after hearing nothing, he decided to try again.

"Anabel?" he asked, knocking on the door again, louder this time. "Are you there?" No reply.

"Anabel?!" he shouted, his hand reaching for the doorknob. His fingers came within an inch of the polished metal when he heard a sniffing sound, barely audible from behind the door.

_Way to go Ash, you've gotten her crying,_ said Misty-Ash.

"Anabel, look, I know you're in there. I need to talk to you. I have to explain myself," he said desperately, praying for her to speak to him. After a few seconds he shut his eyes in relief as he heard her voice, muffled by the door.

"It's unlocked."

_Well, at least it's something,_ he thought, closing his hand around the doorknob.

Ash quietly opened the door and stuck his head through the gap. He saw the inside of the hotel room, which in all fairness was exactly the same as his and Ari's rooms. _If you want to be consistent,_ he mused to himself. But as he looked around he saw that Anabel wasn't in the lounge room, the dining room or the kitchen. _She must be in one of the bedrooms,_ he deduced, sliding through the gap between door and frame and closing the door just as quietly behind him.

_Okay, so now you've walked into the lions' den, Ash. You'd better know what you're doing, or else you might lose your head in more ways than one,_ he joked.

_Plus you'll end up hurting Anabel's feelings even more_, chimed Misty-Ash.

_Duly noted._

He made his way down the room's hallway, thanking the hotels' designers that they'd structured all the rooms identically. As he glanced around at all the rooms, he noticed that the bedroom at the far end of the hall was closed. _Must be where Anabel is. I'm surprised I could hear that sniff since she's so far from the door._

"Anabel?" he said softly, reaching the bedroom door. "Can I come in?" He tried the doorknob and, like the hotel door, it was unlocked, so he slowly opened it, wincing at the creaking noise it made as it swung open.

"Look, Anabel, I—" he started, but he was struck silent halfway through his sentence. He tried talking, but he couldn't move his mouth; in fact, he couldn't move at all. He'd been paralysed by something, and as his eyes probed the room, he found the source.

"Thanks, Espeon," Anabel said to her Pokémon, patting her on the head. Espeon mewed contentedly as Anabel got up from off her bed. "But you can at least let him talk," she added calmly, and Ash felt Espeon's psychic hold loosen on him from the neck up. But he kept silent for the time being, in case he said something wrong and was immobilised again.

"I didn't say you could come in," Anabel said coolly, crossing her arms as she stood a foot in front of him.

"I was worried about you," Ash said, trying vainly to move an arm. _And it looks like I was right to worry,_ he added, because her saw that her eyes were blurred and rimmed with red, her face was lined, and her nose made her look like she had a cold.

"Well why would you be worried about me? What would _you_ know?" she said, her puffy eyes narrowed, and Ash flinched as though she'd just slapped him in the face. He sighed and hung his head in shame, but he didn't slump to the floor, only because Espeon still had him in the effects of her Psychic attack.

"Look…" Ash mumbled, still looking at the ground. "I'm sorry for saying that to you at the match yesterday. I regretted it the moment I'd said it, but I wasn't thinking straight. Heck, I passed out about a minute later from shock and blood loss," he said, smiling weakly as he tried to raise his hand. "Hey Espeon, could you loosen the grip on my arm? The pain's really killing me over here," he mentioned to the feline Pokémon. Anabel nodded at her, and Ash felt the bonds around his arm disappear, so he tried to raise his hand again, and this time it obeyed him. "See?"

"I didn't realise it was so bad…" Anabel admitted, looking pityingly at the bandages.

"Yeah well, it's still no excuse for what I did," said Ash sourly, dropping his hand back to his side. "Nothing excuses it. You were concerned about me, and I got angry at you, I pushed you away. It's bad enough when I do that with anyone, but especially…" he trailed off, frightened that he might have said too much.

"Especially what?" asked Anabel quietly, inching closer to him. She gave a discreet gesture to Espeon, who slowly let down her Psychic, and although Ash didn't see it, he could feel the control of his limbs returning.

"Especially when it's you," he said, looking her in the eye.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Anabel asked, trying to sound sceptical, although she was starting to shake at his words.

"It means…" Ash said hoarsely.

_Admit it, Ash,_ chorused four voices in his head. Ash cleared his throat. "It means that, well…" But his voice failed as Anabel drew closer to him.

_Oh boy, this is familiar,_ he thought, swallowing. _Well, I suppose the only differences are that this is Anabel's room not mine, and my hand is even more busted up than before!_

"Yes…?" she whispered.

"That you're different from all my other friends," he blurted. "I don't know what it is, but there's always this different feeling I have for you that I don't have for the rest of them. They're all really good friends, but, I dunno, you just stand out from them."

"Plus," he went on, worried that if he stopped he wouldn't be able to start up again. He took another deep breath and rushed on. "I just seem to turn into Brock whenever you're around. I get all… well, in his terms, love-stoned. The last time we were like this," he said, meaning the last time they were this close to each other. "You must have seen that I just went blank, right?"

"I noticed," giggled Anabel, blushing.

"Yeah well, I don't know what happens, but I just end up like a bunch of putty," he said, grimacing at his choice of words.

Anabel laughed again, and Ash's stomach did a little flip. "Nice choice of words," she said, mirroring his thoughts. "Well, _why_ do you think that happens to you?" she asked teasingly, moving a little closer.

"For the same reason you look like you've been standing in front of the air conditioning," Ash observed cheekily, indicating the goosebumps on Anabel's skin.

"Huh? Oh, right!" she said, flustered. "Well, what can I say? It's nearly four in the morning, so I guess it is a bit cold…" She turned away, arms crossed, hiding the blush on her face.

"Well why didn't you say so earlier?" he asked. Anabel felt a warm touch on her head, and she jumped slightly before she realised that Ash had taken off his jacket and was trying to put it on her to warm her up.

"Ash, you don't have to—" she began, but her voice was muffled as he brought the jacket over her face. _Ash, why do you have to be so difficult? When a girl… ugh, never mind._

"Anabel, could you try and help me out a bit here?" Ash muttered in her ear. "You're not gonna be able to move your arms if they're stuck in my jacket."

"Doesn't that hurt your hand?!" she asked, her voice still being quietened by the fabric.

"Just a little, but I can handle it. Besides, your health is more important than mine," he said, pulling the jacket lower.

Anabel grudgingly slipped her arms through the sleeves, thankful that he couldn't see her rolling her eyes at his cheesy comment. Ash gently pulled the jacket as low as he could, bringing it down towards her hips. A hot shiver ran down her spine as she felt his hands moving slowly down her sides. Finally, the jacket went low enough that she could finally stick her head through the top, and she shoved her head through the gap.

"Okay, now let me get a look at you," Ash said. He put his hands on her hips and slowly swung her around. "Come on, I know it's a bit warmer, but you shouldn't be turning red," he chuckled, and Anabel blushed even deeper.

"Stop messing round," she said, smiling. She realised that Ash's hands were still on her hips, so she deliberately looked at a point over Ash's shoulder to avoid looking at his eyes. "Ash, you don't have to keep your hands there," she mumbled shyly.

"I know, but I can't move them," Ash said, a slight note of confusion in his voice. _Why can't I move my hands? I mean, this feels… good, but they won't budge!_

Anabel's eyes widened. _You can't move them, or you don't _want_ to? Maybe… maybe he really does love me back… and to think, I was so angry at him an hour ago! _Her arms unwillingly moved upwards and fastened themselves around Ash's neck. She let herself gaze into Ash's dark eyes, and her face clouded when she saw fear in them.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Seriously, Anabel, I can't move my hands," Ash said shakily. "Look." He leaned backwards as far as he could, to the point where he'd normally lose balance and fall over, but his hands were anchored to Anabel, seemingly super-glued to her hips.

"How are you doing that?!" Anabel gasped. An idea clicked into her head, and she turned her head slowly to look at Espeon, who blinked back innocently.

"Espeon, what are you doing?" she sighed.

_I'm just assisting with the process, Ana,_ sniggered Espeon. _All three of us can see where this _should_ be going, so I thought that a little nudge in the right direction wouldn't be a bad idea. So quit complaining and go along with it._

"What's Espeon doing?" Ash asked blankly.

"Espeon says that she's… not doing anything…" murmured Anabel slowly, turning back round to face Ash. She flashed a mischievous smile. "She says that you must have excellent balance."

"Does she now?" Ash said, smirking as he pulled himself back to Anabel. "And I thought you said you weren't a mind reader."

"I get the general idea, Ash," she replied, her arms back around his neck. "I sense emotions, and I take a calculated guess."

"Okay then, what emotions do _I_ have at the moment?" he asked arrogantly. "Bear in mind that I've been told many times that my skull is too thick for anyone to get through."

"I'll keep that in mind. Now let's see…" grinned Anabel, her eyes becoming slightly unfocused.

"You know, you look cute when you do that," Ash said softly. Anabel blinked and shook her head slightly.

"Thanks, you just put me off," she pouted, but she was smiling wider than ever. "And I just realised something…"

"What's that?" Ash asked hesitantly.

"That I don't really need to see in your mind to know what you're thinking about."

"And what _am_ I thinking about?"

"How much you want to kiss me," Anabel said, with a wink. Ash looked around for a moment and turned back to her, his face expressionless. But Anabel could see the small spark in his eyes.

"Told you you're a mind reader," he whispered, his mouth curving into a smile as he leaned his head forwards.

_Is he serious?! W-Wow… I-I-I… oh boy…_ Anabel tried to think of something, but all she could think of was Ash drawing closer to her.

_Okay, Ash, this is it. Don't screw it up,_ he thought. He put his head against hers and kissed her quickly on her lips. They both pulled away suddenly, and Ash quickly looked away as Anabel turned to face Espeon.

_See, Anabel? Nothing to it._

_I-I-I-I…_

_Anabel, alright, I get it, I was a bit devious, but you can thank me now._

_W-Wow…_

_Anabel?_

"Anabel…" Ash said, moving his hands away at last.

"Ash?" she said dreamily. He shifted around on his feet and wrung his hands, like he was wrestling with something in his head.

"I—uh—I—" he stammered. Anabel put a finger over his mouth, and he fell quiet immediately.

"You don't have to say it," she smiled. "I can see it in your eyes."

Ash grabbed her hand and moved it away from his face. "If I don't say it now, I probably never will," he warned, throwing his arm around her waist and pulling her body against his.

"Well in that case, by all means go ahead," giggled Anabel, biting her lip expectantly. Ash took a deep breath and locked his eyes onto hers.

"I think I love you, Anabel."

* * *

**Quiz:**

***What is Espeon's lowest base stat, and what value does it have?**


	26. Rendezvous

**CHAPTER 26 – RENDEZVOUS**

A pale shadow rested against the wall of an empty baker's shop, moving restlessly as sunrise approached. Sensing someone nearby, the shadow began to move quickly as it hid behind a large maple tree nearby, hiding itself, and its owner, from view.

"Come on, kid, the boss will be waiting around here," said a female voice, getting louder.

"Call me kid again, I dare you," came another voice, male, and cold.

"Alright then, do you prefer _punk_ instead?" mocked the female. "Alright, we're here. Wait and I'll send out the signal."

"Whatever."

The shadow's owner looked at the ground in front of him. He could see two more shadows, their figures stretched by the light of the overhanging streetlamps. One shadow, the taller one, was standing on the left of the tree, whereas the second, shorter shadow was on his right, arms crossed. A small beeping noise on the shadow's watch alerted him that now was the time to reveal himself. He pressed a button on the watch, silencing it, and stepped out dramatically from behind the maple tree.

"Thank you, Emily, for fetching our informant," he said, nodding at the female.

"Sir!" said Emily, snapping herself into attention, saluting her superior. The unnamed male sniggered.

"My, my, you buffoons take this stuff way too seriously," he said coolly, uncrossing his arms. He looked over at the man Emily had saluted. "Ah, Shane, I presume?"

"That would be correct," he said crossly, angered that his informant had dared to address him by his first name. "And you would be Paul, is that right?"

"Yes, but I don't see why my name is important," Paul rebuked.

"Well, since you did the disservice of using _my_ name, I thought I would return the favour," Shane said, his lip curling.

"Touché, Grunt," said Paul snidely. Shane's hand twitched, its owner wishing he could fasten it around the insolent boy's neck.

"Guard your tongue, boy," he hissed. He snapped his walkie-talkie open and muttered two commands into it. "Our cohorts should be arriving momentarily, and then we'll commence the meeting."

"Cohorts? Morons," Paul muttered. "You Galactic freaks never really do things the proper way anymore."

"I said guard your tongue, before I cut it out!" Shane seethed, using his colleague Mark's favourite threat. Emily giggled evilly before she was struck silent by Shane's murderous stare.

Several minutes passed in tense waiting before another figure appeared from behind the bakery; a curvy figure with a crown of bright red hair.

"Alex, cart your ass over here now!" Emily shouted impatiently.

"Be quiet, Emily!" Alex called back.

"How unprofessional," Paul commented.

"Where is Mark, Alex?" Shane asked sceptically.

"Still trying to locate the child, sir," Alex answered, glancing edgily at Paul. "Sir, is this the informant Emily was asked to find?"

"Yes," was the stern reply. "But since Mark is still performing his duties, it seems we will have to begin without him. Very well, so be it."

"Paul," he said harshly, turning to the Trainer. "Before we go any further, I want to know what your business is with the child."

"I don't need to explain myself to _you_," Paul retorted.

"Explain, or I'm calling Mark off the pursuit now," threatened Shane, raising his walkie-talkie to his mouth.

"Fine!" bellowed Paul angrily, not caring about the need for secrecy. "I want… a little piece of revenge."

"Who's the kid anyways?!" Emily barked.

"_Names_ are even less important than your need to know what my business is," Paul muttered venomously.

"Calm down, both of you," Alex said. "Boss, as you were."

"Thank you, Alex," Shane said mildly, nodding at her before turning back to Paul. "Okay, so you need to exact a little revenge on this kid, eh? Well… I have no problem with that, just as long as the Admins pay my salary for this…" _And then some…_ "Now, for your end of the bargain."

"My end of the bargain? Meaning my information?" Paul said dubiously.

"Damn right," piped Alex. "That's why you're our _informant_."

"Shut up, you stupid girl," he muttered menacingly. Alex advanced towards him, only to be forcefully restrained by Emily, at Shane's behest.

"Get off me, Emily! I can take this kid!" she roared, struggling as Emily held her down.

"You don't mind if I videotape this, do you?" Paul asked Shane sinisterly, pulling a camcorder out of his backpack. Emily and Alex sprang up together and charged furiously towards Paul, but Shane grabbed them both roughly by the hair, sending them crashing onto the cold concrete.

"Stop this nonsense, all three of you," he said, his face a deathly mask. "Paul, put that away or I'll destroy it myself."

Paul's face twitched in rage as he stowed the camcorder away, and Alex and Emily stood up and dusted themselves off, gingerly clutching at their hair.

"Now Paul, we have fulfilled our end of the bargain thus far," Shane continued. "Now is the time for you to fulfil yours. Tell us where to find the stone."

"Before I answer," Paul said. "Tell me two things. Firstly, why is Team Galactic interested in something such as that? I always believed that this sort of thing was generally Rocket, Magma or Aqua territory."

"Very well, we'll humour you on the subject," Shane said calmly, raising a hand to silence his colleagues before they could retort. "Team Rocket's focus is, as I'm sure _you_ would be aware, the use of Pokémon for criminal gain. Magma and Aqua are… _obsessed_… with using Pokémon to expand their empires on land and sea respectively. We, however, are more interested in Pokémon surrounded in mythology, and—"

"Please feel free to tell me when you're going to answer my question," Paul yawned.

"—our Boss," Shane continued, a nerve pulsing in his temple. "Our Boss is _particularly_ interested in that stone tablet, and with the information recorded on it. Which is the _only_ reason he is even considering to trust someone of _your_ position, and the intelligence you might be able to provide us on its location."

"Well, that answers my second question," snorted Paul. "Okay, I'll tell you where to find the tablet."

"Where?" pressed Shane.

"You'll find the tablet atop the peak of Mt. Coronet, in ruins referred to in ancient legends as the Spear Pillar. If I'm correct, your Boss has already visited Spear Pillar?" he asked.

"What the Boss does in his own time is his business, and not ours," Alex said stubbornly.

"At least _he_ knows how to handle himself," Paul mused.

"So, just to be sure, you _know_ that the stone is at this Spear Pillar?" Emily checked.

"That's right," Paul said. "Now finish your mission and then I'll tell you _exactly_ where it is."

"We won't need your help, we can have the entire Galactic squad scouring that place top to bottom if we need to," Alex fired back.

_Which might just end up happening,_ Shane thought, sighing. _Mars said that the Boss has been becoming increasingly obsessed with that stone…_

"You're going to need more than manpower to find that stone, dolt," smirked Paul, crossing his arms once more. "It's hidden from more than just your eyes. You'll need to know the exact conditions in which it will appear."

"Fine, we'll find the kid, and _then_ you can tell our Boss, personally, where _exactly_ to find the stone, how does that sound?" Shane seethed, infuriated by the way Paul was manipulating the situation.

"That sounds lovely," Paul said. He glanced at Emily impatiently. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go!"

"You can't tell me what to do, Paul! I only take orders from Team _Galactic_!" she shrieked.

"Emily, there is no point in you raising your temper over Paul. Paul, we already have one of our own pursuing the child, and I have enough confidence in Mark to trust the task to him single-handedly," Shane explained.

"Then I have no reason to be seen in the company of _Team Galactic_," Paul said, his voice full of contempt as he said the last two words. He turned on his heel and strode off, and as he walked, Shane felt the greatest urge to throw his walkie-talkie at the back of him. Instead, he put it back to his mouth and pressed a button, connecting him to Mark.

"Hunter, this is Honcho. Hunter, do you read me?" he said.

"Honcho, this is Hunter. I read you, Honcho," replied Mark, his sharp voice crackling through the receiver.

"Hunter, what's your status?"

"I have found the target."

"Excellent work, Mark—I mean, Hunter," muttered Shane excitedly before he corrected himself. He cursed silently for the breach in protocol; he was forbidden to use fellow Galactic members' names during transmissions, in case they were being intercepted. "What is the target's location?"

"As of ten o'clock last night, the target has been inside Ayers General Hospital. Since closing hours, only one person has left the hospital; Ash Ketchum, the Trainer who sustained that rather unfortunate injury in his unfinished match earlier today. Against your son, I believe, Honcho?"

"That is correct, Hunter," Shane said, thankful that Mark had refrained from mentioning Kaiden by name. "But you know as well as I do, Hunter, that our relationship has been… _complicated_… due to past events."

"Indeed I do, Honcho."

"But enough of family affairs. Where, specifically, is the target, Hunter?"

"The target is located in the west wing, in the emergency ward. I also have reason to believe that the target is there on account of Ketchum. The target was seen, in company with Professor Samuel Oak and Delia Ketchum, waiting for Ketchum to recuperate after his accident."

"And the world just keeps getting smaller, doesn't it?"

Mark laughed on the other end of the line. "That it does, Honcho."

_Absolutely,_ Shane thought. _We were only assigned to Ayers Island to 'continue representation of Team Galactic throughout the world' and to scout for intel on mythological Pokémon, just like the Boss ordered. Then out of the blue, the Boss _himself_ calls and offers me a promotion to complete a special assignment. He says that there might be crucial information regarding a 'personal interest' of his. He even said that I could be a Commander if I succeeded! I'd be 'Galactic Commander Mercury'… what a nice title… I wish he'd told me what I'd be getting myself into first, though. That stone tablet, kidnapping, and that Paul kid! I can see why the Boss wouldn't normally trust him; I wouldn't either. But he must be really hungry for that tablet if he's resorting to that for information._

"When do you expect to have the target in your custody?"

"That will be difficult to ascertain, Honcho. The target is currently part of a group of eleven civilians, and one Pokémon, who all seem to have a relationship with Ketchum."

"Well why is that a problem? Just go in and complete your task; use your Pokémon if necessary!"

"Honcho, the situation is… rather complex."

"And how is that, Hunter?"

"The eleven civilians, of which the target is included, also include your son."

"My son?! What is _he_ doing there?!"

"He appears to be waiting until Ketchum recovers, so they can resume their battle."

Shane swore loudly in frustration. He shouted into the receiver, "Fine then! Wait until after they finish the battle, then move in and capture the target!" He ended the transmission and threw the walkie-talkie onto the ground, the plastic breaking apart as Shane stood shaking with rage.

"S-Sir?" Alex asked, frightened.

"Get back to your mission, Alex," he quaked. Alex gave a hurried salute and ran off. "Emily," he said to his last remaining colleague.

"Yes, sir?"

"Rendezvous with Mark at 0700 outside the hospital. Formulate shifts so that you can constantly monitor the target's activity."

"Right away, sir," said Emily, rushing away behind the bakery and leaving Shane to simmer in his emotions. Shane leaned back against the maple tree and closed his eyes.

_Great… just great… Okay, so let's take a look at what you've gotten yourself into, eh? So, you've got your own son hanging around the one person he shouldn't be; the person that my unit is supposed to be kidnapping to give to Paul for some twisted little revenge of his. And we're doing _that_ so that Paul will finally tell the Boss where that stone tablet is on Spear Pillar, even though Boss would never come into contact with Paul if the circumstances were any different… And then there's me… Shane the Galactic Grunt… caught up in the middle of it all… and just think,_ he thought with a smile,_ if I can pull this off, I'll be a Commander!_

He laughed maniacally as he imagined himself as one of the leaders of Team Galactic, and as he laughed, the sun rose from behind the stadiums to his right, shining down on him like a sign from God.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Both males in the squad, Mark and Shane, are named after uncles of mine, whereas the girls, Emily and Alex, are named after ex-girlfriends, hehe.**

***Despite Ayers Island not being near the Sinnoh region (geographically, it would be about the **_**furthest**_** known location, on par with Dewford Town), the Galactic Boss still ordered the squad to enforce the Galactic presence.**

**Quiz:**

***Who was the first Team Galactic Commander to make an appearance on the Pokémon **_**anime**_**?**


	27. Wake Up Call

**CHAPTER 27 – WAKE UP CALL**

Ash yawned and slowly opened his eyes. The sun was streaming in through an open window, and the breeze was playfully blowing his hair across his face. He quickly realised that he was in his bedroom, since his hat was lying on the bedside table next to him, but he was at a loss as to how he managed to find his way back after recent events. He set his mind backwards, trying to retrace his steps. He remembered waking up in the hospital bed, surrounded by his mother, his close friends, and Kaiden. He remembered that Anabel hadn't been there, and so he'd left the hospital alone to go and talk to her, to apologise for his behaviour at the match that had led to him being hospitalised. He remembered waiting outside her hotel room… walking in… going down the hallway… being paralysed by Espeon as he opened the door… his conversation with Anabel… giving her his jacket… his hands stuck to her hips… kissing her… and those last few words… but after that, he couldn't remember a thing.

"How'd I wind up here?" Ash mumbled groggily, staring out the window. He racked his brains, trying to think of an answer, but it wouldn't come. "I didn't have anything to drink, so why can't I remember?"

"Hang on," he growled. "That isn't right," he said, looking at the view he could see from beyond the window. Instead of the view he was used to – a calm blue ocean with the occasional Wingull drifting past – he saw a hotel rising sharply to the left, rising above the small square of window he could see out of, and a golden beach stretching along the coastline to the right.

"This isn't my room…" he muttered. "Is this even my hotel…?" He looked down and saw that he was lying in a large bed, with clean white sheets covering him from the neck down.

_Well, I suppose that answers my question,_ he thought. _My normal bed is only a single._

He sat up slightly, the covers moving off his shoulders, which he now saw were bare. "And where's my shirt?" he asked himself, looking to his right; it was lying on the carpeted floor right next to him. _Ash, what did you do? You're lying in someone else's bed, shirtless, and you have no idea how you wound up here. Things can't get much worse… _he thought, shifting his weight to get more comfortable, and so he nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt something soft brush lightly against his arm.

Ash, slowly and carefully, grabbed hold of the sheet and moved it away from himself. "What the—?" he gasped, for he saw a disembodied arm over his, ending in a hand resting on his stomach. He turned his head to the left and his pulse quickened in fear when he saw Anabel's face, peacefully asleep, next to him. He shouted and leapt off the bed, snatching his shirt from off the floor. As he hurried to put it on and cover himself, Anabel stirred and opened her eyes, smiling lazily at him.

"Morning, hotshot," she mumbled, sitting up on her elbow. "How are you feeling?"

"Pretty freaked out," he said truthfully, straightening his shirt out and throwing it over his head.

"Freaked out over what?" Anabel asked, rubbing her eyes with her hands. She sat up on the bed, the sheet still wrapped around her body, and Ash gulped.

"Well—I turn up here—I kiss you—I say that I love you," he explained, searching for his jacket. "And next thing I know—I'm lying on your bed—I don't have a shirt on—and your arm is sprawled over me—"

Anabel laughed as she realised what he was implying. "Oh, and you think that that means that we…?"

"In a word, yes!" he shouted, looking under the bed for his jacket. His head shot up and he raised an eyebrow at her. "We didn't, did we?"

"Not that I can remember," she replied. "You seemed pretty out of it right after… well, after your little confession," she added, her cheeks turning red.

"What happened after that?" Ash asked fearfully, rushing over to the door as he noticed his jacket hanging from it.

"Let's see…" Anabel said, counting off her fingers. "Well, after that, we kissed a few more times, then I put Espeon back in her ball. You said you were going to head back to your room, but like I said you looked pretty spaced out, so I suggested that you crash here instead."

"Your hand was starting to act up again, so I fixed that up for you," she continued, pointing at Ash's fresh bandage as he zipped up his jacket.

"Thanks for that," he said, starting to slow his frantic pace. He sat down on the bed next to Anabel, taking a few deep breaths to slow his heart rate down. "Please tell me you're wearing something more than that sheet," he said, looking up and down at her slender figure.

"Don't worry, Ash, I am," she assured him, edging closer. "But not _much_ more," she added, whispering playfully in his ear.

"Y'know, you're not really easing my concerns about what we did or didn't do earlier," Ash joked.

"How would you react if I told you we did?" Anabel asked him.

Ash contemplated it for a second, before saying, "I'd either faint from shock, or I'd jump out that window and run for the mountains."

Anabel giggled and leant back on her pillow. "Well it's a good thing we didn't. Otherwise you might have jumped down thirty-six stories and onto some pretty hard concrete," she said joyfully, and Ash closed his eyes and exhaled in relief.

"Then how come you're… like that?" he said, waving his hand towards her sheet.

"Well…" she began, blushing slightly. "After I tended to your hand, and convinced you to stay here for the night, you were looking pretty weak in the eyes. You were staggering around like you were drunk or something," she said, frowning.

"Oh, I took a few painkillers before I left the hospital," Ash explained, looking down at his hand. "I guess I might have taken one too many," he added sheepishly.

"Yeah, you looked like you were about to fall asleep any moment! So I helped you into my room – which, let me tell you, was a pretty difficult job – and onto the bed, tucked you in nice and neatly… But then you started muttering something, and you took your shirt off," she recounted, blushing even more with a discreet glance at Ash's clothed chest.

"Did I?" he asked, surprised. "I _must_ have been out of it," he chuckled. "But that still doesn't explain you."

"I was getting to that!" she huffed, smacking him playfully on the arm. "So you were muttering something, you took your shirt off, and then…" she broke off, turning crimson with embarrassment.

"Then—? Wait, you said we didn't!" said Ash loudly, starting to panic.

"We didn't, but we…" she started, making a half-half gesture with her hands.

"Oh…" This time it was Ash who turned red, and he quickly covered it up by reaching for his hat and jamming it down over his brow.

_Think of it this way, Ash,_ said a solemn voice in his head._ At least you didn't _literally_ screw things up._

"I think I'm gonna get dressed now," announced Anabel.

"R-Right," said Ash, jumping to his feet. "I'll give you some privacy." He turned away and headed for the door, keeping the brim of his hat over his eyes.

"Don't take too long," he added, before heading through the door and into the hallway. He quietly closed the door behind him, but as the latch clicked back into place, he couldn't help but smile and grunt a laugh.

_Way to start out politely,_ said Paul-Ash mockingly. _It's not even the third round and look what you've gotten up to._

_Shut up,_ he told himself.

_Let's run through it,_ teased Misty-Ash. _First day: you make friends with two of the top Trainers in the world, almost knock Paul off his blocks, and smash up your hand._

_Thanks for reminding me…_

_Second day,_ she continued. _You actually had a pretty event-free day!_

_I know, I actually got some training in that day… Plus there was that little exhibition match with Ari's Magmortar._

_At least you managed to win that one,_ said Paul. _Third day was your first day of the tournament, wasn't it?_

_Your point?_

_Well let's see what happened there… You got pashed by a Frontier Brain on world television… Lost your cool at your first opponent in the tournament… _Absolutely_ lost your mind after that little run-in with Anabel… Lost your mind _again_ with your match against Dean…_

_I still got through to the second round!_

_You scraped through at the last minute!_

_A win is a win, by a little or a lot. And are the two of you done?_

_Aw, but we haven't reminded you of the best part, day four! Take it away, Paul!_

_Thank you, Misty,_ Paul said arrogantly in a game-show voice._ What do we have for day four? Starting from the top… You were found muttering in your sleep! You gave Dawn romantic advice! You nearly lost your hand in your rematch against Kaiden!_

_I get the point…!_

_And then there was that little dream you had… But hey I'm not complaining… You would never have met me otherwise._

_I'm starting to seriously regret that dream now… _he muttered sadly.

_All dreams happen for a reason, Ash,_ said another voice.

_Great, and just when I thought you'd given up, Cyrus…_

_Dreams reveal the focal points within us,_ Cyrus said wisely. _They can show us the future or the past; they can show us our emotions: our loves, our hopes… our fears…_

_Thanks for that wondrous insight into the world of I-don't-give-a-damn, I feel so much more enlightened by all of this,_ he hissed sarcastically._ So thanks to all of you, but now I'm going to be much happier ignoring you._

He smacked himself in the head to try and rid himself of his mental alter-egos' interfering. As he shook them away, a noise coming from the other end of the hall made him jump. He looked back around at the door to Anabel's room, checking that it was still shut, before he crept silently down the hall towards the noise.

"Ah, morning Anabel, we were just about to w—" said Brandon, stopping short and almost dropping his cup of coffee as he saw Ash's head come round the corner.

"Morning, Brandon," grimaced Ash, giving a small wave. "Who's _we_?" he asked, looking around as he tried to steer the conversation. But Brandon wasn't going to be tricked; he set his coffee cup banging down on the kitchen bench as he strode menacingly towards Ash, his eyes smouldering.

"What were you doing in Anabel's room?" he asked quietly.

"Who says I was in Anabel's room?!" Ash asked wildly, but he knew that Brandon would see right through it.

"I do, because every other bedroom in here was empty when I checked fifteen minutes ago," he explained, his voice barely above a whisper. Ash gulped fearfully, not daring to look Brandon in the eye.

"Okay, I was in her room, so?"

"So you slept in the same room as her, right?"

"Yeah, your point?"

"Just by chance, you didn't sleep in the same _bed_ as her, did you?" growled Brandon. A movement behind him drew Ash's attention, and he cast a frightened glance past his broad shoulders to see a muscular figure in a long white trench coat walking over.

"What's going on here, Br—? Wait, what are _you_ doing here?" he asked, his eyes flashing on Ash.

"Good to see you too, Noland," sighed Ash, beginning to think that jumping out of a thirty-sixth-floor window might be a preferable option.

"Don't worry, Noland, I'm handling this," Brandon hissed, and Noland raised his hands in surrender, trudging into the kitchen to open the fridge.

"Beer, Brandon?" he asked, poking his head out.

"Beer?! It's ten in the morning! _You_ shouldn't even be having one, let alone me!" snapped Brandon, looking over at Noland.

"Hey, judging by the size of that nerve twitching on your forehead, you're going to _need_ one pretty soon," he commented, ducking his head quickly back behind the fridge door as Brandon looked ready to throw him over the lounge.

"Now, where were we?" he muttered, turning back to face Ash, and Ash could see the reason behind Noland's remark.

"Um…"

"Oh, that's right, you were going to tell me if you slept in Anabel's bed last night," he said, crossing his arms.

"R… right…"

"Did you?"

"N—Yes," Ash admitted, hoping against hope that telling the truth would spare him the worst of Brandon's anger. His spirits sank as the nerve on Brandon's head gave a particularly violent twitch.

"Right, right…" he murmured, his hand shooting out and closing on the collar of Ash's shirt. "Now, I think just _one more question_ should do…"

He fixed his eyes on Ash's, and with an almighty grunt, Ash could feel his feet lift off the floor as Brandon yanked him up into the air by the collar.

"Hey, put me down!" he shouted, praying for a miracle. But Noland, assuming that Brandon was 'handling' it like he said he was, sat down on an armchair, beer in hand, and watched on.

"Okay then," said Brandon, and with a cold smirk he flicked his wrist and let Ash go, sending him crashing onto the floorboards. Ash got to his feet roughly, taking several steps backwards to put himself out of Brandon's range.

"What's the big idea?!" Ash asked, dusting himself off.

"Hey, if you think he's pissed off now, just imagine what he'd do to you if he caught you w—" Noland joked, but before he finished his sentence his eyes widened and he jumped to his feet. "Oh, no, you didn't!" he roared, advancing on Ash.

"See what I'm getting at?" Brandon said gruffly as he stopped Noland with his arm. "But if anyone's gonna kill him, it's gonna be me," he warned.

"Kill me?! What are you going to kill me for?!" Ash spluttered, backing away towards a wall.

"Just admit it, Ash, and we promise not to hurt you…" Noland said sympathetically, cracking his knuckles. "Much," he added.

"Admit what?!"

"That you slept with Anabel!" yelled Brandon, his eyes as cold as stones.

"I already told you that! Weren't you listening?!" Ash shouted back, flinching as Noland took a threatening step forwards.

"Okay, I think that I should at least get _one_ shot on him," Noland said to Brandon, who nodded.

"What, what did I do?!" Ash asked, his back hitting the plaster wall as the two Frontier Brains advanced further.

"That's enough, stop it you two!"

Brandon and Noland froze in their tracks, looks of surprise on their faces. Ash waited for them to turn around and look at the source of the voice, but as he waited he realised that they'd been immobilised, just like he had been a few hours ago. He ducked quickly around the two hulking figures in front of him, and saw Anabel standing in the hallway door, fully dressed, her Espeon and Alakazam flanking her as he'd expected. What he hadn't expected was the look on her face; her mouth was set in a straight line, her eyes were narrowed like laser beams, and her hair seemed to be standing on its end, and she seemed to be radiating anger like energy.

"Espeon, Alakazam, turn them around," she hissed. Her Pokémon obeyed the command, and Brandon and Noland both revolved slowly on the spot, still paralysed by the Psychic attacks. "Now let Noland go first," she said to Alakazam.

Noland stumbled forwards, taking a step to regain his balance as Anabel recalled her Pokémon back to its PokéBall. He straightened up, ready to pounce on Ash, but Anabel glared at him with such ferocity that he backed away, gave a pitying look at Brandon, muttered, "Sorry, but I choose life," and scampered away, snatching his beer and running out the door, counting his blessings.

"Can someone _please_ tell me what's going on here?!" Ash said desperately, swinging his head this way and that.

"Why don't we ask Brandon?" Anabel said in a falsely honeyed voice, patting Espeon on the head. Espeon mewed and released her hold on Brandon, disappearing back into her PokéBall in a flash of red light. Brandon kneeled on the floor, shaking his head roughly.

"You know, it's rude to have your Pokémon attack a friend, Ana," he said, clambering to his feet.

"Don't _Ana_ me, Brandon. It was pretty rude of _you_ to attack Ash in the first place," Anabel hissed.

"I was defending you!" he howled, pointing an accusing finger at Ash.

"From Ash…?" she asked coolly, crossing her arms.

"Damn right from him! He comes out of _your_ room at ten in the morning, and admits to me that he slept _in your bed with you_! What am I supposed to think?!" Brandon said angrily, waving his hands in the air.

"Did he mention that we were half-naked?" toyed Anabel, smirking at the look on Brandon's face.

Brandon roared with rage and turned on Ash. "You little Buizel, I'm gonna kill you!" he shouted, moving towards him, but Anabel cut him off with three quick strides and smacked him hard in the face.

_Whoa, déjà vu_… thought Ash as he watched, for the second time, the recipient reel backwards, clutching his face, and for the second time the girl who slapped him towered over him, her face contorted with anger.

"How dare you?!" Anabel shrieked. She raised her arm to strike him again, but Ash jumped forwards and grabbed her arm with his good hand to hold her off.

"Easy now, Anabel," he said soothingly. "Don't kill him… just yet," he whispered, making Anabel smirk again. But the smile slid off her face as she focused on Brandon again, who turned back to the pair of them, a rather noticeable handprint on his cheek.

"Okay, Brandon, before I let Anabel fly at you again, just tell me what I did that was so bad," Ash said, struggling to keep hold of her arm.

"You slept with Anabel," Brandon said simply, his face twitching as he said it.

"So?" he asked blankly. "It's not like we did anything."

Brandon blinked stupidly, clearly not following. It took him ten seconds before he fully realised what Ash had meant, and what he had meant when he'd said it earlier. "But—you said—what did you _think_ that meant?!" he asked, turning red with embarrassment.

"Wait a sec, Brandon," Anabel cut in, looking at him sceptically. "You thought that when Ash said we'd slept together, that we'd actually…?" She fell to the floor, roaring with laughter. "Oh man, Brandon, you can really be priceless when you want to be!"

"Alright, Anabel, I'll admit I made a mistake," he said, getting slightly annoyed. "But there's no need to make a point of it."

Anabel finally stopped laughing and picked herself up off the floor, but she was still grinning as she shook her arms free of dust. "Okay, for the record, what I do in my own time is my own business. Even if we had, it should be my choice whether to tell you or not, you got that?" she said with a serious look on her face.

"Yeah, I get it," admitted Brandon, bowing his head awkwardly. "But Ash," he added, looking over at him. "Just so you know, I'm very protective of Anabel. She's like family to me, and I guess I've sort of taken up the father mantle. You understand, right?"

"Absolutely!" Ash said brightly, glad that he was finally free of the threat of death or dismemberment. "I actually did the same thing a few days ago," he added, scratching the back of his head.

"What, with Ari and Dawn?" Anabel asked, surprised. "But… she's like twelve, isn't she?"

"Oh, it wasn't about… the same subject as this," he said hastily. "It was something _way_ different to this. I'm just glad I talked to Ari about it and not Dawn; I think Brock still has the bruises on his arms."

"Speaking of those three," Brandon said bluntly. "Don't you think you should let them know where you are? I imagine that after your little mishap," he gestured to Ash's hand, "that they'd be a bit concerned as to why you didn't go back to the hospital after you came here."

"How do you know—?"

"I guessed as much," Brandon said knowingly.

"Yeah, I probably should get back to them," Ash agreed, heading for the door. "Besides, I think Kaiden might be getting a little impatient for us to continue our match."

"I'll see you a little later on, yeah?" he asked Anabel as he opened the door. She rushed over to him and gave him a quick hug.

"Yep. So hurry up and win," she said, winking at him.

"Since when would I let you down?" he smirked, and he gave a friendly to wave to Brandon, who returned the gesture, before he walked out into the floor's corridor, slamming the door shut behind him. He saw Noland slumped against the wall a few feet away, finishing off the last of his beer, and Ash gave him a thumbs-up.

"Well, I see you're still alive, so it's safe to assume that Brandon and I were wrong?" he grunted, the bottle clinking as he set it on the carpet.

"Yeah, you guys got the wrong idea."

Noland nodded and fell silent, deep in thought. "So is Brandon still alive?" he asked Ash after a while.

"Well, he was when I left just now, but Anabel might have done something to him in the last minute or two," Ash joked, strolling casually past him and out of sight.

"I wouldn't put it past her," he grinned, pushing himself off the wall and heading back inside.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***This chapter is named after the Maroon 5 song, which features a somewhat similar scenario in the chorus (although Ash doesn't get shot in this story, thankfully).**

**Quiz:**

***What is the Japanese name of the **_**other **_**Factory Head?**


	28. All's Fair

**CHAPTER 28 – ALL'S FAIR**

"Well, shall we?"

"No time like the present. Let's do this."

"May the best Trainer win, Kaiden," said Ash confidently, shaking hands with his opponent. "Come on, Pikachu, let's finish the job," he said quietly to the Pokémon nestled on his shoulder, as they headed back to their red square at the battleground's edge.

"_Pika pikaa_," agreed Pikachu. _Let's go one better and win._

"Are both Trainers ready to continue the match?" asked the referee, looking from Ash to Kaiden.

"I'm ready," Ash called.

"Bring it," said Kaiden.

"In that case…" the referee said, flinging his red and green flags dramatically into the air.

"And we're back underway in this second-round match between Ash and Kaiden!" shouted a high, clear voice around the stadium.

"Yes we are, Derek. This match has already had its fair share of amazing battle tactics and shows of strength!"

"We are of course hoping that there won't be any more unfortunate accidents for the remainder of the match," Derek added solemnly. "So let's get this show back on the road!" he declared, striking his starting bell.

Kaiden started right away, throwing a PokéBall across the ground. "Come back out, Vigoroth!" he shouted, and his Wild Monkey Pokémon screeched and thudded back onto the earth, thumping its chest competitively. "I figured it's only fair that we keep things where we left off," he added to Ash, smiling.

"All's fair," Ash grunted as he reached for a PokéBall of his own. _Including some slimy tactics…_ "Muk, I choose you!" he crowed, hurling the ball high.

The crowd shrank back in disgust as the rancid smell of rotting garbage filled their nostrils. Ash smirked knowingly as his Muk, a vast, oozing mass of purple, slid across the ground to take its place opposite Kaiden's Vigoroth.

"_Muuuuuuuukkk!_" it roared as it spread its hands wide, waiting for Vigoroth to strike.

"Vigoroth, use Mega Kick!" Kaiden ordered, and Vigoroth smashed its fists into the rocky ground and pounced forwards. It spun its body round and flung its foot forwards, sending it straight into Muk's body. But instead of making contact, Muk merely shrugged off the attack as it passed through its soft body. Vigoroth howled in surprise and anger as Muk seemed to double in size before its eyes, pressing the folds of poisonous flesh over its face.

"Nice Body Slam, Muk!" Ash cheered, and Pikachu shouted encouragingly. "Now use Toxic to poison Vigoroth!"

Muk hissed with delight and let out a guttural roar. The colour of its body deepened from purple to a deadly-looking shade of violet. Suddenly, a cloud of sickly green gas expelled from its mouth and it grinned as it slid off Vigoroth with a horrible squelching sound. Vigoroth was lying on the ground, its face shaded green, and coughing sickly.

"Vigoroth, get up! Come on, I know you can do it!" Kaiden said proudly, his eyes glinting as Vigoroth tottered to its feet, swinging its arms ungainly.

"_Viiiiiigoroth!_" it grunted, coughing a small purple cloud as it shook its head.

"Excellent! Now show Ash and his Muk that we aren't gonna bow down!" Kaiden shouted, throwing his arm forward. "Use Façade!"

"Oh boy," muttered Brock, shading his eyes in the glare of the sun.

"What is it?" asked Anabel, purely focused on Ash's Muk. Leoric opened his mouth to explain, but May cut him off.

"Façade is an attack that doubles in power if the Pokémon using it has an abnormal status condition," she said, making Leoric stare at her in surprise. "What?"

"I think Leoric's wondering how you know about Façade's special effect," Tracey said smartly.

"Well, my dad Norman is the Petalburg City Gym Leader, and he has a specialty Technical Machine. It's TM42, Façade," May explained.

"Yeah, every Gym Leader gets a specialty TM, Leoric," Max chimed in, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Brock, what would the Pewter Gym's be?"

"Stone Edge, I believe," Brock answered, glancing over at Misty. "I think Cerulean's is Water Pulse, right?"

"No, it's Rain Dance; Sootopolis Gym drafted Water Pulse before we got the chance," replied Misty from the row in front of them.

Vigoroth screamed and rose on its back legs, a dull red glow creeping down from the tuft of hair on its head, slowly spreading throughout its entire body. It breathed another poisoned breath before it leapt forwards, and in seconds it was upon Muk, ripping at it with razor-sharp claws and pummelling every inch it could reach.

"Oh my, Vigoroth has pulled a fast one on Muk! It used the sapping effect of Muk's Toxic to power up its own Façade attack! What a brilliant piece of strategy by Kaiden!" commented Jeanne. "How is Ash going to get out of this one?"

Sensing that Muk might not last much longer, Ash decided to go on the defensive. "Muk, get out of there! Use Acid Armor!" he cried. Muk hissed with pain at its attacker, and the next moment it was gone, and in its place was an enormous purple puddle of water. "Good work!" Ash shouted, but Kaiden was at a loss at as to what it was that Muk did.

"What the heck just happened? Your Muk just melted!" he said, as Vigoroth cut wide sluices in the water with its claws, sending it spraying into the air.

"He didn't melt, he just liquefied himself using Acid Armor," Ash explained. "And now, use Disable to stop Vigoroth's Façades!"

The purple puddle trickled away towards Ash, swelling and bubbling ominously. It rose off the floor, twisting and undulating before reforming into Ash's Pokémon. Muk then put its hands out in front of its body and gave an eerie shriek. Vigoroth shook its head madly and started bashing itself over the head with one of its clawed hands, trying to remember the last move it had used.

"Now your Vigoroth can't take advantage of its poison status to use Façade," Ash smirked.

Kaiden clenched his fists in rage as he howled, "Vigoroth, use Focus Punch!" resorting to his fallback move.

"Muk, use Gunk Shot before Vigoroth gets a chance to strike!" Ash commanded, seeing Vigoroth charge up its attack. Muk shut its mouth and took a deep, rumbling breath, and a second later it spat out a colossal ball of purple slime, which collided into Vigoroth and sent it tumbling into the dirt in a torrent of white fur and sludge.

"Vigoroth!" shouted Kaiden in alarm as he watched his Pokémon collapsing in the pile of muck. "Use your arms as a whirlwind and blow that slime away!"

Vigoroth obeyed, spreading its arms wide and revolving quickly on the spot. But the fumes from Muk's Gunk Shot attack were starting to mix in with the air, and they quickly reached Vigoroth despite the gust it was creating. Vigoroth's eyes started to droop as the toxins began to affect its brain, and it stopped spinning itself and lightly fell sideways, and face-down onto the pool of sludge it had been trying to dispel.

"Vigoroth is unable to battle!" declared the referee, brandishing the green flag at Ash and Muk, who cheered and pumped their fists with delight.

"Excellent work, Muk!" Ash said brightly, and Muk raised its hand in acknowledgement.

"And it's lights out for Vigoroth! I tell you, Jeanne, _I _certainly wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of one of Muk's Gunk Shots!" Derek said observably.

Kaiden frowned sadly, but as he returned his fainted Pokémon to its ball, he muttered, "You did well, Vigoroth."

"Well, Ash, you've taken me down to my last Pokémon," Kaiden said, ripping his final PokéBall off his belt dramatically. "Now let's see how you _really_ handle the pressure."

"Bring it," said Ash aggressively, grinning.

"As you wish," he answered simply. "Fight until the end, Hippowdon!"

As his PokéBall opened in a flash of white, an enormous brown-black Pokémon appeared on the field. It looked a lot like a hippopotamus, except that there were large circular holes on its back that appeared to be filled with sand. It let out a roar, and Ash saw that its jaws were huge; large enough to swallow him whole. Ash quickly whipped out his Pokédex to examine the Pokémon.

_Hippowdon, the Heavyweight Pokémon, _buzzed the Pokédex in its mechanical voice. _It blasts internally stored sand from ports on its body to attack, and its huge mouth can reach over seven feet across, possessing enough power to completely crush a car or small truck._

"Wow, seven feet…" Ash murmured, tucking the Pokédex back in his jeans pocket. "That's pretty big…"

"Hippowdon, give our opponents a little welcoming gift!" Kaiden shouted. Hippowdon nodded its great head, and Ash could hear a low rumbling sound coming from inside it. Suddenly, towering twisters of sand erupted from the holes on Hippowdon's back, sending sand, dirt and dust spiralling into the air and creating a small sandstorm. Ash gasped in shock, only to receive a mouthful of flying sand. He spat it out quickly, shielding his face with his hands as Pikachu buried its face behind Ash's collar.

"Damnit!" he said, trying to open his mouth as little as possible to avoid more sand getting into it. "I can hardly see through this… Kaiden loves screwing us over with the weather, doesn't he, Pikachu?"

"_Pikachu pika pii-kaa…_" gasped Pikachu, barely audible over the moaning wind. _Keep that hand in your jacket, just in case…_

"Good idea," Ash said, keeping his right hand in front of his face as he shoved the left one inside his jacket pocket. "Muk!" he shouted through the storm, hoping his Pokémon could hear him through the noise. A faint grunt gave him his answer. "Muk, keep the sand out of your eyes! You're going to need to be able to see that Hippowdon coming!"

Muk nodded at its master's voice, strangled by the dirt in the air. It shuddered and closed its eyes, concentrating hard, and after several moments it opened them again, but it had developed a clear, sticky film over its eyelids, which kept out the worst of the sand from stinging its eyes. Everything appeared to Muk in a pale green hue, but it could see clearly, and it could see Kaiden's Hippowdon, sitting calmly on the ground, its eyes burning through the storm.

"Muk, can you see it?" Ash shouted. Muk grunted positively, and Ash couldn't help but cheer despite the throw of sand that tried to claw down his throat. "Okay then, try a Poison Gas!"

Muk hissed and expelled a large green cloud of noxious fumes from its mouth, creeping through the air towards Hippowdon. But Hippowdon barely raised its head as it shot another gust of sandy air from a hole on its back, and it blew Muk's attack into the sky, where it instantly dissolved amongst the raging sandstorm.

"Come on, Ash, you're going to have to do better than that!" taunted Kaiden, his voice rising over the howling wind. "If you can't, I see no reason why I shouldn't have Hippowdon show you some of his power! Hippowdon," he said to his Pokémon. "Stone Edge!"

Hippowdon opened its gaping mouth wide, pouring a stream of sand from its holes. It roared, and the sand twisted itself into mid-air, shrinking and darkening until it had solidified into a rugged spear of rock, hovering dangerously over Hippowdon's head, aimed at Muk and ready to strike. Hippowdon blew a gust of air from its large nostrils and its eye flashed white as the spear sliced through the air, cutting through the sandstorm like a knife through butter. Ash's eyes – narrowed to slits – watched on in horror as the rock flew into Muk, which screamed in pain as it was struck in the side by the wide edge of the spear.

"What's going on down there?!" yelled Derek, inching his head closer to try and get a better view. "I think I heard someone's Pokémon cry out, but in this weather I can't be sure if it's Muk or Hippowdon…"

"Muk!!" shrieked Ash, his eyes scanning the scene anxiously. "Muk, are you alright!"

"_Muh… ukk…_" Muk growled, clutching at its side with a slimy hand. It looked around determinedly for Hippowdon, but it was nowhere to be seen. A small movement in the corner of its film-covered eye made it snap around, and it saw a small lumpy mass in the distance. Muk's lip curled and it roared savagely, ignoring the pain in its side as it threw both its hands to the sides of its body. Ash understood the roar and squinted short-sightedly at the spot where he'd heard the roar come from.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" he asked Muk. Muk roared again, and Ash nodded his head. "Alright then. I trust you, Muk, but you'd better know what you're doing. Use Memento!" he ordered.

The crowd heard Ash's voice over the dust and wind, and those who understood Ash's command shouted in surprise. Even Kaiden seemed perplexed by his opponent's choice of attack.

"Memento?! You're going to throw away your Muk, even when it's still got plenty of fight left in it?!" he asked. He suddenly threw his head back in laughter, but just as suddenly stopped, and shrugged his shoulders. "Fine, like I care. Hippowdon, just clear the dust while Muk takes care of itself."

Hippowdon obeyed and Ash could hear a strange sucking sound coming from the massive Pokémon. He turned his eyes skyward and saw the raging wall of orange-brown sand and dust was beginning to slowly fall back down towards them. _How's Hippowdon doing that?_ he wondered, glancing down at the battlefield with narrow eyes. He narrowed his eyes even further when he saw a strange current forming amongst the twirls and spirals. _What the heck is that? _he asked himself. _And where's that sucking noise comi—? Wait, Hippowdon's using those sand ports as a vacuum to suck up all the sand it let out earlier!_

As the storm weakened and the air became clearer, Ash allowed his eyes to gradually open back to their original size, and once the sand had disappeared completely, he saw Muk lying spread-eagled on the ground, unmoving and unconscious. The crowd saw it too, and they started to chatter amongst themselves in confusion, wondering what it was that Ash was thinking in ordering his Pokémon to knock itself out.

"What _did_ Ash do?" May asked her brother, scratching her head in bewilderment.

"Didn't you hear him? He had his Muk use Memento," Max smirked.

"We all heard him, Max," Misty interjected, scowling. "But what does Memento _do_?"

"Don't any of you read?!" Max asked, glancing arrogantly at his friends.

"Of course not. Otherwise we wouldn't need you!" joked May.

Max rolled his eyes, annoyed less by May's comment than by her ignorance. "Memento is sort of a self-sacrifice move," he explained, using his hands to get his point across. "When the user attacks with Memento, it instantly KO's itself," he said, snapping his fingers succinctly. "But what it leaves behind is, if you will, a farewell gift of sorts," he added mischievously. He pushed his glasses back up his nose habitually and grinned knowingly. "The moment Ash recalls Muk, Hippowdon is going to receive a _very_ nasty surprise."

Ash took out Muk's PokéBall and pointed it at the Pokémon that belonged to it. "Good job Muk, now have a nice long rest," he muttered, and Muk disappeared into its ball in a haze of red light…

…But Muk had _indeed_ left something behind.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Vigoroth is the second of Kaiden's Pokémon to know Focus Punch, the first being his Marowak.**

***In Fire Red and Leaf Green, the Cerulean Gym **_**does**_** give away the Water Pulse TM, but in this case it would have conflicted with the earlier games (RSE) which had Sootopolis Gym awarding the Trainer Water Pulse.**

***All three of Ash's battles have had his opponent's final Pokémon as either a pure Ground-type, or part Ground-type (Marowak, Gliscor, Hippowdon).**

**Quiz:**

***At what level (in Diamond and Pearl) does Muk **_**naturally**_** learn Memento?**


	29. A Parting Gift

**CHAPTER 29 – A PARTING GIFT**

"Good job Muk, now have a nice long rest," Ash said proudly to his fallen Pokémon, returning Muk to its PokéBall. But the thing that Muk's body had been hiding was now revealed.

_Oh my…_ thought Anabel, her eyebrows flying into her mauve-coloured hair.

"My my, now _that_ isn't something you see every day!" squealed Jeanne.

_That _does_ look nasty,_ Leoric thought, his face expressionless.

"Max, what's that?" Dawn asked, glancing quickly at Max before her eyes snapped back to the battlefield.

"Muk's Memento," Max answered. "A parting gift."

"If that's one of Muk's _gifts_, I'd had to see what its idea of a _bad_ present would be," Brock commented.

Lying directly where Ash's Muk had been only moments before was a small sphere, perfectly rounded. It was a deep purple colour, but it had swirling patterns of black rippling across the surface. Ash looked at it, repulsed, as it slowly pulsated to an eerie rhythm. As he looked at it, spellbound, he felt a cold chill run down his spine as he realised that it was simply… evil. There was no other word for it.

"Muk… what the heck did you do…?" he muttered, looking nervously down at the PokéBall still in his hand.

Suddenly, the purple ball rose high into the air and grew exponentially, as if it was feeding off the air surrounding it. Ash, Kaiden and Hippowdon stared at it in horrified fascination as it spun in mid-air, compressing and expanding and compressing again. It looked hideously alive.

_Oh boy, I have a _bad_ feeling about this,_ Kaiden thought, as the sphere froze, still hovering above their heads.

_Muk… you really like keeping me in suspense, don't you?_ grimaced Ash, but he gave a small smile as the ball began to home in on Hippowdon, who started to squeal frightfully. _Well, I suppose _that_ answers my question,_ he thought, tapping his PokéBall with a finger before attaching it to his belt.

"Hippowdon, blast some sand at—!" Kaiden began to shout, but the referee silenced him with a wave of his flag.

"Any order issued by a Trainer towards his or her Pokémon, in the absence of an opponent's Pokémon, is in breach of Section 5 of the rules of League- and World-certified Pokémon battles," he stated. "Any Trainer found in breach of this rule will have his or her Pokémon immediately disqualified from the match."

"But that… _thing_ is headed straight for Hippowdon!" Kaiden shouted despairingly at the referee, throwing his arm out towards the ball that relentlessly moved towards his Pokémon.

"The opponent's attack order was issued _before_ the Pokémon was knocked unconscious," said the referee emotionlessly. "There was no breach, and, as stated in the rules, a Trainer cannot issue a command whilst there is no opponent. I'm sorry."

Kaiden bared his teeth and looked on in visible agony as Muk's Memento made contact with Hippowdon's nose. But instead of exploding or making Hippowdon cry out, the ball continued on its way, slowly encompassing the Pokémon whole. Hippowdon reared its head and tried to bash its way out, but it was no use; the Memento seemed indestructible as it rose above the ground, taking its prisoner with it.

"Hippowdon!" Kaiden screamed uselessly. Hippowdon stopped moving, its eyes frozen in fear, as the dark sphere around it started to collapse in on itself. The Memento began to warp and mould itself into Hippowdon's shape, and then there was a blinding flash of white light that made everyone shield their eyes and turn away.

Ash, Pikachu and Kaiden recovered first, their heads snapping round to face the centre of the arena. Hippowdon was standing in the central circle, seemingly unharmed from the attack. Ash blinked foolishly, and even Hippowdon looked down at itself, surprised that the attack hadn't damaged it. Kaiden nearly fell to the ground in relief.

"Ash, you bastard, you scared the hell out of me with that Memento attack!" he shouted, laughing hysterically. "I thought it was really gonna hurt Hippowdon, not just frighten the living daylights out of us both!"

Ash hid a smirk, and instead glared aggressively at Kaiden, as he reached for his last PokéBall. "Well, now we get the chance to finish this match, don't we? One on one," he said.

"Sounds good," fired Kaiden, as Hippowdon raised its great head and readied itself to face its new opponent.

"Pull out the win, Grotle!" Ash yelled, tossing his PokéBall into the open space of the arena. The ball split open and, in a flash of white light, a large turtle-like Pokémon hopped onto the field. It had a green underside, and an orange-brown shell running across its back. On top of the shell were two leafy bushes. It chomped its large jaws happily as it eyed off Hippowdon, which was easily ten times its size.

"_Now_ can I attack?" Kaiden asked the referee sarcastically. "Hippowdon, start off by whipping up another Sandstorm!"

"_Hiiiiiii!_" grunted Hippowdon, and Ash could once again hear that low rumbling sound from within it that preceded the twisters of sand that shot out from the holes on its back. Hippowdon opened its mouth and roared, opening the sand ports. It roared again, and Ash braced himself for the torrent of sand and dust that would soon cover the arena.

But nothing happened. Hippowdon growled angrily, and opened its ports again, but like before, no columns of sand shot out into the sky.

"Hippowdon, what's wrong? You should still have plenty of sand still in you!" shouted Kaiden, looking worriedly at his Pokémon.

Ash decided to take advantage of his opponent's distraction and launch an offensive. "Grotle, use Razor Leaf!" he yelled to his own Pokémon.

"_Groh-groh!_" clicked Grotle, swinging its head round in a large circle. A dozen green leaves, with edges as sharp as knives, hurtled forth from the bushes on its back and whistled through the air as they sped to Hippowdon, making the large Pokémon wince and grunt in pain as they cut and grazed its tough hide.

"_Pow… don…_" it hissed, a trickle of sand pouring down its back.

"Hippowdon, are you alright?" Kaiden asked. Hippowdon nodded its head vigorously, and he smiled. "Alright then, move in for a Crunch attack!" he called.

Hippowdon stomped its padded feet on the ground, causing tiny tremors that made Grotle bounce up and down on the earth. Grotle swayed its head from side to side in rhythm with the shakes, thinking that it was some kind of fun game. But it quickly changed its attitude as Hippowdon began to stampede towards it.

"Grotle, use another Razor Leaf then use Withdraw!" Ash ordered quickly. Grotle launched another volley of leaves at Hippowdon, most of which reached their mark, before it curled itself into a tight ball, which become enshrouded with a light blue shell. Hippowdon reared, jaws opened wide, before it pushed its lower jaw into the ground and send the upper jaw crashing down onto Grotle. The force of the blow shook the ground and made Ash nearly lose his balance, while Pikachu was thrown completely off his shoulder. The crowd roared with shock, as they thought that the force of that attack might be enough to do more than simply knock Grotle out.

"Ooh, that Crunch looks deadly!" shouted Derek excitedly, jumping to his feet in the commentators' box. "I can't see Grotle's Withdraw lasting much more than a _second_ against the raw power of Hippowdon's jaws!"

"Come on, Grotle, you can do it…" Ash muttered, clenching his fist in his pocket as Pikachu sprung lightly back up to his shoulder. _If you can't… we'll all be out of here a lot sooner than expected._

"Grotle," he bellowed at Hippowdon. "Keep up the Withdraw, but send out a Leech Seed right down Hippowdon's throat!"

"Oh no, you don't!" Kaiden countered, raising a fist. "Hippowdon, spit that Grotle out before he gets the chance. If he fires that Leech Seed afterwards, block it with a Sand-Attack!"

Hippowdon instantly sent Grotle flying out of its mouth, gouging out a large clump of earth with its mouth, ready to fire at Grotle in case it launched its attack. But Grotle bounced along the ground, still safely within the confines of its protective blue shell.

"What the—?" said Kaiden, starting forwards to the edge of his box. Then the truth dawned on him, and he dropped his shoulders and shook his head in anger. "You were just bluffing!" he shouted, jabbing the air with a finger as he pointed at Ash, who shrugged his hands as if to say '_so?_'

"Hey, like I said before, all's fair," smirked Ash. Pikachu clapped its hands together and stuck its tongue out at Kaiden playfully.

"Hippowdon, use Take Down!" Kaiden roared, enraged at how easily he'd been deceived. Hippowdon shuffled a rear foot on the ground before it charged once more at Grotle, who remained in its Withdraw. Ash gave no new order as Hippowdon approached, but watched on steely-eyed as Hippowdon collided with Grotle and sent it flying into the air. But Ash smirked and Kaiden frowned as Hippowdon's Take Down didn't seem to have the desired effect; Grotle simply fell back to earth and bounced around as though it were a ball of rubber, smiling joyfully as it went on what it considered was a ride.

"Geez, Kaiden, that Take Down looked more like a Tackle attack," Ash observed mockingly, making Kaiden's hair flare up in irritation. But as much as Kaiden didn't like it, he was right; Hippowdon hadn't even damaged Grotle, let alone knocked it out. And as he looked, Hippowdon was beginning to lean unsteadily to one side, its eyes slightly unfocused.

"What the heck is going on? That Take Down can't have taken much out of Hippowdon," Kaiden muttered to himself, watching Grotle continue to bounce around.

"Don't you see?" Ash called out, having heard Kaiden, which surprised the latter. "It's almost as if… as if something has sapped its strength," he explained. He brought his hands together in front of his face, then moved them apart so that there was a beach-ball-sized gap between them. He clapped his hands together, his eyes twitching with pain as he smacked his bandaged hand against his uninjured one. "Boom…"

Kaiden's eyes shot towards Hippowdon as he remembered. _Was _that_ what he did…?_

"What's Ash talking about?" May asked in the crowd.

Ari furrowed his brow turned to face her. "I think they're talking about that Memento that Muk left behind for Hippowdon. Right, Max?" he asked, poking his head out to face the boy.

Max nodded in agreement. "I forgot to tell you all what Memento actually _does_," he said unashamedly.

"Well how's about you make up for that and tell us now?" Misty said flatly, a slight note of frustration in her voice.

"Then stop interrupting!" Max said cheekily. He deftly ducked a swinging arm from Misty before he went on. "When a Pokémon uses Memento, it faints, right?"

"Yeah, you told us all that five minutes ago," Dawn said.

"Right, but that little… '_ball_'-thingy that Muk left behind is the Memento itself. When a Memento hits the opposing Pokémon, it drastically lowers the Pokémon's abilities and stats. It basically cuts them down in half, if you want to be blunt about it," he summarised, his glasses flashing in the sun.

"Wow, that's a harsh attack," commented Brock.

"It should be, if the Pokémon using it has to fall unconscious for it," Leoric smirked, as the watery shield around Grotle exploded, sending a spray of water onto the surrounding ground.

"I just wonder what Ash and Grotle are going to do to make the most of that advantage," Ari said seriously, his eyes fixed on Kaiden's Hippowdon. "If they don't take rip into Hippowdon like a Snorlax to food, then he's out, enough said."

"Grotle, toss a Leech Seed at it," Ash shouted. "For real this time," he added with a smirk as Grotle dug its feet into the ground behind it. It gave a surprising loud grunt for its size and shot a glowing amber-coloured seed from its mouth, arcing through the air before striking Hippowdon on the back, directly in the middle of its sand-ports.

As soon as the seed made contact with Hippowdon's rough skin, tendril-like vines burst forth and fastened themselves to Hippowdon as more vines came out to completely ensnare the Pokémon, which shrieked and tried to turn its head to chomp the vines away. But its neck was too small, and so it chewed away at thin air.

"Hippowdon, blast those vines away!" Kaiden ordered, but Muk's Memento had disabled its sand ports, and so Hippowdon struggled futilely against its bonds as they began to sap its energy. He roared in frustration as his Pokémon began to weaken. "Use Curse!"

Hippowdon gave a bass-deep growl and snapped its mouth shut, its eyes burning red. The red glow seeped out from its eyes and covered its body, and when it spread to the vines, they shrivelled and crumbled into dust. The sun shone down on Hippowdon's body, which seemed to wink back at it, its body the colour of fire. The fire quickly faded as Hippowdon smashed a foot on the ground, crushing several small rocks into fine powder which blew away in the breeze.

_That's not a bad move…_ Ash thought. _I wonder if that's all Curse did…_

"An unorthodox approach by Kaiden and Hippowdon!" said Jeanne. "They used the power behind that Curse attack to destroy Grotle's Leech Seed attack and boost its physical capabilities!"

"_Physical capabilities_?" Ash repeated, with a puzzled look at Kaiden, who looked back and smiled knowingly. "What does _that_ mean?"

"It means that Curse raised its attack and defensive stats, along with getting rid of those troublesome vines," Kaiden explained, brushing his dark green hair out of his face. "And I think the effects of Curse might have just balanced out that accursed Memento that your Muk left for Hippowdon, too."

Ash gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. Muk's sacrifice had just been neutralised by a single attack. And that same attack had cancelled out the effects of Grotle's Leech Seed as well.

_Crap-crap-crap-crap-crap-crap-crap, _Ash thought, wildly trying to think of a strategy to counter his opponent's renewed strength. _Come on, Ash, think!_ he muttered, his eyes staring on sightlessly as he focused solely on his thoughts. _Hippowdon restored its stats, meaning they're back at the same level as it was before Muk's Memento… but hang on… Kaiden said that Hippowdon's Curse only restored its attack and defense! He didn't say anything about raising its speed… which means that the cut to Hippowdon's speed from the Memento hasn't been restored._

Hippowdon sluggishly raised a foot and dropped it back onto the ground, roaring ferociously at Ash. _Geez, Hippowdon's looking a bit slow… but that's to be expected from Memento… then why does it look weird, and out of place? Unless… unless Curse lowers your speed even more! Okay, so now I've found a possible weakness… but how can I exploit it with Grotle's speed…?_

"Grotle, use another Leech Seed!" Ash cried, and Grotle cannoned another glowing seed into Hippowdon's body, this time landing on the bridge of its broad nose. The vines shot out in all directions once more, and started their job of draining Hippowdon's life force.

"Hippowdon, Curse again!" Kaiden shouted, and Hippowdon disintegrated the Leech Seed with another flash of glowing red light.

"Leech Seed, one more time!" Ash yelled, and Grotle repeated the attack, with Hippowdon repeating its counter-attack, destroying the vine-spawning seed. It shook the dust remains off itself and gave a mighty bellow as Kaiden grinned proudly at his position in the battle.

"Ash, what's the point of launching all these attacks if Hippowdon can counter them easily as can be?" he laughed. "I mean, you made a martyr out of Muk, but this is just stupid," he added, smirking arrogantly.

Ash turned his head to the side in an obvious attempt at sarcasm and smirked back. "I prefer to let my Pokémon do the talking, if you don't mind," he said. "Grotle, send out some more Leech Seeds… I think… _four_ should be enough. Launch them whenever you feel like, one after the other," he added lazily.

Grotle nodded its head obediently and sent out a Leech Seed at Hippowdon, who routinely countered it with another Curse attack. The crowd began to grow impatient and booed Ash and Grotle, complaining of the repetitiveness of their actions. The only ones who didn't seem to be jeering them were a small group of ten people sitting on the eastern side of the stadium. In fact, one was getting quite vocal in her support of Ash, and was starting to verbally attack those around her who were criticising Ash.

"Don't have a go at my son! He knows what he's doing, which is more than I can say for you! So be quiet!" she scowled.

Misty stared nervously over her shoulder at Delia, who had stood up and was hounding into a rather thick-set man in the row behind her, who had called Ash a 'retard with a PokéBall'. "Remind me _never_ to get on her bad side," she whispered to Brock, who was trying his best to inconspicuously edge away from Delia.

"Only if you do the same for me," he muttered, as Anabel, sitting in the seat behind him, had decided to calm Delia down, wrenching her back into her seat as politely as she could, considering her intentions. Delia continued to glare unhappily at the stranger, but Anabel reassured her.

"C'mon, Mrs. Ketchum, his opinion doesn't count. Besides, it's not like he's out there instead of Ash," she said, smiling sweetly. Delia's face softened and she turned back around to face her son.

"Wow, she's good at that," he commented, sneaking a glance over his shoulder.

"Well, if you hang around the other Frontier Brains – especially Noland – long enough, you learn to be," Leoric said. Brock chuckled.

"Wait, you know Noland?" Max asked, leaning over his sister to put the question forward.

"Yeah, of course I do!" Leoric replied, resting his hands on his head as he watched Grotle fire its third Leech Seed at Hippowdon. "I wonder what Ash really _is_ doing with this barrage of his…" he murmured, deflecting Max's question and drawing their attention away from him.

"Yeah, it is a bit odd," Max confessed, stroking his chin with his hand. "What's he hoping to accomplish?"

"Well, we'll soon see," muttered May, wondering the same thing. "He only told Grotle to fire _four_ Leech Seeds, and it's already used _three_."

As she finished her sentence, Grotle shot its fourth and final Leech Seed at Hippowdon, who resolutely stopped it with its now fifth consecutive Curse, obliterating the seed and its vines once more. It bellowed; an ear-splitting roar that seemed to tear at the particles in the air around it. But despite the sharp rise in its attack and defense, as Ash predicted its speed had dropped just as sharply. It was barely moving; only its head was twitching from side to side to shake off the single fly that was incessantly buzzing around its nose.

"Hippowdon, how you feeling?" Kaiden asked his Pokémon. Hippowdon's body rumbled with a sound like thunder, and he smirked. "Okay then, let's see if you can bring that Sandstorm back up!"

Hippowdon bared its enormous teeth in an unmistakeable grin and snapped its sand holes back open. With the familiar rumbling sound filling the air and shaking the ground, Ash's heart sank as he saw the yellow-brown towers of sand burst from Hippowdon's body, filling the sky and churning the air into a gale.

_I should invest in sunglasses,_ he thought to himself, throwing his arm protectively over his face. _Or maybe next time I should ask Dawn if I can borrow one of her scarves._

"Grotle!" he roared. "Get back over here!" He waited several seconds before an indistinct shape bounded towards him. He couldn't see Grotle clearly since it was still inside the sandstorm, but it jumped out a moment later, a plume of dust trailing in its wake as it landed a few feet in front of Ash and Pikachu.

"_Grohh_!" said Grotle, awaiting Ash's next command.

"Grotle, do you feel like doing a little cleaning?" Ash asked, grinning when Grotle jumped up and down on the ground, chomping its jaws. "Okay then. Much as I don't like it, you're gonna have to go back in that sandstorm."

"_Grotle! Grotle!_" chanted Grotle, leaping fearlessly into the wall of flying dust.

"Grotle, give us a little ray of sunshine!" Ash shouted after his Pokémon. "Use Sunny Day!"

Grotle raised its head towards the heavens and let out a strangled, barking cry. It echoed throughout the sandstorm and reached the spectators in the stands, who shivered at the sound. The breeze carried it up higher into the sky, where it mingled in the air. There was a deathly silence that even seemed to quell the raging wind caused by Hippowdon's attack, and everyone – Trainer, Pokémon and fan – watched and waited.

The sky seemed to come to life and die simultaneously as every cloud, and every shred of moisture in the air, seemed to dissolve in an instant, leaving nothing but a clear, hot, dry blue sheet of blue, stretching over the roof of the stadium like a painter's canvas. The sun blared through the canvas and into the stadium itself, burning fiercely and scorching the ground, making the crowd shield their eyes and jam their hats on their heads. The heat of the sun pressed down on the sand, subduing it, and the moaning twister began to shrink and compress on itself, but this time Hippowdon wasn't returning the sand inside its ports; Grotle's Sunny Day attack was changing the weather. The sandstorm quickly evaporated, leaving a red-hot layer of dust and earth over the ground. Grotle shook the coating of sand off itself, basking in the sunlight, and the green bushes on its back became larger and more vivid the longer it stood there.

Kaiden howled in disbelief, furious that his weather advantage had been stripped away. "Damn your Grotle! Hippowdon, can you summon another Sandstorm?" he asked, but Hippowdon shook its head, opening and closing its sand ports to say that it had run out. "I don't believe this!" he cried, pulling at his hair. "Fine, so be it. Hippowdon, use Stone Edge!"

Hippowdon snatched up a small crater of earth with its mouth, shooting it out of one of the holes in its back. As it had against Ash's Muk, it controlled the sand in mid-air and fashioned it into a spear-like berg of stone.

"Grotle, be careful of that Stone Edge!" Ash warned, and Grotle nodded, paying close attention to it. "When Hippowdon launches it, do whatever you can to stop it from hitting you!"

Hippowdon hissed and sent the rock-spear hurtling towards Grotle. Unfortunately for Hippowdon, the repeated use of its Curse attack had greatly slowed it down, and so Grotle had enough time to position itself and leap out of harm's way before the Stone Edge could touch it.

"Now do you see why I had Grotle barrage Hippowdon with Leech Seeds?" Ash taunted, making Kaiden shout with anger. "Grotle," he yelled. "Blast Hippowdon with a Solarbeam attack!"

Grotle landed on the soft ground and opened its hooked mouth wide, shaking with effort as it began to collect energy from the brilliantly shining sun above its head. The shell on its back glowed a fierce orange colour as a yellow ball of light formed in front of Grotle, quickly overtaking it in size.

"_Grohh… Grohhhhh…_" grunted Grotle, struggling to gather more energy as it placed the path of its Solarbeam directly towards Hippowdon, who was panting after delivering its last attack. "_Grohh… Grooooootle!_" roared Grotle, and the ball of light focused into a single point which shot out towards Hippowdon in a beam of yellow. Hippowdon yelped in fear, trying desperately to move its body out of the way, but it refused to obey its will due to the Curses that Kaiden had forced upon it, and so it could do nothing but watch and wait as the ray of light streamed on.

Grotle's Solarbeam struck Hippowdon right between the eyes with such power that the Heavyweight Pokémon was thrown off its feet, arcing through the air as the attack continued to press against it. The attack volleyed Hippowdon right past Kaiden, who jumped out of the way to avoid his Pokémon smashing his shoulder into pieces, and Hippowdon headed straight for the edge of the stadium. The crowd in front of Hippowdon panicked and moved swiftly out of its path, and, with a deafening bang of hide on metal, Hippowdon was sent into the boundary wall, bending the metal backwards into the stands. It hovered against the cold steel for just a moment before it slid down with a dull thud to the stadium floor.

"Hippowdon?!" roared Kaiden. "Come on, buddy, you can do it!" he yelled, trying to encourage his Pokémon to fight on. But Hippowdon refused to budge, and lay where it landed, dead to the world around it.

"Hippowdon is unable to battle!" declared the referee, raising his flag for the final time towards Ash and Grotle. "The winner of this second-round match is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"

His last five words brought the massive crowd to their feet. They cheered and roared, stamping their feet on the concrete steps and chanting Ash and Grotle's names until their throats became sore. Ash friends immediately joined in, especially his mother, who was more excited than the rest of them, nearly toppling over Misty and Brock in the row in front as she jumped up and down.

"Go Ash! That's my boy!" she screamed, making Brock cover his ears in pain, but that didn't stop him from cheering Ash's success just as loudly, as did all of Ash's other friends, their voices rising above the rest of the crowd.

"Way to go!" shouted Brock, pumping the air with his fist.

"You did it!" shrieked Misty, dancing on the spot.

"Brilliant strategy, Ash!" Max yelled, cupping his hands in front of his mouth.

"I knew you'd win!" cried Anabel, her hands pressed to her heart.

"Unorthodox as ever," muttered Ari to Leoric, applauding Ash.

"Hey, give him a break; he's good at what he does!" Leoric said, glancing over at Ari as he, too, clapped along.

Meanwhile, Ash returned Grotle to its PokéBall and strode to the centre circle, proudly stowing the ball back onto his belt as he walked. He looked over at Kaiden, who was staring desolately at his unconscious Hippowdon, unmoving on the ground. He fell to his knees and, after what felt to him like an eternity, Kaiden slowly raised his PokéBall and recalled Hippowdon in a flash of red light.

"It's a pity that we came so close to winning, yet sadly fell so short," he murmured to the ball, resting it against his forehead before he clipped it to his waist. He wiped a single tear away from the corner of his eye as he stood up, keeping his balance as he made his way to the middle of the arena to meet Ash. He slowed his pace as he got nearer, and by the time he stopped he was standing only a couple of feet in front of Ash.

"Congratulations, Ash," he said, putting out his hand. "You won; you beat me."

"I like to think that we both won," Ash said calmly. "The only difference is that I fight on another day, to get beaten by another Trainer." He smiled and shook Kaiden's hand with his own, and the two Trainers moved forwards for the same hug that Ari had given Ash a few days before. Ash clapped Kaiden on the shoulder and said, "Are you gonna stick around for the rest of the tournament, or are you going to head back to Celadon City?"

Kaiden grinned. "What, and miss watching you get beaten?" he laughed warmly. "Not a Snover's chance in hell. So I'll see you around, alright?" he said, moving away from Ash and towards the exit, acknowledging the crowd with a clap and a wave before he disappeared under the stands.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Leech Seed not **_**only**_** forced Hippowdon to use Curse to destroy it, but it also sapped Hippowdon's health with each use, which is why it was unable to summon another Sandstorm to counter Grotle's Sunny Day.**

**Quiz:**

***How many Pokémon in the Platinum Sinnoh Pokédex can learn Memento, as a level-up move or through breeding?**


	30. In Motion

**CHAPTER 30 – IN MOTION**

"Mr Ketchum! Can we have a word?" asked Derek, motioning to his camera crew as they sped forwards on the ground, taking up their positions as Ash and Pikachu turned around.

"Sure, but where's your partner? Where's Jeanne?" Ash asked, but he was relieved that she wasn't present at the interview. After all, there had been a few uncomfortable questions that had been directed at him during their last encounter.

"I suggested to Jeanne that I should handle the interview this time," Derek answered, already checking over his microphone and adjusting his tie. "She handled the last interview, and anyways, I decided that if _I _was here, instead of her, then you'd be a little bit more in your element without being bombarded," he explained, referring to the same uncomfortable questions that Ash had been thinking of just then.

"Well thanks, really," he said, taking off his hat. Grotle's Sunny Day was still in effect from the battle, and he was starting to sweat in the sweltering heat. He wiped his brow and put his hat on Pikachu's head.

"We're on in ten, Derek!" said the cameraman, focusing the lens on him and his guest. "In five… four… three…"

Derek nodded and held his microphone to his mouth, and his picture appeared on the enormous screen at the side of the stadium on cue. "Welcome back to Trainer Spotlight, fans! I'm Derek, and here with me is the effervescent Ash Ketchum!" he announced, and the camera panned over to include Ash in the frame. "So Ash, thanks for letting us interview you again."

"Thanks for having me on the show, Derek," Ash said politely as Pikachu waved at the camera excitedly.

"Well Ash, you must admit that even in the first two rounds you've had your fair share of drama," he began, facing Ash. "Now I'm not going to show any footage from your first match—" he said hastily as he saw Ash begin to worry, "—but I'm afraid I'm going to have to show the incident that caused the interruption of this match," he said bracingly, discreetly pointing at a technician standing by the cameraman. "I hope you don't mind?" he asked Ash.

"Well, I don't remember much after the rock hit me," Ash said evenly, looking down at his hand. "I'm a bit curious as to what happened afterwards, to be honest," he joked. The crowd rippled with laughter, and even Pikachu couldn't stifle a giggle, despite its surprise at the way Ash took the news; it thought that Ash would have refused it outright.

"Okay, let's have a look," said Derek, and he and Ash turned to face the stadium screen. Three replays were showing on the screen: an aerial, a sideline, and an action view, all showing, in perfect union, Vigoroth's Rock Smash attack careening into Ash's hand. Ash visibly flinched in remembered pain as he saw himself scream and fall to the ground, but otherwise he gave no sign that he'd seen it. He watched as Brock and the others jumped down from the stands and rushed to help him. He tried to keep his face as impassive as he could as he watched himself yell at Anabel, who floundered away, but this time he could see, from the sideline replay, that she had tears in her eyes. Ash felt his heart turn to lead and he let a sigh escape him as he saw this, but the camera quickly focused back in on him, being propped up by Brock.

_Please tell me that nothing else happened,_ Ash thought, crossing his fingers. He groaned as he saw his mother rush down from the stands, her brow creased and her mouth in a line. She walked up to Kaiden and slapped him in the face, yelling at him, and although Ash couldn't read lips, he knew that there was little doubt as to what she was yelling at him for. _Slapping people in the face seems to be the popular thing on this island,_ he laughed. He laughed aloud when he saw Dawn and Anabel trying desperately to keep his mother from launching another assault on Kaiden, but like Brandon he didn't react to it. He was too worried about the unconscious Ash that Brock and Leoric were carrying out of the stadium, and he rushed over to them, offering to help. As the three of them carried Ash out of the stadium, surrounded by his friends and mother, the present-day Ash saw a wiry-looking man with heavy glasses, sitting in the front row right next to the exit, rapidly taking pictures of them with his camera.

"Who's that guy?" Ash muttered to Derek, who had his hand over the microphone.

"Probably one of your many fans," he smirked, watching as the screen faded back to a view of the back of his head. "Is that really how I look from behind…? Ah—we're back," he muttered, flipping around gracefully to face the camera. "So Ash, after your accident, the officials decided that the match would be '_postponed until such time as both participants were able to continue the match'_," he said, glancing at the prompter below the camera. "But I must say, no-one expected you to recover within the space of a day!" he added brightly.

"Well, I'm not the kind to sit around and wait while there's a battle to be had," Ash said. "And besides, I wanted to finish my match with Kaiden. He'd visited me when I was in the hospital to make sure I was alright, and I thought it'd be the least I could do to get the show back on the road ASAP."

"A very admirable thought," Derek said charmingly. "And we were privileged to see the conclusion of your fiery clash with Kaiden, who is of course to be commended." The crowd cheered appreciatively for Kaiden, although, Ash thought, he had probably returned to his hotel by now. "But we were all a bit worried – well, perplexed would be a better word – by your choice to have your Muk KO itself using Memento. Care to elaborate on that tactic?" he asked, pointing the mic at Ash.

Ash grinned sheepishly. "Well, to be perfectly honest, it was _Muk _who had the idea of using it," he chuckled. "I trust my Pokémon completely, and even though I was a bit unsure about it, I stood by Muk and let it do what it wanted."

Derek aimed the mic back at himself, nodding thoughtfully. "What an interesting insight. Finally, is there—?" he began, but he stopped short as a large group of people started running towards them, with one of them a short distance ahead of the others. Ash looked around and grinned.

"Hey, what took you?" he asked, pausing to catch his breath in advance before he was winded by a leaping hug from Anabel. Brock and Dawn jogged over to join them, with May and Max bringing up the rear of the group just as Ash managed to break free of Anabel's embrace. Pikachu, opting for a comedic approach, took Ash's hat off his head, hopped over to Anabel's shoulder and dropped it on her head, pushing it into place before springing off onto Brock's shoulder.

"Ash, would you mind introducing us to your friends?" Derek asked, sweeping his hand in front of the camera, which zoomed out to fit the new arrivals into the frame.

"Okay, this is Brock, Misty, May, Max, Dawn, and Tracey, and my mother Delia," Ash introduced, indicating each one with his hand as he said their names. "I'm pretty sure you all know Ari and Leoric," he added, gesturing towards the two Trainers, who nodded back.

"And this lovely lady?" Derek asked, nodding towards Anabel.

Ash laughed and threw his arm around her. "This is Anabel, of course! And, uh, _Sasha_," he added, winking at the camera. "In case you're still watching on Tangelo Island, no I'm _not_ single. Well, not anymore," he added, and just to prove it he swung Anabel around and kissed her on the lips.

"Well, you heard – and _saw_ – it here first, on Trainer Spotlight!" said Derek smoothly, pushing his head in front of them to face the camera. "Just a quick recap; Ash Ketchum advances to the third round with a stunning win over Kaiden Hayes, his Grotle triumphing over Hippowdon in the final round! That's all from us for now, tune in next time!" He signalled to the cameraman, and the broadcast ended. The stadium screen went black.

Ash and Anabel slowly pulled away, and Anabel, ecstatic but also puzzled, stared at Ash's eyes. She saw the mischief and rebellion in them, and she couldn't help but ask. "Well," she said lightly, "do you mind telling me why exactly you did that?"

Ash laughed. "Well, three reasons," he said, grinning impishly. "Firstly, one of my fans asked me a question the other day and I never got around to answering her. So I thought now would be the perfect time to clear any doubts."

"Secondly," he continued, grinning even wider. "Consider that payback for _you_ kissing _me_ at my first match."

"Well, at least you have good _taste_ when it comes to that," she replied, winking seductively at him. Ash blushed. "So what was the third reason?"

"Ah come on, you don't need to be a mind reader to figure _that_ one out," Ash said, sticking his tongue out at her.

A noise behind him made Ash and Anabel both turn their heads. Leoric was shaking his head, suppressing a fit of laughter. "What?" Ash asked, not even bothering to hide the grin on his face.

"Come on, mate," Ari said, clapping Ash on the back. "Don't worry about him; he's the kind of guy who'd sooner spike romance's drink for fun than actually take it seriously."

"Hey, I'm not that bad," defended Leoric, his face red from all the laughter. "Am I?" he asked, looking around. Brock, Ari, Ash, Anabel and Dawn all avoided his eye, and the rest of them barely knew him as it was. "Bah, whatever. If romance turns me into what you two—" he pointed at Ash and Ari, "—are becoming, I'll stick with being single."

"You don't know what you're missing," said Ari mockingly in a sing-song voice.

"Well, keep teasing me and you'll _really_ be _missing_ something," Leoric warned, making everyone laugh.

"Hey, relax you guys!" Ash said loudly. "Come on, I'm feeling in a good mood, so I'm taking you all out to lunch, my treat!" he announced, making his friends cheer. "Let's go," he murmured to Anabel. With his mother and his friends following close behind him, he walked hand in hand with Anabel towards the exit. He was so exuberant with his victory that he didn't even notice a wiry-looking man wearing a thick set of sunglasses standing in the crowd, right in front of him. As Ash and his crew disappeared under the boundary wall and into the tunnels, he pulled out a walkie-talkie, ingeniously disguised as a cell phone, and pressed two, then the speed-dial button. Three seconds later, the line connected.

"Hello?" said a robotic female voice.

"Snitch, this is Hunter," he said. His real name, of course, was Mark, but he was following the basic identifying protocols that had been drummed into him at Team Galactic.

"Hunter? What are you doing?! If you find any news, you follow the food chain; you don't call me!" hissed Snitch.

"To hell with the food chain, Emily," said Mark. He disliked everything to do with the chain of command, especially the ridiculous pseudonym that it had been given. _Food chain, humph._

"Don't use my _real_ name, you idiot!" snarled Emily. "What if our transmissions are being intercepted?"

"By who?!" fired Hunter. "There's no way that the cops are on to us," he murmured, looking around to make sure that no-one was eavesdropping on him.

Emily laughed evilly. "According to Honcho—"

"—Shane—" corrected Mark.

"—the police aren't the ones that we need to be worrying about," continued Emily, ignoring him. "He's thinking that there's someone _big_ out there who wants to take down Team Galactic."

"How would _he_ know?" Mark asked. Shane had never told _him_ anything about a third party of any kind.

"Apparently…" muttered Emily, hesitating. "_The_ Boss _himself_ told Honcho—"

"—Shane—!" Mark hissed.

"—alright, _Shane_!" said Emily, defeated. "Anyways, the Boss told Shane about it when he gave him this assignment."

"_This assignment_ is the problem, Emily," Mark muttered. There was silence on the line for a few moments.

"Why?" she asked.

"I've got a bad feeling about it all. I mean, we're Team Galactic and all, y'know, but for one, kidnapping isn't right."

"What, so you're questioning our directives?" Emily asked sceptically.

"No, I'm using them as my ten commandments," he replied sarcastically. "Of course I'm questioning them!"

"_Why_?!"

"Because they involve us getting outside help, and working with Paul!"

"Hey, I don't like having to work with him either!" shouted Emily. "But we have to put up with him so we can get the location of that stone!"

"It's easy for you to say, you're not the one having to do his dirty work!" Mark whispered fiercely.

"Hang on, I've got another call coming in," Emily said, and with a small beep Mark was momentarily disconnected from her. Mark kept the walkie-talkie held close to his ear and mouth, but he quickly decided that being overheard here was becoming more and more likely, so he headed for the exit. After a minute he found a deserted corridor that normally would have led from the entrance to the arena, but since everyone was still in the stands, he could wait here to continue his conversation. Another small beep sounded from the phone, and Mark heard Emily's voice on the line again.

"Emily, who was on the line? Was it Alex?" he asked.

"No, it wasn't Alex, because she knows better than to breach protocols," she answered coolly. "It was Shane—I mean, Honcho. He asked me which one of us was on the surveillance shift."

"And?"

"And?! And I told him that it was you! He's probably about to call you right now," she said.

Sure enough, a third beep sounded on Mark's walkie-talkie. "Fine, I'll talk to you in a few minutes, okay?" he said. He snatched the phone away and pressed the hash key before returning it to his ear. "Yes, sir?"

"Is my son still with the target, Hunter?" came Shane's voice, raspy and crackly through the receiver.

"No, Honcho. He departed the stadium several minutes before the target, and has presumably distanced himself. He lost his match to the Ketchum boy," he added.

Shane grunted sadly. "Poor boy. He always wanted to be the best, just like me… but enough of these reflections. So the target is therefore ready to be taken?" he asked.

"The target is no longer in the company of your son," Mark said discreetly.

"That isn't answering my question, Hunter. I already know what you just said; you're repeating yourself. Now answer my question: is the target ready to be taken?" Shane repeated, a hint of danger in his voice.

"Y-Yes, sir," Mark swallowed. "However, I wouldn't recommend the pick-up until after Ketchum's third round," he quickly added.

"And why is that?"

"Because Ketchum's Pokémon will be weakened after the two matches he has to partake in on the day," Mark explained. He was, in truth, trying to delay the grab for as long as he could, but he knew that if he stalled too long then either Shane would catch on and perform the task himself, or the Boss himself would personally see to it. He had no intention of having the second option occur – ever – so he had decided only to have himself wait for another day or two. Spinning a story about Ketchum being the target's protector was an extremely long shot, considering the _other_ company that both of them kept with, but Mark thought that the link between Ash and Shane's son would help with his cause.

"Sir, if Ketchum's Pokémon are weakened, then his chances of defending the target and preventing the grab will be significantly lower," he went on, hoping against hope that if he used enough large words that he could sway his commanding Galactic. "Which would also lower the chance of the target becoming personally involved or becoming caught in the cross-fire." He waited nervously as he got no reply from the other end of the line.

"You make a convincing argument, Hunter," Shane finally said, a note of admiration in the crackly reply. "I daresay half of it is pure nonsense that you just thought of as you were talking, but you've convinced me. We'll wait until the minute that Ketchum finishes his third-round matches, and then you and Emily will move in and capture the target. There will be no excuse for failure," he added, his voice quiet but dangerous. "so use _any means necessary._ They're my _orders_ from the Boss."

"I understand, Honcho."

"Good. Now find out when and where Ketchum's matches are taking place and report back to me once you have."

"Right away, sir!" said Mark, ending the connection between himself and Shane. He pressed the hash key once more. "Emily, you still there?"

"Of course I am, idiot."

"Good. We've got new orders," Mark said. He heard noises coming from the stairs behind him, and he realised that the crowd must be making its way back outside after the battle. "We need to find out when and where Ash Ketchum's third-round matches are taking place. The moment they finish, we're to move in and take the target."

"What if Ketchum and the other Trainers put up a fight?" she asked.

"We've been authorised – and instructed – to use _any means necessary_ to accomplish the mission," Mark advised grimly, starting to walk towards the stadium exit to stay ahead of the crowd.

There was a stunned silence on the line, before Emily managed to say, "What, as in using force?" Mark grunted, and although he couldn't see her face, he knew that she was uncomfortable. "How much are we talking about?" she asked warily.

"Well, he did say _any means necessary_," Mark reminded her, leaning on a support girder next to the entrance. "I don't want to admit it, but that means…" he looked around to see if anyone could have any chance of hearing him, "…that means that if it comes to it, we might have to take out anyone who gets in the way. Permanently."

* * *

**Trivia:**

***As in Chapter 3, one of Ash's rival competitors is slapped across the face by someone close to Ash.**

**Quiz:**

***What is Mark's favourite threat to use on his enemies?**


	31. Celebrity

**CHAPTER 31 – CELEBRITY**

Ash strode confidently down the pathway, weaving between the small clusters of people who were idling outside the restaurants and cafés that dotted the streets. Because of his recent win against Kaiden, he couldn't help but feel happy for everything he saw. He grinned when he saw two small boys running circles around their father, and he laughed merrily at a Growlithe pawing curiously at a plastic wrapper that had been blowing in the breeze. He slowed to a halt as he drew level to a large maple tree, casting its shadow across a colourfully decorated baker's shop, and Ash let a smile escape him as he spied a beautifully made wedding cake sitting proudly in the window.

"_Pii pika chuu pika…_" murmured Pikachu, sitting comfortably on his shoulder. _Imagine eating through that…_

"C'mon, Pikachu, I'm hungry enough as it is. I don't need to fantasise about gorging myself on cake, let alone a _wedding cake_," Ash said. "Besides, something _that_ good? You don't eat that; look at it, it's been done up so nicely. It'd be a bit of a waste to ruin something like that," he told his Pokémon, and he was actually surprised to hear himself saying that he'd rather _look_ at any kind of food than _eat_ it.

"But a grand occasion would deserve something gorgeous like that," Anabel said, having caught up to him while he'd stopped. "And what is there that's grander than a wedding?"

"I'm not sure. I don't think I've ever been to one," Ash said, still gazing at the cake.

"Well I'm fairly sure you'll be at one soon enough," she encouraged him. Ash nodded and winked, looking back behind him.

"Yeah, Dawn and Ari's, by the way they're going," he joked. "Hurry up, you guys!" he called, waving his arm at Brock, Misty, May, and Max, who were closest out of the rest.

"Hey, I prefer to take my own pace," Brock called back, strolling along, and also letting his eyes wander on the girls walking up and down the street near him. Misty was onto him, though; every time he looked to make an advance on one of them, she would jab him in the side as a warning, and if that didn't work she would resort to the old tactic of pulling him away painfully by the ear. "Besides, I've just been hearing about May's Contests in Johto."

"They're not really _that_ interesting," said May dully. "I ran into Drew at most of them, and I had a few spats with Harley, but that's not that unexpected."

"Ah, who cares about _who_ you met? What matters is _how_ you did!" Max chimed in.

"Well I did _fine_," May argued, with a warning glance at her brother. Max shrugged his hands and rolled his eyes.

"Quit arguing, would you?" Ash grinned. "You're only making yourself hungrier." He laughed and set off down the street, Anabel and the others close behind. As they walked, Ash noticed that several people on the street were turning their heads and staring. He fell back slightly and waited for Ari and Leoric, who had been lagging at the back of the group, to catch up with him. "Does this happen all the time?" he asked them, gesturing towards the strangers.

"Usually only with first-years," Ari said casually, waving at a pair of small girls who were goggling at the three of them. They giggled and quickly scurried away, no doubt to tell their parents of what had just happened. He sighed as he watched them disappear, saying, "You've swept into the tournament and caused quite the stir, so it's only natural to assume that people are going to take notice of you."

"And you're not that hard to pick out in a crowd," Leoric added, sidestepping a rubbish bin. "With Pikachu on your shoulder, you tend to stand out a bit."

"Do I really?" Ash asked, glancing at Pikachu, who shrugged its hands and grinned. "Let 'em look then."

"Oh, that reminds me," Ari said jocularly. "Congratulations. You've passed the initiation."

"That's good to know," Ash laughed. "So what happens now?" he asked.

"Well, you have another set of round-robin matches," Leoric explained. "Don't worry about it. You only have to face two Trainers, once each," he added quickly with a smirk as Ash let out a frustrated groan. "If you win both matches, you advanced to the fourth round. Pretty simple."

"What if you only win one match, and you lose the other?"

"In that case," Ari said, "The officials work on a count-back system. They work backwards from the first two one-on-one matchups each Trainer had. The two Trainers that had the most KO's for the first match-ups go through. If they're all even, it moves to the second, and the same with the third."

"What if everything just magically works out evenly?" Ash suggested, hypothetically.

"That actually happened last year," replied Leoric. "The group that was supposed to give me my fourth-round opponent had one of those '_perfect three-way ties_'."

"_Supposed to_?"

"Yeah, well, if there's a deadlock like that where all three Trainers are judged to be even, then all three are eliminated," said Ari. "It's harsh, I know, but fair. It's not like there's any way to distinguish between them, so they do the only thing that can _really_ be done."

"So Leoric," Ash said. "When that happened with your opponents…?"

"I got seeded straight through to the fifth round," Leoric answered, grinning. "And just between you and me, I'm glad I didn't have to face anyone of the ones that _could_ have gone through," he added in an undertone to Ash.

"Why's that?"

Leoric barked a laugh. "Because _all three_ were Pokémon Champions, past or present."

"What?!" Ash exclaimed. "So you'd have had to face a real Champion, no matter what the result? Who were they?"

"I think they were Jon from Sento Cherry Town, Lance from Blackthorn City, and Tyson from Mauville City," he said, ticking them off on his fingers. "And fortunately for me, the result that happened was the _only_ way I could avoid them all," he chuckled.

"Wait, did you just say _Tyson_?" Ash asked abruptly. "Did he have a Meowth with him? A dressed-up one?"

Leoric frowned as he tried to remember the Trainer. "I think he did, actually…" he muttered, scratching his chin. "He used it in all of his matches, if I recall. Why do you ask?"

"Because Tyson and I met at the Ever Grande Conference in Hoenn a couple of years ago," Ash said cheerily. "He beat me in the quarter-finals and went on to win the whole thing."

"Well, if you're going to lose, it might as well be to the Champion," Ari joked. "I lost at Mt. Silver last year to the guy who won it."

Ash was surprised at this. "Really?"

"Yeah, and it was the grand final match too, wasn't it, Ari?" Leoric smirked. Ari nodded and gave him a quick hand gesture, which made Leoric laugh.

"He must have had some wickedly strong Pokémon with him to do that," Ash said, oblivious to what had just happened.

"Thanks," Leoric said, clapping Ash on the shoulder. The latter smiled then did a double-take, snapping around to face Leoric, and nearly sending Pikachu flying off his shoulder.

"_You're_ the one who beat Ari in the final?" shouted Ash, clearly shocked at the news.

"You bet I am," he grinned. "You're looking at the defending Johto Pokémon Champion."

Ash's jaw dropped. He knew Leoric was a powerful Trainer, but he'd always thought that _Ari_ was the stronger of the two of them. He had to know, so he said, "Ari, have you won any Conferences?"

"I won at Johto nearly five years ago, the year I started out," he replied. "But that's it," he added solemnly.

"Wow, so you've been a Champion as well…" Ash muttered, frowning slightly. Ari noticed, and put his hand on Ash's shoulder.

"Hey, winning at a Pokémon League isn't everything, you know," he said comfortingly. "I bet you were pretty crushed when you got knocked out of your first Conference at Indigo Plateau, right?"

"How do you know I was there first?"

"Because you're from Kanto, of course. Everybody goes to their regional League first; I went to Mt. Silver, and Leoric went to Ever Grande," Ari explained. "In fact," he added quietly, "Leoric didn't even make the top sixteen at Ever Grande, just so you know."

Ash couldn't help but grin as he heard this. _At least I started out better than he did,_ he thought to himself. _Besides, you became Orange Islands Champion when you beat Drake, remember?!_ "Well, of course I was a bit sad, but I got over it pretty quickly."

"And why was that?" Ari pushed on.

"Because I lost to one of my good friends, Ritchie," Ash said.

"Exactly!" said Ari excitedly. "Because your friendship was more important than the battle. You—uh-oh," he broke off, glancing nervously at a small mass of people in the street ahead, right at the end. "Gotta go," he muttered quickly, dashing off back the way they had come.

"_Pii pika_?" Pikachu said, puzzled. _What's going on?_ Leoric looked back towards the group of people and let out a raucous laugh.

"If you thought you were a celebrity before, you're about to get a surprise," he said. He grabbed a small black marker out of his back pocket and handed it to Ash before jogging ahead of him and Pikachu. "Hey, everybody!" he yelled out to the mob, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "Ash Ketchum's right over there, and he's signing autographs!" He turned around and smirked at Ash, then ran ahead to join the rest of his friends.

"What are you doing?!" Ash called after him, but Leoric had already disappeared. "Pikachu?" he asked his Pokémon, but Pikachu had as little an idea as Ash did. A small shake in the ground made him jump anxiously. _Is this an earthquake?_ he thought, spinning around on the spot. He saw a cloud of dust flying at him from the end of the street and he assumed the worst. _Oh no, one of the buildings have collapsed!_ He ran a few feet towards the cloud, but stopped cold when he saw what was really happening. Leoric had gotten the attention of the group of people on the street, and they were streaking towards him en masse.

"Oh boy… get ready, Pikachu…" he warned. He only had time to brace himself before he was surrounded by a swarm of screaming children, eager Trainers and crowding parents struggling to hold them back. They jostled and bumped him, waving whatever they could at him for him to put his signature on.

"Ooh, ooh! Mr. Ash, could you sign this, please?!" squeaked a pointy-faced boy with wide eyes, his face hidden by a dark hood, holding a Pokémon trading card in a gloved hand.

"You'll have to—forgive my son, Mr. Ketchum," puffed a red-haired woman, trying desperately to stop her son from being trampled by the horde with one arm, the other arm holding a large white blanket. "We're both—huge fans—_oof_—of yours!"

"Can you give me some hints on what Pokémon I should raise?" asked a blue-haired man, forcing his way between three blonde-haired girls to get to Ash.

"Hang on, one at a time, one at a time!" Ash yelled. A pressing smell filled his nostrils, making him cough, so he backed away, taking a step back from them all. He quickly scribbled his name across the boy's trading card and gave it back to him. The boy's mother led him away hastily, clutching onto the blanket with both arms. Ash stared after them suspiciously; something about them didn't seem to add up. But before he could put any more thought into it, more fans pressed in, and he was forced to sign more items and answer more questions. After five non-stop minutes, they finally dispersed, leaving Ash to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Oh no, now what?!" he cried as he saw another crowd of people headed towards him. But the next moment he was laughing, because he suddenly realised that the group was actually his friends and mother. "Thanks for helping me out just then!" he shouted sarcastically at them.

"Sorry, but it was too priceless to break up," giggled Dawn, while May and Misty burst out into laughter. Brock and Max looked on pityingly, but Ash was focused on Leoric, who grinned back lazily.

"You're a dead man," Ash said, pointing a finger at him.

"What are you gonna do, _autograph_ me to death?" Leoric mused, snatching his marker back and stowing it in his pocket. "Relax… it wasn't that bad, was it?"

"I—I guess not," Ash admitted. In truth, he would have laughed himself had it not just happened to him. "They just got me to sign some stuff and answer a few questions."

"Well, don't let it all go to your head," said Tracey. "Just because—"

"Yeah, yeah. I know, keep a level head, don't let the crowds boost your ego and make you lose sight of your goal," Ash said, waving him off. "Seriously, that—" he pointed his thumb back to where the mob had been, "—was a bit full-on, I don't think that it's going to give me a big head."

"Just make sure it doesn't, hotshot," Anabel said sweetly. Then she cocked her head to the side, pursing her lips. "Hey, where's Pikachu?"

"What do you mean? He's right here—!" said Ash, raising his hand subconsciously to his shoulder. But his hand just passed through open air, and he snapped his head around.

Pikachu was gone.

* * *

**Trivia:**

*****_**Three**_** Johto Champions are mentioned in this chapter: Leoric, Ari, and Jon Dickson, who won the tournament the year that Ash participated. It could even be four, since we never know whether Lance was a Johto or Kanto Champion.**

***Despite Leoric not making the top sixteen in his Hoenn League debut, his profile in Chapter 4 says that he has made the top eight at every conference. This means that he participated at Ever Grande on more than one occasion.**

**Quiz:**

***Tyson's Meowth is outfitted in what style of clothing?**


	32. Where Are You, Pikachu?

**CHAPTER 32 – WHERE ARE YOU, PIKACHU?**

"Pikachu! Pikachu!" Ash shouted at the top of his voice. "Where are you?!"

It was about three in the afternoon, and the sun was beginning to make its way towards the hotel-strewn western coast, throwing long shadows across the streets, which were slowly emptying of shoppers and Trainers. But Ash took absolutely no notice of any of them; the only thing that was on his mind was finding his missing Pokémon. He ran down a wide lane, calling out for Pikachu, before sprinting up a second and across a third. There was no time for Ash to catch his breath; he knew that something was amiss. Pikachu hadn't given Ash any indication that it would have walked off and gone exploring, and he couldn't help but feel that Pikachu was in danger.

"Pikachu! Come on, this isn't funny!" he yelled desperately, praying that at any second a blur of yellow would come streaking around the corner, leaping onto him with a grin on its face. But Pikachu never showed, and after an hour Ash had begun to lose hope. Brock and the others were looking as well, and just as hard as he was, but their attempts were just as fruitless as his own were. He flung himself onto a park bench and buried his face in his hands, furious that he'd let Pikachu go missing. All of a sudden, his head shot up, and Ash threw his hat onto the ground next to him.

"Of course, I'm such an idiot!" he roared aloud, even though no-one else was anywhere near him. He snatched a PokéBall from his belt and tossed it forwards. "Staravia, I need your help!" he cried, as his bird Pokémon soared down from the air and touched down lightly on the grass in front of its Trainer.

"_Staraa?_" it asked, ruffling its wings impatiently.

"Staravia, I want you to scout around in the air and find Pikachu. I don't care _where_ you look, just get it done," he muttered. Staravia nodded and spread its wings wide, launching itself into the sky and weaving over shops and stalls, cawing every other second for its friend.

Ash continued his search back on the ground, but each step became harder and harder for him. Pikachu was nowhere to be found, and with each minute that passed, Ash felt that his most trusted Pokémon could be moving farther and farther away from him. He quickly collapsed onto the ground, trying to fight the sense of despair welling up inside him.

"Where are you, Pikachu…?" he whispered, as running footsteps came up behind him.

* * *

Ari strolled leisurely through a half-crowded boulevard, taking in the sights and smells around him. He'd been walking around for a little over an hour, but that didn't bother him; there was so much to do on Ayers Island that he doubted he could ever get bored. After deftly avoiding the crowd of fans that had, no doubt, swarmed Ash and Leoric, he'd taken a side road as a shortcut, and stopped out the front of one of his more frequented snack stalls to buy himself his favourite treat: a hot-dog paired with a large caramel milkshake. After quickly downing them both he'd contented himself with doing a walk around the main centre of shops, gazing here and there at clothes hanging in fashion shops or at merchandise being sold exclusively for the tournament.

At five to three, Ari turned a corner in the street and saw a small child and his parents kneeling in an alley to his left, fussing over something hidden in a thick white blanket. It struck him as odd, and he decided to find out what was happening. He walked over to the family, unnoticed, and knelt down next to the boy.

"What's in the blanket, buddy?" he asked him kindly.

The boy's head, covered by a dark hood, shot up and he jumped backwards, crashing into his mother. The mother and father had heard him as well, and they too jumped. While the mother pushed her son off her and got to her feet, the father, who had light blue hair, quickly wrapped up the blanket, but not before Ari saw a yellow-eared something amongst the folds. He scooped up the blanket, and its package, and dashed down the alley, his wife and son hurrying along behind him. Ari stared after them, open-mouthed, until they disappeared around a bend in the road.

"What did I say?" he asked himself, shaking his head. He backtracked to the street where he'd come from, and kept on his route heading east. After several minutes of walking a cry made him look skywards, and he saw a Staravia, flying overhead, its piercing eyes scouting the ground.

"That's odd…" Ari murmured, shading his eyes against the sun as he followed the Staravia's progress over the shops. "Staravia don't live _this_ far inland…" He kept watching as the Starling Pokémon continued to circle in the air, uttering its shrill cry over and over again. "Something's wrong," he realised, his eyes scanning the street ahead of him. Ignoring the Staravia, he set off down the street and took a sharp left, but he hadn't gone three steps before he crashed into Max, sending the small boy into his sister, May.

"Ow, that hurt!" Max complained, rubbing the arm he'd landed on in the fall as he looked for his glasses on the ground. "Watch where you're g—" he started angrily, but he broke off when he saw who he'd run into. "Ari?"

"Geez Max, have you ever had your head smack into your gut? Just give me a moment to catch my breath," wheezed Ari, winded. An idea came to his head as he stood up. "Hey May, do you know what the deal is with that Staravia in the sky?" he asked her, pointing up at the circling Pokémon.

"Not a clue," she said, wondering about it herself. "But I think it's a Trainer's Pokémon."

"Definitely," agreed Max. "Staravia don't circle like _that_—" he pointed at Staravia as well, "—unless they've been given an order by a Trainer or higher-order Pokémon. And if it was a Staraptor, it'd never be close to here at this time of day."

"How do you _know_ all this stuff, Max?" May and Ari asked at the same time, both clearly impressed by his knowledge. Max shrugged and jammed his glasses over his nose, pushing them back towards his face. Ari shook his head, but then he noticed something.

"Hey, where's everyone else?" he asked them, looking around at the empty street. May frowned and kept silent, so he turned to Max. "Max?"

"Pikachu's gone missing," Max said grimly. "And… we think that he might have been stolen."

"_Stolen_?!" Ari shouted, making Max and May cringe. "When was this?"

"An hour or so ago, right after you took off," May explained. "Ash says that Pikachu was with him right before that crowd of people swamped him, but when we got there five minutes later, Pikachu was missing."

"Where's Ash now?" asked Ari, his brow creased.

"I-I don't know," Max shrugged. "Once we realised that Pikachu had gone, we split up into pairs and fanned out to look for him."

"So who's Ash with?"

"There were nine of us, so Ash went alone. Which might have been a good thing," Max said worriedly. "I don't think I'd have liked to be paired up with him."

_Yeah, it'd be awkward to be paired with a Trainer who'd just lost his Pokémon,_ Ari agreed. "Fair point. Good thing I cleared out, right?" he joked, wincing at the sad looks on his new friends' faces. "I'm going to look for Ash," he said suddenly, and he walked off, leaving the siblings to continue their search for Pikachu.

_I leave for five minutes – _five minutes!_ – and something goes terribly wrong,_ he thought angrily, striding along the cobbled road. He stopped short in his tracks as a bolt of understanding shot through him. _Hang on… that family in the alley! They had something yellow wrapped in a blanket, and they sped off the moment they realised I was there!_

"I've gotta find Ash!" Ari said. He ran down to the next intersection in the street and crossed the road, narrowly dodging a pedestrian that had turned the corner. "Sorry!" he shouted behind his back as he ran, without any clue where he was going. But he knew that luck was on his side, and he muttered a thankful word to himself, as he saw Ash's distinctive red-and-black hat lying on the ground next to a park bench. Unfortunately, Ari couldn't see Ash anywhere around the hat, so he scooped it up and kept running, shooting glances left and right down the side-streets and alleys that branched away from the street he was in. He wasn't watching the road in front of him, however, and as he tucked Ash's hat under his arm he tripped over something firm lying on the street, sending him sprawling onto the smooth concrete.

_What the hell was _that_?_ he thought, springing lithely to his feet. Dusting himself down, he turned around and looked down at the ground. "Whoa, what the—?" He knelt down and stared at Ash, who had presumably fallen to the ground and had been there when Ari had collided into him. "Come on, mate, get up," he said, helping Ash to his feet. "I heard about what happened," he added with a grimace.

"Well, then you can help us look," Ash said coldly. He snatched his hat back from Ari and slammed it down on his head, fixing his collar and turning away, his face hidden.

"For someone who says that, you don't look like you _want_ my help," Ari said provokingly. His comment made Ash stiffen and turn around.

"You know what? Maybe I _don't_ need your help!" Ash hissed. "The way I see it, you being here is only _stopping_ me from finding Pikachu."

Ari could see the flare in Ash's eyes, and realised that he was going to have to do something to calm Ash down before he told him of his suspicions. _Like I didn't have enough on my plate already,_ he thought bitterly. "Come on, I want to help as much as you know you want me to, Ash," he said abrasively. He smirked and watched Ash's eye twitch in anger. "But whinging to me about it won't get you anywhere," he added. He knew what was going to come next, but he was ready to take it.

Ash had had enough. He clenched his hand and swung it up with force, crashing it into the side of Ari's face and knocking the latter flat on his back. "How would _you_ feel if your best friend, not just your _first Pokémon,_ suddenly went missing?!" he raged at Ari, who was lying squarely on the pavement. After a few seconds, Ari pushed himself off the ground and ran the back of his hand across his mouth, wiping away a trickle of blood that had spilled out.

"Feel better?" asked Ari, his voice thick, looking on emotionlessly as Ash's frame shook with anger.

"Yeah, actually," Ash said, his fist still clenched. "I'd feel better with another one, if you don't mind."

Ari laughed and shrugged. "Sure, but first let me say something," he muttered as another drop of blood formed at the corner of his mouth. "Wow, you really got me good," he admitted, wiping it away.

"What do you want?" Ash asked, exasperated. "Don't make me hit you again."

"I think I know who took Pikachu," Ari said bluntly. Ash's eyes widened in shock and his mouth fell open.

"You do?! Oh look, sorry for just whacking you in the face just then!" Ash apologised, but Ari waved it away, saying that it was perfectly understandable. "How, though?"

"Well I was walking down this way about ten minutes ago, and I saw this family in an alleyway that came off this road," Ari recounted. "There was this kid and his parents huddled around a blanket, and when I went over to see what was in it, I think I saw Pikachu in it."

"This… family…" Ash muttered suspiciously. "Was there a woman with long, red hair, and a sharp-faced kid with a dark hood?"

"That's them," nodded Ari. "There was also a guy with blue hair with them. How did you know?"

"Because," Ash said bitterly. "They jostled me when the kid was asking for an autograph. I knew something was wrong with them, but all these other people crowded me, so I couldn't think straight. They must have stolen Pikachu while I was distracted!" He smacked himself in the forehead for letting the seeming innocent pair take Pikachu so easily. "I'm going after them," he said firmly. Ari nodded in understanding. "When we all split up to look for Pikachu, we agreed to meet at half past three at a bakery by this large maple tree."

"I know the place," said Ari knowingly. "You go after the thieves; I'll meet them there in your place and tell them what's going on."

"Staravia!" Ash shouted, and his bird Pokémon obediently flew down from the sky and perched on a tree nearby. Ash pulled out Staravia's PokéBall and recalled it in a flash of red light, turning swiftly back to Ari. "Right, now when I get a good idea of where they are, I'll have Staravia come and find you at the bakery. Wait there until he gets there and he'll lead you all to me, okay?"

"Okay," said Ari, already turning in the direction of the bakery. "Good luck, Ash." And with that he walked away, heading off to fulfil his job.

"Thanks, Ari, I might need it."

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Ari was actually gone for an hour, not the 'five minutes' he was complaining about.**

**Quiz:**

***What condiment does Pikachu have a special liking for, as first shown in the episode 'Showdown In Dark City!'?**


	33. The Dash For The Ash

**CHAPTER 33 – THE DASH FOR THE ASH**

Ash stood at the end of a narrow alleyway hidden between two large supermarkets, pausing to catch his breath. This was the alley that Ari had told him about; the one where he had seen the red-haired woman, the blue-haired man, and the hooded boy huddled around his Pikachu. As he let the air fill back into his lungs, Ash stopped and thought about the scenario.

_How did they manage to steal Pikachu without me knowing?!_ he pondered, resting his hand on the brick wall. _He would have made some noise – and lightning – if he thought he was going to be taken away… they must have used something to subdue him._ As he came to that conclusion, a glass object halfway down the dim alley glinted enticingly in the half-light. Ash rushed over to it, and as he got closer he realised that it was a bottle with a child-proof lock on it.

_A bottle for what?_ Ash thought. He turned the bottle over and his heart sank as he saw a single word stamped across the plastic covering in high, black letters. _Chloroform. That must have been that weird smell that was in the air when they came over. No wonder I didn't hear Pikachu, they must have soaked that blanket in it! He would've passed out from the fumes, so then they ran off with him wrapped up in it._ Everything was beginning to make sense to him, and that only increased his concern for his Pokémon. But one detail still nagged at his brain.

_Why drag an innocent kid into a Poké-napping?_

It didn't matter enough to Ash to make him stop and think about it, but it was something that was playing on his mind as he made his way through the alley, dodging between dumpsters and puddles of putrid water. _Did they do it so I'd let my guard down? Does the kid want Pikachu as his own Pokémon? Or… was he in on the whole plan? But if he was, then that means that the parents wanted to steal Pikachu themselves… but why? I haven't even used Pikachu in any of my matches yet, so they'd have no idea as to anything about him!_ His thoughts became more and more complex, until at last he reached a bend in the alley, snaking left through a cluster of small stalls and stopping at a dead-end at the back of an abandoned warehouse.

"What the…?" Ash wondered aloud, moving down the bend. "How could they make an escape to a dead end? It's—wait a second…" he muttered. "There must be a way out hidden here somewhere." He walked up to the first stall on his left and pushed against it. It didn't budge. "Okay, strike one," he said, moving on to the stall opposite it. He pressed against the hard wood, but like the first stall it didn't move an inch, no matter how hard he pushed. He tried the same approach with each and every one of the stalls, and each time his tactic failed he grew more frustrated. As he finished with the last stall, kicking it in anger, he turned his attention to the warehouse.

"Well, guess I've just got one more to check, then," Ash muttered, walking up to it and stopping a foot from the cold stone that made up the rear wall. He ran his hands over the smooth surface, trying to find a hidden catch or switch that might trigger a door to open. After five minutes of finding nothing, Ash took a step back and looked for something – anything – that could give him a hint as to what to do. A glimmer of sunlight shone down from above the stalls to his left, making the puddles of muddy water wink up at Ash. And it was then that he saw the faintest outline of a shoeprint, outlined in water, twinkling in the light in the far corner of the wall.

He nearly tripped over his own feet in his haste as he ran over and knelt down next to it, and he saw half a shoeprint lying right in front of it. Half a shoe would be odd enough anywhere, Ash thought, but it was even stranger _here_ because the front half of the imprint disappeared into the tiny crack between the wall and the ground. Ash stood up, taking a step back, and gently prodded the space above the outlines with his own shoe. With a whisper-soft click, a large panel of stone slid noiselessly aside, revealing a hidden passageway into the warehouse.

"Bingo," Ash murmured triumphantly. He pulled Staravia's PokéBall from his belt and summoned his Pokémon in a flash of white. "Staravia, keep quiet," he warned, and Staravia, about to chirp joyfully at being called, shut its beak hastily. "Now remember this place, and go to the bakery by the maple tree," he instructed. "You'll find Brock, Ari and the others there. Lead them here, okay?"

Staravia nodded its head vigorously before spreading its wings and soaring into the open air above, streaking out to the right as Ash watched.

* * *

"—So that's the deal. Ash is going after them, and we're to wait here until we get any more news."

Ari finished telling the rest of Ash's friends the news of what the two of them had learned about Pikachu's disappearance. The nine of them stood silently in front of the large maple tree, trying to think of anything to make light of the situation.

Suddenly Leoric piped up, "Man, and I was the one that invited them over… I'm such an idiot!" He kicked at the ground in frustration.

"It's not your fault, Leoric," Tracey muttered. "You weren't to know that that would have happened."

"Well, I know what's going to happen next," he fired back. "I'm gonna get some payback on those sons of—"

"Leo!" Ari growled. "Watch your language, eh?" Leoric closed his mouth mid-word, and Ari turned to face Delia. "Mrs Ketchum, I'm not sure that there's much more you can do in your position," he said bluntly, making the others stare at him incredulously.

"I know, Ari."

"Okay, then I want you to take Max with you and head back to your hotel," Ari instructed.

"Uh-uh, no way! I'm staying with you guys!" Max shouted.

"No, Ari's right," said Brock seriously. "These people are no doubt professional criminals, and none of us here want you to get involved, and possibly hurt."

"But we dealt with Team Rocket a million times when the four of us were travelling in Hoenn!" Max argued, looking desperately to May for some kind of support.

"Brock said _professional criminals_, Max," she joked. "Besides, you don't have any Pokémon of your own to defend yourself."

"I'm still going with you!" Max yelled.

Delia sighed and shrugged her hands. "If Max wants to go, you should let him," she said caringly.

"See?!" Max said happily. "And since Mrs Ketchum's the oldest one here, we should listen to what she says!"

"Alright, you can come along," Misty chimed in, before Brock, Ari or May could think of another reason to keep him with Delia. "But you have to promise all of us that you'll stay out of harm's way, okay?"

"I promise I'll stay out of harm's way," mimicked Max, putting his hand over his heart mockingly. He could see that Brock and Ari were exchanging apprehensive glances, but he didn't really care.

"So now what, we're just to wait here patiently while Ash chases after these thugs?" Anabel asked anxiously, leaning against the maple tree, her eyes clouded with worry.

"They're Ash's orders," Ari said evenly.

"Well they're stupid orders," she snapped. "Ash doesn't know who he's going up against, and he could be in real danger!"

"Ash knows what he's doing," Dawn said, walking over to Anabel and putting a soothing hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, he's done things a thousand times more reckless than what he's doing right now," agreed Brock, nodding reassuringly. "He's thrown himself in front of a full-scale Shadow Ball from a legendary Pokémon, invaded a castle being guarded by an Entei, risked his life _again_ to save a mindless Celebi, def—"

"Brock, I get the idea," Anabel said, but she was thankful for his efforts, because she was starting to calm down.

"You trust Ash's choice, don't you?" May asked her, arms folded.

"Of course I do!" Anabel said quickly. "It's just that I'm concerned about him," she added quietly.

Tracey shaded his eyes and stared out at the sky to his left. _Hope you trust your _own_ choice, Ash,_ he thought. His eyes narrowed as he saw a faint black blur in the sky, shimmering in the afternoon heat. _Is that… Staravia?_

A split second later he was shouting, turning to the others and pointing at the sky as the shape sped closer to them, "Guys! Staravia's coming!" Nine heads snapped up and looked around, springing to their feet as Ash's Staravia glided down and landed on the grass in front of them.

"Staravia, do you know where Ash is?" Brock asked. Staravia cawed and pointed a wing south-west, towards a large group of merchant shops and souvenir stalls. "Excellent. We need to get there as fast as we can," he said to his friends. Ari, Leoric and May nodded and pulled five PokéBalls from their belts.

"Blaziken!" May shouted, throwing hers into the air. Her Blaziken, a red and fearsome-looking bird Pokémon with a craggy face and flaming wrists, burst forth, crashing a feathery foot into the earth.

"Apache, Vizier, let's do this!" cried Leoric, hurling forth two of his own PokéBalls. Leoric's Salamence thudded onto the ground, flapping its mighty wings and roaring fiercely. Vizier, Leoric's other Pokémon, turned out to be a Yanmega, an enormous red-and-green dragonfly Pokémon with scales that looked like armour plating. Yanmega buzzed in the air, its huge translucent eyes glinting eerily. Dawn pulled out her Pokédex and trained it on the Pokémon.

_Yanmega, the Ogre Darner Pokémon, the evolved form of Yanma,_ said the small machine._ By churning its wings fiercely, it can create vicious shock waves that inflict critical internal injuries to its foes._

"Colenzo, come on out! You too, Dullahan!" Ari called, tossing the last two PokéBalls skywards. His Magmortar stormed out of the first PokéBall, where it was quickly accompanied by a four-limbed shark-like Pokémon that Brock and Dawn recognised as a Garchomp, having seen Cynthia use her own in battles against Paul and Team Galactic's Saturn in the Sinnoh region. Both Pokémon flexed their claws, nodding quickly at each other before turning to their Trainer for a command.

"Okay, now we want to reach Ash with all the speed we can get," Leoric said, standing between his two Pokémon. "So I suggest that we travel by Pokémon, with Staravia leading. Any objections?" he asked to Max, Misty, Brock, Dawn, Tracey and Anabel. None of them spoke, and they all shook their heads, so Leoric nodded and swung himself up onto Salamence's back without another word.

"So who's going with who?" Max asked, staring at the collection of Pokémon with something close to awe in his eyes. May quickly grabbed him by the collar and manoeuvred the pair of them towards her Blaziken.

"You and I are using Blaziken, of course!" she said, and Blaziken roared contentedly.

"I'm going with Ari," Dawn said instantly, walking over to stand next to his Garchomp. "Are we going to be flying on Garchomp?"

"You bet, Dullahan here can outrace a jet plane," he answered, patting his Garchomp's flank proudly. He frowned and turned to face Magmortar, eyeing it up briefly before turning back to the four who hadn't been assigned a Pokémon.

"Anabel, Tracey, you two can take Colenzo," he told them, motioning for the two Trainers to head towards Magmortar.

"But how is Magmortar going to be able to keep pace with a Pokémon like Garchomp?" Tracey asked nervously, his eyes wandering over the Pokémon's bulky frame.

"With jet power," Brock called out to him, smirking. "Don't worry about it, you'll both be fine," he added, while Staravia picked impatiently at its wing with its beak.

"Now, that just leaves Brock and me!" Misty said cheerily, moving briskly towards Leoric and his Salamence. "Sorry, Brock," she said, without a hint of apology in her voice, "But you know that I hate Bug Pokémon. Especially ones that look like _that_," she added as Leoric helped her onto Salamence's back, sitting her in front of him.

Brock looked anxiously over at his decided ride; Yanmega looked least likely out of all of them to support a human. "Uh, Leoric…?"

"Relax!" he shouted comfortingly, instructing Misty to put her arms around his Pokémon's neck. "Vizier is a lot sturdier than he looks. Besides, we haven't got a moment to lose," he added, pushing himself and Misty further up Salamence's back and towards its head.

Brock grunted, knowing he'd drawn the short straw, and walked hesitantly towards Leoric's Yanmega, which lowered itself so that it was hovering just above the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust with its wing-beats. "Here goes nothing," he muttered indifferently, climbing onto Yanmega's back and sitting himself in a cramped and uncomfortable space between two of the Pokémon's protruding ridges.

"Be careful, all of you," Delia said concernedly. Ari gave her a thumbs-up and she slowly made her way north to the mass of hotels pushing against the skyline.

"Staravia, we're ready when you are!" May yelled, hunched on Blaziken's back with Max wedged in between the two of them.

"_Staa staa!_" cawed Staravia, launching itself into the air and speeding off down the road, flying only a few feet above the ground. Ari, May and Leoric gave their orders to their Pokémon. Garchomp and Salamence bellowed and launched themselves into the air; Yanmega barrel-rolled and flew alongside them, Brock clinging on for dear life; Magmortar retracted its claws and shot out a jet of hot air behind it, shooting itself across the ground with such speed that Tracey was nearly thrown off; and Blaziken knelt down in a sprinter's position before throwing itself forwards, powering along with its long, sturdy legs. Staravia banked sharply at the first corner, and its followers sped through just as deftly, speeding along down the winding roads in pursuit of the winged messenger.

* * *

Ash crept along a narrow hallway, black as night, which led along the side wall of the warehouse. He edged forwards, shuffling quietly with each step, trying to make as little noise as possible in case he gave himself away to Pikachu's thieves. It was agonisingly slow; he desperately wanted to charge down the path, feet thumping against the cold concrete, and rescue his Pokémon, and it was taking a supreme effort for him not to do just that.

_Stay focused,_ warned Cyrus-Ash, making Ash stop in his tracks, his hand resting on the wall next to him.

_Shut up, I don't need this, especially not now. Now stop getting into my thoughts, and once we rescue Pikachu, _then_ you can annoy me with your nonsense._

Ash felt his way blindly through the dark, putting a foot tentatively in front of the other. He couldn't see a thing, so he was relying on his other senses to guide him. All of a sudden, he got a clue from one of his less obvious senses: smell. He could smell the tantalizing aroma of fried chicken coming from the dark in front of him, and despite the danger he could feel his mouth watering. He hadn't had a scrap of food since breakfast, and all his running around had only made his hunger worse. Ignoring the need for silence and secrecy, he stumbled forwards, following his nose as he sniffed the air, trying to find the source of the smell. He took a running step forwards and groaned in pain as his face made contact with hard, smooth stone; he'd run into a wall that turned off at a corner in the warehouse. Rubbing his nose, he turned right and stuck his foot out, and he felt it tap on rock. He turned around, facing backwards, and pushed his foot into open air.

_There we go,_ Ash thought, moving forwards into the empty space. After a little while he could see the faint yellow glow of a fire-light lamp, and he quickened his pace, heading for the light and the quickly strengthening smell of food.

"…pass the… you?"

The female voice made Ash stiffen and stop walking, frozen to the ground he was standing on. He inched forwards, step by step, to try and hear the voice more clearly.

"I can't believe… after all those years… simplest trick worked a treat…" said the faint voice.

"Stroke of genius… good thing we… one little bottle could… all that in a moment…" muttered a second voice, this one distinctly male.

_It's them!_ Ash thought, his mind racing. He snatched a PokéBall from his belt, readying himself to attack. But he edged closer, curious to hear more of the conversation despite himself. He moved closer and saw a pair of figures sitting either side of the lamp, casting a flaring shadow on the back wall of a high, long room, empty except for them and a large crate lying a few feet away.

"That twerp had no idea who we were! That disguise was the best thing we've ever bought!" laughed the male, who Ash knew was the blue-haired man that had rushed him earlier.

"I know, I still can't believe how simple that grab was," said the red-haired woman. "But we couldn't have done it without your little distraction!"

"_Well dey say dat you're your own woist critic_," said a childish voice, and Ash took a sharp breath as he realised that the boy was there as well. "_But_ _I am de master!_"

"Keep your voice down, you'll wake Pikachu up," warned the man. "And we're out of chloroform, so it's gonna be really ticked off at us and there won't be a thing we can do to shut it back up." He scoffed at the remark, and the woman and kid joined in too, their laughter echoing off the barren walls.

Ash couldn't take much more of this. He gritted his teeth and ripped a second PokéBall from his belt; it was the only way he could restrain himself from running in there and throttling all three of them single-handedly.

"But the twoip must have noticed that his Pokémon was gone by now," muttered the boy. "He's probably huntin' us down right now."

"Let him hunt!" said the woman merrily. "He'll never find us here!" she roared, laughing.

"Don't be so sure," Ash said quietly, his voice reflected off the high walls, and he had to admit that effect made him sound particularly murderous.

The three figures sprang instantly to their feet, knocking food and plates everywhere. The lamp spilled onto the ground and caught on a rug that the family had been using, and it set alight in moments, throwing dancing shadows across all fours' faces. The thieves saw Ash, and he saw them, but what drew his attention was that the boy was not, in fact, a boy, but a Pokémon.

A Meowth.

"Oh no, it's the twoip! Let's get outta here!" the Meowth shrieked, snatching at his companions' outfits. Ash stared as he saw the white shirts, emblazoned with a scarlet 'R' across the chest, and suddenly two and two came together.

"Team Rocket!" he bellowed, running towards them, his PokéBalls raised high.

"Not so fast!" smirked Jessie. "Seviper, come on out!" she cried, throwing a PokéBall towards the small fire on the ground. A large, purple serpentine Pokémon flew out of the ball, hissing at Ash, its fangs dripping with venom. "Seviper, grab our captive and bring him over here!" Seviper darted into the fire, disappearing behind a cloud of smoke. A few seconds later it re-emerged, but Ash saw that Seviper was carrying Pikachu with it, wrapped securely in its tail.

"Pikachu!" he shouted, starting forwards.

"She said not so fast, twoip!" said Meowth, darting forwards and raking its claws. "You take annuder step and our Seviper's gunna give your Pikachu a sting it ain't gunna forget!"

Ash froze. "You wouldn't!" he yelled desperately, searching for a sign that they were bluffing.

"Try us," cackled James, backing away arrogantly. "We've been chasing you and your Pikachu for so many years, we've tried almost everything! And now, at last, we've _finally_ got our prize, so don't think that we're going to be leaving this warehouse without him!" So Ash watched on helplessly, as unmoving as the stone walls around him, while Team Rocket backed away towards a large door at the corner of the room, Seviper trailing Pikachu behind it.

The three criminals threw open the door and ran outside, laughing madly. "Pikachu!" Ash screamed in anguish, as Pikachu's unconscious face disappeared behind the door before it was swung shut with a click of a deadbolt, echoing like thunder.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***The name of this chapter is a play on the coined Amazing Race phrase 'The Dash For The Cash'.**

***Dullahan – the nickname for Ari's Garchomp – comes from the boss found in the Anemos Inner Sanctum during Golden Sun 2.**

***Vizier is another nickname derived from Diablo II. This time, it is named after "The Grand Vizier Of Chaos", a Finger Mage found in Diablo's sanctuary in Act IV.**

***Garchomp is now the fifth third-stage Pokémon that Ari has, the first four being Dusknoir, Magmortar, Electivire and Gallade. Oddly enough, they are all 4****th**** generation Pokémon.**

***With the introduction of Yanmega, Leoric now has a Pokémon from each generation: Gengar, Tyranitar, Salamence and Yanmega respectively.**

**Quiz:**

***May's Combusken evolved into Blaziken in a battle against which of Ash's Pokémon?**


	34. Ash And Flame

**CHAPTER 34 – ASH AND FLAME**

"Pikachu! Pikachuuu! Pikachuuuuu!!!" Ash shouted, beating his fists on the bolted door until his left began to bleed and his right was sore to the bone. He ran back towards the way he came, only to be stopped by a wall of red-hot fire that singed his eyebrows when he got too close. He then turned to the PokéBalls on his belt, thinking of the one that he could best use to escape from the building.

"Let's see, I've got Gliscor, Staravia, Bayleef, Muk and Grotle," Ash muttered, tapping on a PokéBall with a finger as he said each name. "I can't use Muk because it's still knocked out from my match with Kaiden, and Grotle and Bayleef won't last with all this heat. And Staravia's gone to tell Brock where I am," he added, frowning. "So that just leaves Gliscor…" He snatched Gliscor's PokéBall from his belt and threw it onto the ground, sending out his Fangscorpion Pokémon in a flash of white light that blinded him momentarily.

"_Glii!_" hissed Gliscor happily, standing up on the point of its tail.

"Gliscor, use an X-Scissor on that door!" Ash coughed, trying to stop the smoke from the fire from invading his lungs. Gliscor thrust itself into the air, careening for the door, and swung its pincers at the wood with all its strength. There was a sickening crack, but the door didn't splinter; it didn't seem to have been damaged in the slightest. "Damnit!" cursed Ash. A crackling sound above his head made him look up, and he cursed again when he saw that the roof wasn't made of stone like the walls surrounding, but of long wooden slats running the length of the building above.

And one of them had caught fire.

It hissed and spat as the wood flared and turned to charcoal, splitting with a bang; a sound like cannon-fire. A large column of blackened wood broke free from the roof and plummeted down, splintering into the concrete floor, only feet from where Ash had been standing when he'd summoned Gliscor moments before. Ash covered his face with his hands and ran across the ground, returning Gliscor to its ball as he reached the door where it had been lying frightened half to death. "You'll be—safer in here," he spluttered, jamming the PokéBall on his belt as he looked around wildly for any means of escape.

Another section of timber, three times the size of Ash, fell away on the other side of the warehouse, sending up a comet of sparks as it collided, still in flames, with the stony ground. Ash saw daylight in the newly formed hole in the roof, and considered sending Gliscor up to send for help. But he decided against it; there was no air for Gliscor to catch a draft upwards, and there was always the risk that another massive piece of roof would fall down and crush it. He looked on with a sinking heart as the fire, buoyed by the sudden intake of oxygen, leapt up and licked at the rafters, and in moments they were ablaze, stretching from one corner of the roof to the next. The inferno raged on, decaying the strong wood into a brittle powder that succumbed to gravity once it had been burned up, falling down to the ground with a crash.

More and more sections of the roof met this fate, and soon half of the ceiling had fallen away, and the sunlight was shining strongly through, illuminating the floor with what rays weren't swallowed by the billowing smoke rising out of the building. Three times Ash had to quickly dodge a charred piece of timber that would have most certainly crushed him, but he was beginning out of places to run to; half the rotting planks lying on the ground were still on fire, limiting what space he could move into without being overcome by the toxic smoke. He started coughing uncontrollably, and swept his jacket over his head to keep the worst of the fumes at bay.

_Come on, Staravia,_ he thought desperately through a haze of grey and black. _Help…me_...

* * *

Brock smelt the smoke before he saw it.

Riding atop Leoric's Yanmega, he had been leading the team as they rocketed down the streets, tailing Ash's Staravia as it wove and ducked through alleyways and around corners. He braced himself as Yanmega clicked its jaws eagerly and swung in a wide arc around a left-hand corner, and with the wind whistling past his ears, he reckoned that he must have been travelling quicker than any car on the planet. As his steed slowed down for a fraction of a second before taking the next corner, he caught the whiff of smoke, and he cried out for Yanmega to stop.

"Yanmega! _Vizier_!" he bellowed to the Pokémon. "Stop!" Yanmega's eyes swivelled to look at him before he was almost flung forwards as it braked suddenly, pulling up short in a matter of feet. He heard several cries of surprise and anger behind him as Ari's Garchomp, to avoid smashing into the pair of them, craned its neck and pulled up into the air before doing a somersault to balance itself as it thudded down onto the street. Magmortar swung its arm around and swept in a large circle around the two Pokémon before coming to rest and baring its claws out of its arms, and Leoric's Salamence and May's Blaziken were far enough behind that they could slow to a halt without any major problems. Ari tumbled off his Garchomp, looking crossly at Brock for the hold-up.

"What's going on?!" he shouted, striding over angrily, his feet thumping into the asphalt as he walked.

"Do you smell that?" Brock asked, sniffing the air.

"What?! You stopped us because you got a whiff of something?!" Ari yelled. He threw his hands in the air. "Oh, this is perfect!"

"I can smell smoke," Brock muttered, jumping off Yanmega with shaky legs; it wasn't easy riding on one, let alone one travelling at such a high speed. "And look—!" he shouted, pointing up at the sky to his left, where a towering plume of smoke was darkening the air. "Something's on fire!"

"We need to find Ash first, not waste time. What if he's in real danger?" shrieked Anabel, leaping off Magmortar and stumbling over.

"What if he's _in that building?!_" Brock argued, thrusting his hand up at the pillar of smoke. "How do we know that he isn't?!"

Misty and Leoric had hopped off Salamence and were walking over, puzzled looks on their faces. "What's going o—? Whoa, that place is on fire!" Leoric shouted.

"What's Staravia doing?" Misty murmured, looking up at the black cloud. Brock, Anabel and Ari's heads snapped up to see Ash's Pokémon circling around the smoke, beatings its wings and crying out in the silent sky. Misty's eyes widened with shock and realisation, and she shook Brock by the shoulders. "Brock, _Ash is in there_!"

"Brock, you take everyone over there and rescue Ash!" Ari ordered, leaping back onto his Garchomp's back at once. "Leoric, come with me. We'll get Pikachu back from those thieves, wherever they are. Dawn, you're in charge of Colenzo," he added, passing her his Pokémon's ball as she slid off Garchomp's back.

"Brock, same to you with Vizier and Apache," called Leoric, handing two of his own PokéBalls to Brock before joining Ari.

"Dullahan, let's fly!" Ari yelled. Garchomp roared ferociously, tucking in its arms and leaping into the sky with Ari and Leoric in tow, disappearing through the smoke as they flew over the buildings in search of Pikachu.

"Come on, everyone!" shouted Brock, running towards the smoke, Leoric's Pokémon bounding along next to him. "There's no time to lose!" Misty sped forwards, only a few feet behind him. May's Blaziken sprinted behind Misty, passengers still holding onto its back, as Tracey jumped off Magmortar and ran with Anabel and Dawn, as fast as their legs would take them. A minute later they were outside the warehouse, a crown of flames rearing from the roof and spewing the deadly clouds into the air.

"Come on out, Water Pokémon!" Misty cried, throwing an armful of PokéBalls into the air, releasing her Staryu, Starmie, Politoed and Gyarados into the open air. "Guys, use your Water attacks to put out the fire!" As one her Pokémon shot out a torrent of water that arced high onto the roof, clashing with the flames in a spiral of steam. "Keep it up!" she encouraged, cheering them on as they went on with their task.

"Dawn!" shouted Max, struggling free from her sister's Blaziken and running across towards her.

"What is it, Max?" Dawn asked blankly.

"You can have Magmortar go in there and find Ash!" he said hastily. "All Magmortar have Flame Body, so they can resist fire! There's not much time to explain it fully, but just trust me!"

"Trust you? Max, when it comes to this stuff, you never seem to be wrong," Dawn remarked, looking down at Ari's PokéBall. Brock nodded and turned to Salamence.

"Apache, tear down the corner of that warehouse with a Hyper Beam attack!" he ordered. Salamence screamed and loosened a blinding beam of white energy at the side of the warehouse, obliterating a hole in the edge of the wall that would have been big enough to drive a truck through. "Good work," he said to the Pokémon before returning it to the PokéBall Leoric had given him. Dawn looked over at Magmortar, who nodded and pounced forwards.

"Okay, Colenzo, go in there and rescue Ash!" she shouted.

Magmortar roared and thudded forwards, its feet crashing on the concrete as it lumbered through the gaping hole that Salamence had rent in the warehouse. It went right through the sheet of fire that was escaping through the side, feeling nothing more than a slight tickle as the searing flames rolled over its body. It flung out an arm and blasted a jet of super-heated air at the flames, fanning them out and clearing most of the room of the hazy smoke that was blocking its vision.

"_Maaaagmohhh…_" it grunted as its flat eyes searched the room. After close to a minute it finally found Ash: he was curled up in the corner furthest from Magmortar, and he didn't seem to be moving. Magmortar shot itself forwards with another blast of air, stopping feet from Ash and moving carefully towards him. "_Mortar mag…_" it growled, prodding Ash with the outside of its arm. Ash stirred feebly and looked weakly up at the Pokémon standing over him.

"M… Mag… mortar…?" he whispered, before closing his eyes and slumping on the ground.

Magmortar needed no other sign. It deftly scooped Ash up in its clawed arm, holding him close to its body. It threw its other arm towards the near wall, away from the hole from which it had come in, and bellowed. An intense blast of white-hot air escaped from the cavity in its arm, and Magmortar was thrown uncontrollably across the room, flying through the hole and out the other side with a plume of smoke trailing behind it. It spiralled through the air, keeping Ash tucked safely in its arms even as it collided with a merchant's stall, snapping then sign clean in two and burying itself in a collapsing pile of wood and rubble.

"Ash!" shouted seven voices in unison, and above their heads a mass of dark clouds crackled with thunder and sparked with lightning.

"Venonat, find Ash and Magmortar!" Tracey yelled, hurling a PokéBall towards the wreckage. A round, purple Pokémon with large glittering eyes appeared and surveyed the rubble, its eyes glinting red. After a few seconds, Venonat jumped up and down, hopping over to a spot three-quarters of the way towards the far side of the debris and waggling its antennae.

"_Vii vii!_" it chirped.

"Good work, Venonat!" Tracey said proudly as he, Brock and May reached the wreckage first. He returned Venonat to its PokéBall and fell to his knees, picking up the wood and stone and hurling it aside to reach Ash and Magmortar.

"Croagunk!" Brock shouted, throwing a PokéBall, from which his Croagunk burst out, croaking complacently. "Help us out here!" he said, grabbing debris of his own and throwing it on top of the small pile that Tracey had already made. "Max, Anabel, Dawn, help!"

"Alakazam, Espeon, Metagross, use Psychic to help clear this mess!" Anabel cried, tossing three PokéBalls into the air. Her three Pokémon jumped out and began removing the larger objects out of the pile with their psychic attacks. Meanwhile, Max and Dawn were digging through the wood frantically, desperate to reach Ash as quickly as they could.

"Come on, Ash, come on!" Brock shouted at the rubble, shifting aside the rocks in front of him with his powerful arms. He saw a flash of red and he exclaimed, "Guys, over here!" He plunged his hands into the debris, heaving with effort as he thrust it up and away. He could see Magmortar's stomach sticking out from the gap he'd created, and he motioned for Anabel to have her Pokémon work on that area.

"Wait, I've got an idea!" Dawn shrieked, pulling Ari's PokéBall out of her pocket. "Anabel," she said, turning to face the purple-haired Trainer. "Have your Pokémon hold all the rubble in place, and I'll recall Magmortar. It'll disappear from the hole, and then we can get down there and pull Ash out!"

Max frowned. "That's only going to work if Ash crashed into this," he pointed at the hole, "with Magmortar right on top of it. And if that happened, Ash might have been seriously injured. I'm not sure that this plan's a good idea," he said critically.

"Well, it's better than doing nothing and wasting valuable time!" Anabel argued, agreeing with Dawn. "You heard her, hold the debris in place!" she roared to her Pokémon. Dawn pointed the PokéBall at Magmortar and called it back in a flash of red light. The covering of rubble trembled as Anabel's Pokémon struggled with the weight of it, but Brock dived straight in fearlessly. He saw Ash lying motionless at the bottom of the small cavern that Magmortar's absence had left, and he jumped down, landing right next to Ash's body. Brock puffed out his cheeks and his face went red as he tried to lift Ash up, who seemed to be full of dead weight. He gave a guttural roar of exertion and wrenched Ash up and over his shoulder, heading for the open air. A pair of thick green vines whipped around the two of them, hauling the pair out of the hole. May's Venusaur placed Brock softly on his feet as he took Ash off his shoulder.

"Ash…! Wake up…!" Brock growled as he laid his friend gently on the ground. He slapped Ash in the face softly, but the latter didn't move a muscle, lying face-up on the ground. Rain started falling, hissing as it evaporated on the flaming warehouse. But neither rain nor Brock's attempts did anything to wake Ash, who was as motionless as the pile of debris behind him.

"Ash…" murmured Anabel, tears springing into her eyes. "Wake up…" Her tears curved down her cheeks and fell from her face, splashing down onto the street where it joined the rain. "Please…"

* * *

"Ari, are you sure this is a good idea?" Leoric shouted, his voice being snatched up in the roaring wind and seething rain.

"There wasn't much that we could have done for a burning warehouse, if that's what you're getting at!" Ari yelled back, pushing his sodden hair out of his eyes. He and Leoric shot over the mass of low-set buildings that stretched out over the south-west coast of Ayers Island, speeding along securely on Garchomp's back. They raced past stores and vendors, keeping their eyes trained on the ground as the sparse groups of people, taking cover from the storm, appeared to them as little more than a dark, inky blur before they were swallowed up by the next patch of road. Despite the speeds at which they were soaring, Ari could see every individual person on the ground as clearly as if he had walked up to them on the street; he had been flying on Garchomp since he was thirteen, and he'd grown accustomed to it all.

"There they are!" Leoric roared, pointing down to a wharf at the edge of the island. Ari squinted against the downpour and saw two people and two Pokémon heading towards a giant Magikarp-shaped submarine, anchored surreptitiously at the end of the dock, its bulk swaying gently in the current.

"Dullahan, dive!" Ari ordered, slapping a wet hand against the back of his Pokémon's neck. Garchomp let out an ominous shriek and shot down towards the wharf like a bullet.

* * *

Team Rocket bolted across the sturdy wooden planks of the wharf, Jessie's Seviper slipping and sliding along the wet surface with Pikachu bound in its tail. Once they reached their submarine, Jessie recalled her Pokémon and snatched Pikachu up in her arms, holding it roughly as James ran over to the submarine and lowered a gangplank the led on board.

"Come on, Jessie, we haven't got a moment to lose!" he cried, his hair whipping his face as a gale blew in from the sea.

"Jimmy's right, Jessie!" Meowth shouted, struggling its way towards the submarine as the wind pushed him back. "This weather isn't gonna get much calmer than this for a long time!"

"Besides, once we're in, the twerps won't dare to chase after us in the storm!" James yelled, moving bracingly forwards onto the Magikarp's roof. Jessie shouted something back at him, but her words were lost in a thunderclap, and she hurried towards the sub as Meowth and James opened the hatch.

A sleek blue object smashed into the wharf between Jessie and her team-mates, rending the wood in two as the planks in front of her fell away into the sea. Jessie screamed in fear, backing away towards dry land as James and Meowth headed below deck to steer the submarine back to the edge of the wharf. She turned around and froze as she saw Ari and Leoric barring her path, arms crossed and faces stony. Jessie's face twisted in anger as she recognised Leoric as the Trainer who'd been with Ash right before she and Meowth had stolen his Pikachu.

"What do you want?!" she howled, backing away towards the shattered edge of the pier. Leoric took a PokéBall from his belt and coldly opened it. A large black-and-blue Pokémon sprang out, roaring like a lion; it actually looked remarkably similar to a lion, with its wild mane of hair surrounding its sharp face and round ears. Its tail curved up in the air, a long whip of dark fur ending in a four-pointed yellow star that crackled with electricity.

"_Luuuuuuuux!_" it bellowed, striking the wharf with a paw.

"Give us Pikachu back," Ari hissed, his voice perfectly audible over the din. "Or else I'm sure that my friend here," he jerked his head at Leoric, who smirked evilly, "would be more than happy to pay you back for inviting you over to Ash."

"Bite me," fired Jessie, staring back fearlessly.

"That's the general idea," Leoric said, patting his Luxray's back warningly. "Now don't make us say it again."

"Bite me twice," spat Jessie. Ari's mouth curved up into a smile that was more dangerous than the scariest Pokémon, and he gave a piercing whistle that made the hairs on Jessie's neck stand on end. She felt the wood below her feet quake as a sleek blue shape shot past her; the same blue shape that had destroyed her only means of escape. She shrieked and cowered as Garchomp rounded on her, grumbling and twitching its torpedo-shaped ears.

"Oh, so you wanna play tough, eh?!" Jessie shouted. She dropped Pikachu onto the planks behind her, protecting it with her legs while she grabbed two PokéBalls from her waist. "Let's play tough!" she taunted, throwing them out onto the wharf, releasing her Seviper and Yanmega in a flash of light, dulled by the dark of the clouds. James and Meowth roared with disbelief, screaming for her to put the prospect of success before her pride.

"We don't play tough," spat Ari, standing firm as he and Leoric, and their Pokémon, squared off against Jessie and hers. "Playing is for children."

* * *

Brock stood up, standing over the unconscious body of his oldest friend. He had checked Ash's pulse, and had stopped himself from cheering when he felt a slow rhythmic throbbing in his wrist. But now his eyes were clouded with worry. _He can't have just passed out,_ he thought. _There must be an internal injury or something…_ At this he unzipped Ash's jacket and rolled him over, making sure that his head stayed off the ground. He checked under his shirt for any bruises or grazes, but he didn't find any, and after another minute he stood up again.

"Something's wrong," he muttered grimly. "Normally Ash would be back on his feet by now." He heard a choked, dismayed wail from behind him, and he turned his head to see Anabel tottering sideways, resting against the side of one of the adjacent stalls. "Anabel…" he started, but he broke off and looked imploringly at May, Dawn and Misty. They understood the look, and despite being distraught themselves they led Anabel away, trying to calm her down and soothe her fears.

"Any idea what's wrong?" Tracey asked, once the four girls were out of earshot.

"No," replied Brock flatly, pulling at his hair in distress. "I haven't got a clue what's wrong with him… But we'd better get him out of this rain, before he gets worse."

Tracey nodded, grabbing Ash's legs and lifting them up as Brock did likewise with Ash's arms. Max pointed towards an open shop nearby and they moved towards it, carrying their burden carefully, as though all their lives depended on it.

* * *

Ari and Leoric stood shoulder to shoulder, with Garchomp and Luxray roaring and hissing in front of them, as Seviper and Yanmega flanked Jessie, spitting and buzzing ferociously. The two Trainers waited patiently, waiting for the Rocket to make the first move. It didn't take long.

"Seviper, use Glare, and Yanmega use SonicBoom on that Garchomp!" Jessie ordered. Seviper's red eyes glinted as it tried to draw Garchomp's attention to them. Meanwhile, Yanmega flew forwards, shooting a shockwave of pulsing energy from its wings.

"Liger, defend Garchomp with a Charge Beam on Seviper!"

"Dullahan, counter that SonicBoom with Dragon Rage!"

Luxray screeched and shot a bolt of electrified energy straight at Seviper, which hissed in pain, the glimmer in its eyes fading to be replaced by wracking shudders as the attack paralysed it. Garchomp roared and spewed a ball of blue flames towards Yanmega's attack, meeting it halfway between the two and causing a small explosion that rocked the fragile wharf. Both Pokémon were unharmed by the other's attacks, and Garchomp swung its winged claws in front of itself dangerously, egging its foe on.

"Leoric, distract Jessie's attention away from me for a few moments," Ari muttered from the corner of his mouth.

Leoric nodded and smirked at his Pokémon. "Liger—!" he began, but at that moment a bolt of lightning streaked down from the sky and struck Luxray. The charge went right through its body and down to the water, tearing the planks between them to woodchips. Luxray scrabbled out of the way, its paws flailing as it narrowly avoided falling into the sea. Leoric grimaced, and Jessie cackled as she saw his Pokémon's desperate attempt to stay on land.

Ari saw this as his chance to make his move. "Shinryu," he whispered, inconspicuously tapping the fourth PokéBall on his belt. The water glowed a faint white before turning back to its navy colour as a dark shape appeared and circled in its depths. "Get that Pikachu back," he said to the water, before turning back to face the battle.

"Liger, are you alright?" Leoric asked as Jessie laughed. Luxray shook its head and roared, stamping a foot thunderously on the pier. "Okay then. Use Discharge!"

"Seviper, Yanmega, move in on that Luxray for the kill!" Jessie shouted, and her Pokémon advanced towards it. Luxray threw its head into the air, shrieking fit to tear the heavens, and its dark body shone with the colour of lightning.

"_FIRE!!!_" Leoric bellowed, and Luxray roared again, rearing up on its hind legs. It brought its front feet crashing down to the wood, splintering it, and fired an intense shockwave of white electricity that spidered through the air with the sound of thunder. It reached Yanmega and Seviper in a fraction of a second, and it speared into them, sizzling their bodies as they met with the sheer power of the bolt of lightning that had shot down at Luxray seconds ago. Jessie's Pokémon were hurled back at her, knocking her down onto the bare wooden planks behind her.

"Why you little punk!" Jessie screamed, recalling her Pokémon to their PokéBalls and staggering to her feet. "You'll pay for—!" she shrieked, but her eyes widened and she turned around and looked down at the ground below her feet. Pikachu, which had until now been hidden behind her legs, was nowhere to be seen. "Where's the twerp's Pikachu?! What—?!"

"Shinryu, toss Pikachu back up here," she heard Ari say, and her head snapped around to see a dark shape in the water hurl a smaller, yellow shape into the air and safely into Ari's arms. "Dullahan, use Dragon Rage again to re-unite that thug with her friends." Jessie only had time to hurl a stream of swear words at Ari and Leoric before Garchomp sent a searing ball of dragon-fire at her, disintegrating the dock on contact and hurtling her into the Magikarp submarine, knocking her down into the bowels of the vessel.

"Liger, Thunder!" Leoric commanded.

"Dullahan, Fire Blast!" screeched Ari.

Garchomp shot a colossal figure of flame at the submarine that hissed and spat in the torrential rain, but didn't slow down in the slightest as it continued on its path. Luxray howled at the thunderclouds above their heads, and loosed a blinding flash of electrical energy towards Garchomp's Fire Blast. The two attacks mingled into one, which seemed to double in size as it bore down on Team Rocket's submarine. With a sound – and resulting concussion wave – like a nuclear detonation, the Thunder-Fire Blast combo attack smashed into the giant Magikarp with a massive explosion, launching it high into the air.

"We were so _close_!" James wailed.

"And you just _had_ ter take em on, didn'cha, Jess?!" Meowth shouted.

"Quit your complaining! We'll get Pikachu next time!" hissed Jessie.

"_Wobbuffet_!" growled Jessie's ever-present Pokémon, popping out of its PokéBall.

"Well until next time," muttered James sadly, "it looks like…"

"We're blasting off again!" they all cried, as the submarine disappeared behind the skyline.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Liger is adopted from the Zoids anime series, which I was a huge fan of when the show first came out in Australia. In honesty, it comes from the Liger Zero, but it **_**could**_** have also come from the Blade or Shield Ligers.**

***Shinryu is a subtle hint as to what Pokémon it really is… for all of you Final Fantasy X buffs out there…**

***Team Rocket's trademark is used at the end of the chapter.**

**Quiz:**

***How many fully-evolved Pokémon are **_**named**_** in this chapter?**


	35. For What's In Store

**CHAPTER 35 – FOR WHAT'S IN STORE**

Ash was lying, unaware, just inside the small department store where Brock, Tracey and Max had taken him to escape the pouring rain outside. As the storm intensified and water began to seep in, they decided to move him somewhere higher up, so they took him – with much effort – to the menswear section and laid him down between two racks of designer t-shirts, grabbing some and using them as cushions for him.

May, Misty and Dawn had finally succeeding in calming Anabel to the point where she could look at Ash without bursting into tears, but everyone could see the shadows in her eyes, and the tightness of her mouth, as she gazed down at his figure, his chest rising and falling by a fraction of an inch every so often. They had to admit, it was hard seeing Ash like this; in all their travels together, he'd been their rock, never wavering, and even if he was faced with a challenge, it only made him stronger, and he overcame it with gusto. But this was different; it was like he'd lost something in the past day that he hadn't gotten back.

"It's got to be Pikachu…" Max whispered to Misty, his eyes filled with sadness. "He's lost Pikachu, and now this…"

"Hey, no-one _lost_ Pikachu, he got stolen," she murmured. "And anyways, Ari and Leoric are hunting down the thieves right now. They'll get Pikachu back."

"But how can you be so sure? They could have gone anywhere by now."

"How can _you_ be so negative? Just watch, Leoric's gonna come back with Pikachu, Ash is gonna be better in no time, and then we can put this behind us," Misty fired, but Max could hear the doubt and fear in her voice, and he forced a smile, apologising insincerely to her.

Brock had kept silent from the moment they'd set foot in the store, and he'd found himself a secluded spot away from the others, between the ladies section and the change rooms. Normally, he'd have appreciated the irony of his location, but now wasn't the time to be thinking about something as mundane as that. He was putting all his thought into finding a way to wake Ash up. He stood up and paced around, trying to clear his head of any distracting thoughts, but it wasn't working, and Brock lashed out in anger at a plastic manikin a few feet away, hooking it with his right fist and knocking its head clean off. It bounced on the ground and rolled away, but Brock couldn't care less. He pulled at his hair and blew several deep breaths to calm down. So it was no surprise to him that he jumped a foot in the air when someone tapped him lightly on the shoulder. He spun around on the spot, about to lash out again at whoever it was, but he stopped short when he saw Dawn, who trembled slightly at the furious expression on his face.

"Hi, Dawn," he blinked. Dawn half-smiled and held up a manikin's head in both her hands.

"I think that this came from over here," she said casually, noticing the headless doll next to Brock. She placed the head gingerly back on the body it had rested on and turned back to Brock. "How you holding up?" she asked.

"Ah, not so good," he admitted, slumping his shoulders resignedly. "I don't know what it is, but something's wrong with Ash, and it's really f—ticking—" he snapped, correcting himself, "me off that I can't figure it out."

"Well, Max and Misty might have stumbled onto it," Dawn suggested with a sad smile. "Max says that Ash is… the way he is," she swallowed, "because first he lost his best friend, Pikachu, and now he's been through that fire… Brock, you don't think he might've… given up?"

"Ash would never give up on anything; not his Pokémon, not his friends, especially not his life!" Brock said loudly. Heads popped up and looked around from near Ash, and Brock cursed silently. "He wouldn't," he muttered as the heads turned back away.

"Yeah, I know," Dawn mumbled.

May had busied herself with looking at the clothes in the ladies section as a way to distract her from Ash's condition. She pored over flashy outfits and expensive accessories, glancing through row after row of clothes, and as she did, she kept saying to herself, _I'll get something good for when Ash comes through._ She hovered over the occasional dress or shirt, which ordinarily would have looked quite stunning, but she was determined to keep looking for something better – and also to keep her mind busy – and so she quickly moved on to the next item.

Tracey, abandoning all pretence, had pulled out his trademark sketchbook, flipping through the pages close to the front; they were the drawings that he had made while he, Misty and Ash had been journeying through the Orange Archipelago, and he used them as a kind of emotional support, smiling briefly as he remembered the adventure behind each picture: a pink Rhyhorn clawing at a tree filled with rose-coloured fruit; a flock of enormous Pidgey pecking at the ground; and the head of a mystery Pokémon, hiding in the woods next to a target course, that he now knew to be an Elekid.

Anabel was lying on the carpeted floor next to Ash, her body facing in the other direction, so that her head was lying upside-down alongside his. Why she was lying like this, she had no idea; she must have thought that it was the closest she could be to Ash without seeing his face, which would have sent her into a frenzy of tears again. "Ash, I know you can hear me through that _thick skull_ of yours," she whispered, shooting a fleeting glance at the side of his face. Peacefully still. She sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "Come on, snap out of this. Don't leave me hanging like I am…"

A tear welled up in her eye, and she quickly brushed it away, half-rolling on to her side to look at Ash properly. She stared at him for what felt like an hour, but was actually only five minutes, before she sat up and leaned over him. She shuffled over on her legs and rested her head on his shoulder, hoping that he would feel her presence and wake up, but also because she needed him; to do something, give a sign that he knew she was there, and even if not, she still needed _him_ to be there. She fought back more tears, curling her arms around his head. she felt his collarbone run flush against her head, but she didn't care; she actually enjoyed the discomfort, because it meant he was still there physically, even if not mentally. She nearly fell asleep as she lay there, but as she drifted off her hand fell onto the floor and she jolted awake, jerking her head up off Ash and looking around. She couldn't see anyone else; they'd all gone to a different section of the store for various reasons, but she knew that they were giving her time alone with him. She smiled gratefully and lowered her head back down next to Ash's, half-closing her lavender eyes.

After another five unbearably long minutes, Anabel raised her head and looked around again, but this time she was making sure that no-one else was watching her. She sat up on her knees, looking down over Ash's face, unsmiling, unmoving and uncaring. Another tear fell down her cheek, breaking free from her face and landing on his. Fighting back more, she lowered her face down to his and kissed him on the lips, praying as she did so that it would snap him back to the real world. Still nothing. Anabel's lips trembled as she moved them away from Ash's and she sighed shakily, putting her head back on his shoulder.

"Took you long enough."

Anabel screamed and scrambled backwards, clutching at her chest. Her brain told her that it wasn't possible, but her ears, and her heart, knew that it was Ash who'd just said the words to her. Her eyes watered and she gasped with shock, moving back slowly towards him as she saw his face twitch. She'd thought it was a trick of the light, but as she moved closer she saw, without a doubt, that Ash was grinning at the ceiling, his eyes still shut.

"I was waiting for that kiss for about ten minutes," he murmured, his grin growing bigger with each second. Anabel was overcome with a wave of happiness and relief that rushed over her, but her demeanour instantly turned icy.

"Ash—Ketchum—you—tease!" she shouted, punching him in the arm. She was furious at him for playing with her emotions. But Ash opened his eyes, and her heart melted when she saw the love and kindness in them.

He sat up on his legs and rubbed his eyes, glancing down at his makeshift bed. "That's a terrible shirt," he joked, pointing at a brown short-sleeve next to his shoe. "What were you thinking?" he asked Anabel deviously.

"Sorry, wasn't thinking straight," shrugged Anabel. The next moment she was on top of Ash, pressed over him so tightly that there wasn't a hair of space between their bodies. She kissed him again and again, running her hands through his hair and over the sides of his face. She wept with joy, laughing and smiling as her forehead pushed against his, and Ash put his arms around her, laughing with her.

"Well, I'll forgive you the poor choice in clothes if you forgive me for nearly giving you a heart attack, what do you say?" he offered between kisses.

"Deal," giggled Anabel. The two of them heard running footsteps from behind the wall of clothes to their left, and they stood up and unglued themselves from each other just as Brock, Dawn and Misty tore around the bend, their expressions ecstatic.

"Ash!" Brock yelled, throwing his arms around Ash and almost breaking his ribcage in a bear hug.

"We thought we heard your voice!" squealed Misty, throwing her arms around him before looking back over her shoulder. "Hey, Tracey, May, Max! Ash is awake!"

"We were all so worried about you," mumbled Dawn, her eyes sparkling with tears of happiness.

Ash laughed sheepishly. "Hey, I was fine. I just…" he looked kindly at Anabel, "Had trouble coming back to you all… and—" He broke off as a mess of bushy brown hair rounded the corner and shrieked. "May, no no no—!" he shouted hastily, but May had already thrown herself at him, knocking the breath out of his lungs as he was delivered another bone-crunching embrace. "M…May… let go…" he gasped, his face turning a light shade of purple.

"Come on, May, Ash's just survived a fire," Tracey shouted, pulling the clinging girl away from Ash, who wheezed and coughed a small, faint cloud of smoke.

"Which gives all the more reason to be glad that he's alright," reasoned Max, grinning from ear to ear. "Welcome back, Ash," he squeaked.

"Hi Max," Ash said, looking around, and his face fell. "I guess Pikachu hasn't…"

"Not yet," Brock muttered solemnly. "But Ari and Leoric chased after the thieves—"

"It was Team Rocket," Ash hissed bitterly, and his statement was met with a chorus of gasps and exclamations of anger. Ash rubbed his brow with a hand and sighed as he explained everything to them.

"They… they knocked Pikachu out with a blanket soaked in chloroform and took it to that warehouse. I had Staravia find you when I got there, and I went inside to confront them, but when I surprised them, they—" he paused, struggling to remember, "they knocked over a lamp and set the place on fire. I was about to battle them, but Jessie sent out her Seviper and used Pikachu as a hostage. I couldn't do anything to stop them or they'd poison Pikachu…" he told them, keeping his voice as even as possible. But everyone could see the sheen of sweat on his forehead, and the shadows that formed under his eyes. "They ran outside and bolted the door shut… Gliscor was the only Pokémon I could use safely, but he couldn't break through… The roof caught fire and started to cave in… and then—" But his voice wavered and he fell silent.

"And then we saved you, Ash," said Max, to a round of grunted agreement from his peers. "We all did our part."

"Misty had her Water Pokémon douse the fire," Brock said proudly. "And Max suggested a rescue plan."

"Well, Brock had Leoric's Salamence rip a hole through the wall," retorted Misty modestly.

"Dawn sent Ari's Magmortar in to pull you out," added Anabel, smiling at her blue-haired friend.

"Magmortar…" Ash mumbled. He remembered, for a fleeting moment, seeing a crown of flames and two flat eyes looking down at him from below a raging fire, but he'd thought it had been part of some bizarre dream. "…I remember Magmortar," he admitted, his eyes unfocused. "But I blacked out right away after that. What happened next?" he asked quietly.

"Well, Magmortar took you with him and flew out of the building," Max recounted. "But he must have been a bit too eager to get out, because the next second the pair of you had smashed into – and destroyed – a merchant shop. You were buried alive under it," he added chillingly.

"Now _that_ I don't remember," joked Ash. "How'd I get out of _that_ one?"

"Tracey had his Venonat scout you out from under the wreck," Dawn explained. Tracey grinned and shrugged as if to say, 'I did what I could'. "Then he was the first one to start digging through the rubble for you."

"Brock found Magmortar before anyone found you," chimed May. "Then Dawn had a brilliant idea—,"

Dawn blushed. "—A crazy idea—"

"When it came down to it," Misty interrupted, grinning at Dawn's shyness. "Anabel had her Psychic Pokémon hold up the rubble while Dawn sent Magmortar back to its ball."

"Magmortar went back to its ball, a space opened up in its absence," flowed Max, gesturing with his hands. "And _in_ this space, Brock found _you_."

"Cheers, Brock," thanked Ash, giving Brock a thumbs-up.

"Once I'd found you, May's Venusaur pulled us up out of the hole, and Anabel's Pokémon let it collapse," he shrugged. "It started raining, so we brought you in here to escape the chill."

"And here we are," laughed Tracey, throwing his hands in the air. Ash smiled, but it was a forced smile; he was still worried about Pikachu. He had little doubt in Ari and Leoric's abilities as Trainers, and he knew that if they found Team Rocket that they'd get his Pokémon back. But the big question was whether they _would_ find them. Ayers Island was huge, and with every passing second Team Rocket could be escaping farther and farther away. They might have even gone offshore in their oversized-Magikarp submarine.

"Well, there's not much point lounging around here," he said abruptly. "I still need to find Pikachu. Which way's out?" he asked Brock, a little loudly.

"Somewhere over this way!" called a rushed voice from across the store.

"_Pikaa!!!_" squeaked a second voice. Ash gaped in disbelief, crashing through the clothes rack in his haste to find the source of the cry.

"Pikachu?!" he shouted. He saw a flurry of movement to his left as a row of men's pants flapped up into the air as something whipped past them. Ash saw a streak of yellow from under a shirt carousel, and he could only yell with glee before the yellow shape tore through and leapt into his outstretched arms. "Pikachu, it's so good to have you back!" Ash sobbed, tears springing into his eyes as he clutched his first Pokémon lovingly against his chest.

"_Pika pikachu!!!_" cheered Pikachu, waving its hands joyfully in the air. _It's good to _be_ back!_

Leoric and Ari trudged around the corner, smiling warmly despite their soaked clothes and faces as they saw Trainer and Pokémon re-united. "We found the thieves escaping on a wharf on the south-west coast," Leoric muttered to Ash's friends, preferring to keep the knowledge from Ash, just for the moment, while he was still so excited about Pikachu's return. "The woman tried to fight us off, but we got a little heavenly help and sent them flying."

"Literally," Ari added, taking Dawn's hand in his own. "But I have to say, they seemed quite prepared to go to the lengths that they did just to steal a Pikachu," he puzzled.

"Well Pikachu's no ordinary Pikachu, we're sure of that," laughed Misty. "And those _thieves_ have been chasing Ash and Pikachu for more than five years."

"Really, five years?!" repeated Leoric, allowing himself a surprised laugh. "Either Pikachu really _is_ no ordinary Pikachu, or those guys have no other life."

"Well, you get that with Team Rocket," Dawn shrugged, smirking. "They're a bunch of Pokémon-hungry zealots who—Ari, what's wrong?" she asked, for his grip on her hand had tightened painfully, and his brow was furrowed.

"Team Rocket, you say?" he muttered, letting go of her hand and turning his back. Dawn looked on, confused, as were May and Tracey, at this sudden change in mood.

"Was it something I said?" she asked Ari, but he seemed to be ignoring her, or immersed so deeply in his thoughts that he didn't hear her. Misty looked between the two of them before turning to Leoric.

"Leo, what's up with Ari?" she inquired.

Leoric let out a low whistle and crossed his arms. "Ari, you want to tell them or should I?" he called to his friend. Ari ignored him as well, and Leoric shrugged in response to the silence. "I suppose that means I should," he joked. "Well, Ari's never had much love for Team Rocket."

"Neither does anyone else here," fired Brock, his spiky hair seemingly quivering with anger as his eyes swept across the room. "They're a criminal organisation, for one. And Jessie, James and Meowth have been hounding us for a long time. I don't think we've gone a full week without them trying to capture Pikachu, or any other of our Pokémon."

"Hey, no-one's denying that the Rockets are a bad bunch of grapes," defended Leoric. "But I guess that Ari has always had more personal reasons. He's hated – on sight – every Rocket he's ever laid eyes on, and he seems to make it his mission to… teach every last one of them a lesson."

"Any idea what those 'personal reasons' are?" pushed Misty, staring curiously at him.

"Past history, Misty. Something that happened before he and I met. I asked him about it once, and he didn't seem to want to tell me, so I never asked again," he said firmly, effectively ending the conversation.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***May's shriek-and-hug for Ash is a parallel to Hermione doing the same thing to Harry at the beginning of "The Order Of The Phoenix".**

**Quiz:**

***What is the name of the island on which Tracey sketched the pink Rhyhorn?**


	36. Requiescant In Pacé

**CHAPTER 36 – REQUIESCANT IN PACÉ**

As the sun slipped below the horizon and blanketed Ayers Island in darkness, a solitary figure prowled the streets. The moon was yet to come out from behind the thick clouds that had been in the sky since early afternoon, and so he had the perfect cover to slip, unnoticed, through the winding roads and narrow lanes. He kept his hands in his pockets as he wove between crowds of people clamouring for a good dinner, and they were so busy with their own agendas that they never looked twice at him.

He was grateful for this, though; if anyone had taken notice of him, they would have recognised him immediately. He was one of the Trainers competing in the Championships, and he'd already made the third round by decimating his opponents in the first two, and Trainer Spotlight had splashed his picture, and footage of his crushing victories, across the television just this morning. He had enjoyed humiliating those Trainers, but he despised the attention that was being directed at him for doing so.

Besides, today wasn't a day to be happy.

The Trainer closed his eyes and stood stock still, reflecting. He knew what today marked, and what that day had cost. He was naturally sad for himself, but in the smallest way he was also sad for someone who, every other day of the year, he detested with all the fibres of his being.

But not today.

He opened his eyes and walked quickly down the street he was on, making a swift and hurried right turn at the next intersection to come out at a cul-de-sac. He quickened his pace as he saw his destination in the middle of the bend: a florist. He stopped out the front with his hand on the door handle, his eyes darting left and right to check that he wasn't being followed; he didn't want anyone – ever – to know that someone of his character had been caught visiting a flower shop. After making sure he was quite alone he swung the door open, slamming it shut behind him.

The shop itself was quite small and dull in the night; there was a lone ceiling light illuminating the space, and it cast the walls with an eerie half-glow. The Trainer moved stealthily towards the counter, trying to keep his face hidden in the shadows. He rapped his knuckles on the dusty counter, and an elderly man appeared through a door to the right, muttering impatiently as he limped over. The florist took his place behind the counter, running a hand over his withered face before he looked up at his customer. The old man recognised him, for his mouth curved into a mocking smile, showing a toothless mouth. His smile fell, and he trembled slightly as he saw the raw anger in his eyes, but otherwise he gave no sign that he was intimidated.

"What is it that I may sell you, young man?" he wheezed, gesturing towards a wall stacked to the top with a vivid array of flowers. The cold-eyed Trainer turned his gaze to the assortment of colours and strode quickly over. He bent down and inspected a bouquet on the bottom row, his face inches away from the flowers.

He straightened up, and without turning around, said, "This one."

"Ah, a bouquet of Starf flowers, good sir?" smiled the old man, rubbing his hands together greedily. "An expensive, but fine choice. Are they for a special lady that sir might wish to impress?"

The young man turned around stiffly, and looked at him with such hatred that he took an involuntary step backwards. "M-my apologies," he stammered hastily. "It-It's not my place to p-p-pry…"

"No, it's not," hissed the Trainer, snatching the bouquet up and walking back to the corner. "Now, how much will that be?"

"F-For you," said the old man, his eyes darting between the flowers and their holder. "Half p-price!"

His customer gave a fleeting smile. It was an evil thing, more hateful than a thousand curses, and the old man thought he saw the devil himself in it. But he said nothing, and the Trainer took a roll of money from his back pocket and tossed it contemptuously onto the counter. "That should do," he said, keeping the flowers held close to him as he turned on his heel and stormed out, slamming the door shut behind him.

He walked off under the cloudy night sky again, the bouquet tucked carefully under his arm. He passed a restaurant, and in the stark glow of a street-light across the street, he saw his reflection in the glass. He looked on impassively, his eyes running along the mop of hair covering his face, before shaking his head and moving on down the road. He took the occasional left and right on his way, and he walked relentlessly, not slowing down as he passed groups of people that turned and shouted after him. He stopped only when, at last, he reached his real destination, at the edge of Ayers Island, and the world, for all he could see beyond the blue sea. As he gazed out at the inky darkness in front of him, another figure walked up next to him. He, too, was carrying a bouquet, but instead of Starf flowers it contained a batch of Lum flowers, swaying gently in the sea breeze.

"Don't you think that it's fitting that the moon didn't come out tonight?" he observed, looking upwards at the dark expanse above their heads.

The Trainer followed his gaze and gave a disgusted snort. "I'd prefer if no-one saw me doing this," he said.

"Well, we can't always get what we want, can we?" sighed the second figure.

"Fuck you. Let's just get this over and done with."

"What's your problem?" he said, turning around to face the Trainer. "Come on, Paul, at least take this seriously. And I'm sure that we don't need to swear at each other."

"Yeah, well this is how _I_ do things," said Paul stubbornly, taking the Starf flowers from under his arm. "So I'll say _fuck you_ as many times as I want to. That way, I'll _get what I want_ in that regard," he added with a glare.

"Fine, be your usual self," said the other figure crossly. "I see that I was wrong in thinking that for just ten minutes in the year we could not hate each other. I certainly don't hate you right now."

"Well rest assured, the feeling's not mutual," spat Paul. "And just so you know," he added, "I wouldn't be doing something _this_… extravagant—" he waved the bouquet in front of the other person's face, "—normally."

"Nor would you do it with someone like me," he smirked, before looking down at the Lum flowers bunched in his hand. "Well, since you're so impatient about it, we might as well do it now. You can go first, if you'd like."

They both turned soundlessly towards the water, which rippled quietly as though it was waiting for something to happen. Paul cleared his throat and held the bouquet of flowers in front of his chest with both hands, taking a deep breath. After a few seconds of silence, he shook his head, saying, "No, I can't do this—I'm _not_ doing this." He turned away and swung the flowers through the air angrily, and a few petals broke off and swirled down to the ground.

"Fine, I'll do it then," said a voice over his shoulder. "I know you're not the kind to say too many words of kindness. Or words of many emotions."

"Shut up," snapped Paul, turning back to the ocean and bowing his head.

The other Trainer cleared his own throat and spoke in a loud, clear voice that carried over the waves and through the air. "Today was the day that light failed. When the loss of one was echoed in the broken hearts of a thousand more. When you were stolen away from everyone. But I have never forgotten you, and so I honour your memory with this bouquet, to reflect the beauty that you brought to the world." He threw the bouquet of flowers into the air, falling gracefully into the water and drifting away slowly on the ebbing current. "Requiescant in pacé," he murmured, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Don't be such a cry-baby," said Paul. But he sniffed remorsefully nonetheless and wiped at his eyes as well. He took a shuddering breath and stepped forwards. "You were a noble spirit who sought the betterment of us all, even a soul such as mine. But you were hunted by your enemies, and snatched from life in your youth," he said, his voice becoming shaky with bottled-up emotion. "And so I bear the burden of their actions, to live with the grief of knowing your loss. I offer this," he hurled the bouquet into the water, "to help pay a debt, to help fill the void, which your absence has left. Requiescant in pacé," he added as he watched the flowers float away. The moon shifted from behind a cloud, flooding the island with pale light. Paul brushed his eyes with his hand again and shook his shoulders, turning around to see his fellow griever. He saw a sweep of brown hair poking out from under a round-brimmed hat, and his face twitched involuntarily. "This changes nothing. I still hate you," he hissed. "You _and_ your father."

Ari smiled. "At least _this_ time, the feeling's mutual. Well, the _father_ part anyways." He thrust his hand forwards. "Until next year, Paul."

"Fuck you, Ari," seethed Paul, but he grabbed Ari's hand and shook it roughly. He quickly let go and stalked away, fearing that he might have been far too friendly with his arch-nemesis. Ari stared after him, watching his purple hair disappear around the bend, before he turned back to the water. The bouquets had both disappeared, but he watched the flowing waves as they undulated and swept over the shore, oblivious to the keen pair of eyes watching him from afar.

* * *

Ari returned to his hotel room late in the night. He had left his Pokétch with Leoric before he'd gone out, and so he had little grasp of how much time had passed while he'd been gone. All he knew was that the sun had been up when he'd left, and now it was very dark. He reached the door to his room and swung his card key in the slot next to the handle; it was standard procedure in these sorts of hotels to have a security feature like this that activated after dark. A small green light beeped, and Ari heard a small click in the lock. He opened the door quietly and looked inside. He was met with a wall of noise and light, making him gasp and stumble through the doorway. Someone, or something, behind Ari shut the door on him and pushed him inside. Even before his eyes and ears could adjust to the harsh contrast from the hallway outside, a pair of arms threw themselves around his neck and he felt a familiarly soft pair of lips on his.

"Where were you?" Dawn asked, her face blocking out most of the light.

"I, uh… just went for a walk," mumbled Ari, forcing a smile. He unfastened her hands and looked beyond her to the lounge room. Ash and Pikachu were sitting on the armchair closest to him, and they and Anabel were laughing hysterically at a joke Tracey had just told them. Over by the doorway Leoric was chatting conversationally to Noland over a pair of light beers. Brandon was having what seemed to be a heated argument on the kitchen phone, but as Ari watched the large man let out a booming laugh and turned his back. Delia, May and Brock were seated at the living room table, discussing, from what he could tell, cooking recipes and ingredients. And on the lounge in front of him, Max was talking animatedly to Gary Oak about battle strategies, while Misty listened attentively, although her head was drooping slightly and her eyes were glazed. As Ari looked around at all of them, he could see the joy on their faces. But he just couldn't get into the mood. Today just wasn't a day to be happy. He turned his gaze back to Dawn and gave her quick kiss before forcing another smile.

"Excuse me, I need to get a drink," he said, moving away from her and towards Brandon. Dawn stared, feeling a little hurt by the emotion in his voice and by the way he'd shrugged her off, as he threw open the fridge door and grabbed at a bottle of Oran juice that was inside. He slammed the door shut and cracked open the lid with a soft fizzing noise, taking a heavy swig as he made for the open balcony behind Ash's armchair. He leant over the railing, drink in hand, staring out at the black sheet of water that stretched out in front of him beyond the horizon.

Dawn looked on worriedly at her boyfriend's behaviour, wondering why he was acting so distant all of a sudden. _Well, it's been a long day,_ she thought. _After all the stuff that happened, maybe he just wants to give Ash and us some space. Maybe he doesn't feel comfortable with being here… we've only known him for about five days, so he wouldn't know us all that well. I certainly know that he and I don't know each other much,_ she admitted sadly. _I wonder what I should do… should I go over there and talk to him, even though he's already hinted that he wants to be alone? Or should I just leave it be? _She struggled with the choice for a few moments, finally deciding that whatever Ari's issue was, he would tell her when he was comfortable with it. After reaching this conclusion she allowed herself to relax, and she sat down next to Misty. The impact on the cushions snapped Misty out of her half-conscious state, and she looked around, muttering like a madwoman.

"Wha—? I'm awake—I'm awake!" she stuttered, rubbing her eyes wearily.

Meanwhile, Ari sighed and looked down at the street-lit pavements as tiny shadows of people flitted across them like flies. He envied them for their innocent ignorance, but he pitied them, because they'd never known the joy of what he'd had and lost. He closed his eyes as a tidal wave of complex emotions threatened to drive him insane. Grief. Sadness. Hatred. He felt them all at once, along with a thousand more that had no names but were just as overwhelming. In a fit of rage Ari took his empty bottle in his hand and threw it out into the open air with all his strength. It stayed suspended in mid-air for three seconds, spinning like a top, before it succumbed to gravity and plummeted onto the roof of a shop across the street, shattering instantly into a million pieces that glittered in the moon's light. His breathing became heavy and ragged, and he gripped the railing with both hands until his palms grew red and his knuckles shone pearly white. He had no idea why this was happening to him; maybe it was because of Paul's attitude… but maybe it was also because of his unresolved issues with Paul's family. His face spasmed in anger. _Everything I do seems to revolve around him,_ he thought bitterly _Everything!_ His temper boiled, and he released all his emotions at once. He screamed at the sky, an inhuman howl that made the people on the ground look up at him in fear and sent flocks of Zubat, hanging down from power lines, flying away, shrieking feverishly to escape the sound.

It took Ari a while to fall silent, and once he had he realised he wasn't alone out on the balcony. Hidden in the shadows to his right was a pair of bright green eyes, winking back at him. "Who's there?" he asked edgily. The eyes disappeared briefly and moved forwards, and their owner stepped out into the moonlight. "Kaiden…?"

"It's Ari, right?" Kaiden asked politely, offering his hand to him. Ari stood his ground, so he shrugged and let his hand fall to his side. "You sound majorly pissed with something."

"Yeah, well it's none of your business."

"True," admitted Kaiden, his untied green hair blowing in the breeze. "But people feel better once they talk about it." Ari snorted at the subtle invitation.

"If I haven't told any of my closest friends for three years, what makes you think that I'm going to tell a stranger like _you_?!" he hissed.

"Well, I'm less likely to care about what you have to say," Kaiden pointed out. "Which means you're not gonna have to worry about me not being your _friend_ anymore," he laughed.

"Fair point. But I'm still not telling you."

"Suit yourself. But don't say I never offered to hear you out." And with that, Kaiden shrugged his hands and walked back to the sliding balcony door, where everyone else had gathered. They'd been frightened by Ari's scream, and now that they knew who it had come from they were worried about him too. "Ball's in your court now, lass," he added to Dawn as he passed her. Ari heard the comment, and made to follow Kaiden, but he was stopped in his tracks when Brandon and Noland threw their arms out and dragged him back out into the open. He scowled at them, but otherwise said nothing and turned his back to them all to stare, once again, at the night sky.

"Ari? Come on man, what's wrong?" Leoric asked, taking a nervous step towards his friend.

"Everything's fine."

"No it's not," he said stubbornly. "Tell me."

"Nothing _to_ tell."

"Bullshit!" he shouted, grabbing Ari by the back of the shirt and pulling him around to face him. "What's got you so spooked, huh?!"

"Spooked? Spooked?!" Ari cackled. "_Spooked_ was when Dawn came to my first match! I'm not _spooked_!"

"You got spooked when I saw your first match?" whispered Dawn, but Leoric had no time for Ari's stalling.

"Then what is it?"

"How many times do I have to tell you?! It's nothing, I'm fine!" said Ari fiercely.

"Ari, you can tell us what it is," Ash muttered, moving forwards. "We all need to open to our friends once in a while; that's what we're there for."

"Well for once, I don't need to _open up_ about anything. Now that's not to say that I don't consider you as friends, because I do. But this isn't something I can explain," he said, turning back to the edge of the balcony. He grabbed a PokéBall from his belt, and without facing around, murmured, "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a ride and try to clear my head. Dullahan." He tapped the button on the centre of the ball, and his Garchomp landed softly on the tiles next to him, spreading its arms wide and dipping its head towards its Trainer.

"Ari…?" said Dawn, her hands clasped together in front of her. Ari turned around, stiffly, and met her frightened gaze with impartial eyes. He took a few steps over to her and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

"No need to worry," he smiled, and he walked back to his Pokémon and sat on its back. "Come on, Dullahan," he said, patting Garchomp on the neck. Garchomp nodded noiselessly and leapt from the balcony, soaring out into the open night, and leaving in its wake a huddle of confused and anxious onlookers.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***'Requiescant in pacé' – the name of the chapter and the phrase that Paul and Ari use in their speeches – comes from Latin, meaning 'Rest in peace'.**

***Both bouquets of flowers symbolise something about the Trainers holding them, but it **_**is**_** a subtle connection that would take too long to explain.**

***Ari uses Dawn's trademark comment before he flies off.**

**Quiz:**

***What Pokémon, in the **_**anime**_** series, has Paul been confirmed to have caught the **_**most**_** of, and how many did he catch?**


	37. Tag, You're It!

**CHAPTER 37 – TAG, YOU'RE IT!**

"Come on, Dawn, don't worry about Ari. I'm sure he's fine."

Brock sat opposite Dawn and Ash at the kitchen table, eating his way through some jam toast he'd prepared earlier. He could see that Dawn was concerned about him. He could see it in her expression; her eyes were downcast, her brow was creased, and her mouth was quivering. Her hands were clenched so tightly around her knife and fork that she was bending the metal, but her breakfast was untouched and cold. It was natural for Brock to notice these things; after taking care of his siblings before he'd met Ash, he'd had to know what subtle things like this meant in the broader scope.

"I suppose…" she grumbled, stabbing at her topmost pancake and staring at it moodily.

"I just heard on the news," said Ash between mouthfuls of cereal. "That Tag Team thing starts today, yeah? The one that Ari and Leoric said they were going in." Brock stared at Ash, wondering if this brazen comment had been used on purpose to get a response out of their friend. But Ash seemed totally relaxed, so he assumed that, like always, it was just coincidence. "So I was thinking," he continued, his voice muffled. "Since my first third-round match isn't until midday, we could go over and have a look-see. I think it'd be a nice experience to watch how two Trainers like them work together in a battle, don't you reckon?"

"Sounds good," Brock agreed, glancing sideways at Dawn, who laid her twisted knife down on the hardwood table. "What do you think, Dawn?"

"Great idea," she mumbled, still staring at her meal.

"Yeah, I thought so too," Ash said shamelessly, grabbing his glass and taking a deep drink of Sitrus juice. "I get to watch how Ari and Leoric battle, Brock gets to… see a good match and have some lemonade," he smirked and shrugged his shoulders at Brock, "and after the match you can ask Ari about… well, about whatever you'd call what last night was. What do you say?"

Brock slapped his forehead in disbelief. For all Ash's supposed innocence, he really had taken note of Dawn's behaviour. _And he actually went about it pretty well,_ he admitted. _He can be under-handed when he wants to be, which I guess isn't too surprising considering how he found out that the two of them were a couple._

Dawn's lips trembled at this particular mention of Ari, but otherwise she tried to remain nonchalant as she said, "Yeah, it sounds good. We'll head there after we've finished breakfast, okay?"

* * *

A crowd of thirty-five thousand packed Stadium 3 to the rafters; a mass of screaming fans and Trainers moving like one body, cheering on the competitors while they downed fast food and even faster drinks. A loud voice rang out over the deafening sounds, making sure that no-one couldn't hear. "Welcome to the opening doubles match in the famous Tag Team Trophy competition!" yelled the commentator. "And what a show we have in store for you today! One on side we have the undisputed World Champions who triumphed here at the Tag Team last year; ladies and gentlemen, Ari DeVarro from Ecruteak City of the Johto region, and from Hoenn's Fallarbor Town we have none other than Leoric Reiger!"

An ear-splitting roar thundered down from one side of the stadium, crashing down on Ari and Leoric's eardrums and threatening to burst them. The two Trainers grinned and waved at their supporters, who, if possible, cheered even louder. The noise didn't stop, and so the announcer was forced to speak into the microphone even louder than before.

"And banging heads with them today are the extremely skilful European Champions! So without further ado, give it up for Antoine Bergen, all the way from Leeuwarden City in the Netherlands, and Jonathan del Bene, a native of Italy's Pordenone region!" he shouted, to which the crowd exploded with cheers and roars once more. Antoine, a small blonde-haired girl no older than sixteen, smiled nervously and waved at them, while her partner Jonathan, a rugged man in his late twenties, winked mysteriously at his admirers and gave a sweeping bow and wave.

Ari and Leoric met their two opponents at the centre circle of the stadium, which was easily double the size of the ones they'd fought on in the past few days. But that was because of the nature of the Tag Team: twice the Pokémon and twice the action, so it was necessary to be twice the size. Each Trainer shook hands with the other – except with their partner, of course – and as they did, they searched for any chink in the armour, any tell-tale signs that would give them the advantage in the match. But Ari and Leoric had the greatest advantage of all; they had the majority of the crowd on their side, and they knew, of all people, that having the crowd cheering for or against you could make the difference in a tight match.

"May the best duo win," giggled Antoine after shaking hands with Leoric, who smiled back encouragingly. She took her place next to Jonathan, and the two Europeans turned and walked the ground's edge, standing inside their red Trainer's box. Ari and Leoric looked at each other, then laughed merrily as though it was all just a huge inside joke, before making their leisurely way to their green box.

The match's referee, an extremely fit redhead in his early twenties, looked from one team to the other and raised both his flags slowly out in front of him. "This match will be a two-on-two Pokémon battle; each Trainer may use one Pokémon only. If one of a team's Pokémon is knocked out, then the other must continue to fight alone until either it is knocked out, or it overcomes the opponents' Pokémon. When _both_ Pokémon from one team have been eliminated, the other team will be declared the winner."

"Do you understand?" he asked, pointing his green flag at Ari and Leoric, who nodded. "And you?" he said, aiming his red flag at Antoine and Jonathan. They nodded back as well, so the referee swung the twin flags above his head. "Then let the match begin!" he roared, and the familiar siren sounded from the corners of the stadium.

Ari snatched a PokéBall from his waist and threw it out with a cry, "Time to shine, Nirvana!" A huge, round, fluffy pink Pokémon with an egg in the pouch on its stomach popped out of the ball.

"_Blii bli!_" said the Blissey melodically. Antoine smirked and hurled her PokéBall into the arena.

"Poliwrath, let's show 'em what you're made of!" she shouted, and an equally large Pokémon burst forth. It was a deep blue colour, but it had a large black-and-white spiral pattern on its stomach. It had no mouth – just two hollow eyes that sat atop its head – and long, powerful arms that ended in white four-fingered gloves. It let out a bellow from the depths of its body and flexed its fingers expectantly.

"Kong, I choose you!" Leoric yelled, summoning a Slaking from his PokéBall. It crashed onto the hard ground and lay down placidly, scratching at its fur and yawning widely.

"Man, I wonder if _everyone_ around here gives their Pokémon nicknames…" muttered Jonathan to his partner, who nodded back in agreement. He shrugged and took a PokéBall from his belt. "Come on out, Aggron!" he said. An enormous steel-clad Pokémon thudded down onto the arena; its long tail smashed against the ground, sending shockwaves into the air, and it threw its head back, brandishing the three vicious-looking horns protruding from its front.

"So our opening match of the Tag Team Trophy is Slaking and Blissey vs. Poliwrath and Aggron!" declared the announcer, striking the starter's bell.

"Nirvana," shouted Ari, "use Skill Swap on Kong!" Blissey nodded and turned to face Leoric's Slaking. A strange blue light enveloped Blissey, and from the egg on her stomach a small jet shot out and touched Slaking, who began to glow with a red aura. The colours slowly changed from red to blue and vice versa, until Blissey was the one covered in the red light, and Slaking was bathed in blue. Once the light faded, Slaking jumped heartily onto its feet, beating its mighty fists against its chest.

"Wow, what a high-risk move from Ari!" bellowed the announcer. "By using Skill Swap, Blissey has switched its abilities with Slaking, giving it Serene Grace while taking Slaking's debilitating Truant trait! What strategy could this play entail? Let's watch on and find out if they can prove why they're the world's greatest duo!"

"Truant?" Dawn asked Brock, a worried expression playing on her face.

"Truant is an ability that only two Pokémon have: Slakoth and Slaking," Brock said with a smile. "Because of Truant, those Pokémon can only attack once every two turns. It really dulls Slaking's enormous Attack when it can only use it at half pace."

"So without Truant," Dawn murmured, "Slaking can put full use to its attack, right? Then, what happens to Blissey?" she asked, pointing at the pink-white Pokémon.

"It turns into a bit of a _sloth_," Ash said smartly, as Blissey propped itself down on its behind. It looked lazily at its two opponents while they eyed off Slaking, who was now jumping around on its feet, over-stimulated from its new freedom.

"Poliwrath, use Brick Break on that Blissey; show it who the boss around here is!" Antoine ordered. Poliwrath leapt forward, tucking its arm in under its shoulder and croaking madly. It extended its arm, ready to strike Blissey's soft belly, but at the last moment a fur-covered hand closed around Poliwrath's wrist, halting the attack. "What the—?!" she gasped.

"Kong, get Poliwrath out of there!" Leoric shouted smugly. A second later Poliwrath was hurled through the air by the overwhelming power of his Slaking, who threw the hapless Pokémon towards its team-mate in an under-arm bowling action. He cheered and threw his hands with a cry of, "Strrriiike!" as Poliwrath hurtled into Aggron, sending them both sprawling across the ground. Slaking grunted and made another bowling action with its arm in response, and the crowd cheered and laughed at the Pokémon's display.

"I'm not sure _what_ you'd call that move," the announcer joked, "but it sure was entertaining! And it must have put a big dint in Poliwrath and Aggron's health!"

"Aggron, stand up!" barked Jonathan, and his Pokémon sprang to its feet, roaring at not only Slaking but Poliwrath for having been knocked down. "Hey! You two are working together, so douse it and use Metal Sound!" he shouted. Aggron growled and thundered its feet into the ground, smacking its tail against the plates on its back. The rub of metal on metal let out a hideous grinding sound that sent shivers down the spines of everyone who heard it, and as the noise grew louder the crowd was forced to cover its ears and grind its teeth.

"Poliwrath, use Ice Beam on Slaking while it's distracted!" shrieked Antoine, trying to make her voice heard over the scraping sound. Poliwrath nodded and fired a bright blue beam of energy from its outstretched hands, which shot towards Slaking and encased it in a tomb of ice.

"Okay, let it down, Aggron," Jonathan ordered. "Now charge that Slaking with Double-Edge!"

Aggron thumped its tail back onto the ground, and the Metal Sound wound down to a low hum as the plates on its back kept vibrating. It shifted them slightly, and the noise stopped altogether. Once the crowd realised this, they took their hands off their ears and began to applaud Antoine's Poliwrath for its move. Aggron growled contemptuously before it let out a bellowing roar and lunged, stampeding towards Leoric's frozen Pokémon.

Ari looked on, his mind turning frantically. He knew that if this barrage kept up, he wouldn't be able to stop it – because Blissey was limited by its new Truant trait – and eventually they would finish Slaking off and come for it. "Nirvana, use Skill Swap again! On Aggron this time!" he shouted.

Blissey slowly stood up as she was enshrouded once more in blue light. Another beam of blue shot from her egg, but this once struck the rampaging Aggron in the small of the back, stopping it as firmly as if it had been hit with a Psychic attack. Aggron shone red, immobilised by the Skill Swap in mid-roar, before it began flashing between blue and red as Blissey alternated at opposites with it. Finally, once Skill Swap was complete, and Aggron glowed blue and Blissey was enveloped in red, the lights faded and Blissey looked on warily as Aggron continued its rampage as if nothing had happened. The Iron Armor Pokémon careened into Slaking, shattering its icy prison and knocking Slaking back thirty feet, where it hit the ground face-first.

"Ooh, what a bone-crunching impact that was! Slaking's sure going to feel _that one_ in the morning!" yelled the announcer excitedly.

"Kong, you alright?!" shouted Leoric anxiously. Slaking rolled forwards and onto its feet, scratching at its armpit before leaning on its knuckles. "Atta boy!" he said proudly, punching the air encouragingly.

"Aggron, use Iron Tail on Blissey!" roared Jonathan. But Aggron wouldn't, or didn't want to, move an inch. It stood perfectly still; the only hint that it was even alive was the slight movement of its chest as it breathed in and out. "Aggron, what's wrong?!" he asked desperately.

"Good work with that Skill Swap, Nirvana!" cheered Ari, making his Blissey clap her hands together gleefully. "Now how's about a Metronome, just to spice things up a bit, eh?!"

Blissey grinned and waggled her hands in front of her body, humming a strange tune while she did so. All four Trainers watched on nervously; Metronome was the most unpredictable attack there was, and there was no way to know what would happen next. "_Bli-bli-bli…_" she chimed, waving her hands back and forth in an almost hypnotising rhythm. "_Blii!_" Her hands shone white, and a split second later her body was encased in harsh yellow light. Blissey ran forwards, speeding along more quickly than her feet could carry, and she smashed into Poliwrath, knocking the blue Pokémon backwards into the boundary wall sixty feet away.

"Poliwrath!" cried Antoine.

"What the heck was that?" Jonathan asked wildly, looking on as Poliwrath picked itself up from the ground.

"Unless I'm mistaken, that was a Volt Tackle," answered Leoric, smirking widely. "Good thing Blissey have next to no attack, or else that Poliwrath wouldn't be standing."

"Poliwrath, get ready to launch a Hydro Pump at Slaking!" roared Antoine. Poliwrath growled and flexed its muscular arms, preparing its attack.

"Aggron, once Poliwrath fires, loose a Thunderbolt to join the Hydro Pump!" Jonathan ordered, smiling fiercely as Aggron roared and thumped its chest. The horns on its head crackled with electricity, and the air around them glowed yellow and sparked as Aggron patiently waited for Poliwrath to launch its attack.

"Kong, use Swagger on Poliwrath!" shouted Leoric. Slaking performed a strutting dance of sorts, much like the Taunts that Ash's Corphish and Chimchar had used against their opponents. However, instead of aggravating its opponent, Slaking's Swagger dazed Poliwrath, and its eyes turned the same shape as the pattern on its stomach. It leant unsteadily to one side, shaking the swirls out of its eyes, but as far as Poliwrath was concerned, it couldn't tell which Pokémon was its ally or its adversary. It looked around at Slaking and Blissey, both of whom were standing calmly some distance away, before glancing at Aggron, who was looking back at it, its horns crackling with the energy from its Thunderbolt.

"_Polllll…_" it grumbled menacingly. Aggron must have been readying that Thunderbolt to use on it! Well, thought Poliwrath, it wasn't going to get the chance. With a bellowing growl it shot out a pressurised cannon of water from the centre of its stomach that shot at its supposed enemy. Following its Trainer's orders, Aggron had no choice but to fire its Thunderbolt at the incoming attack, which did nothing to stop it, but actually joined with the attack and rebounded towards itself.

"Aggron!" screamed Jonathan, but it was too late. The electrified Hydro Pump tore into Aggron, sending it flying backwards and dumping it roughly onto the ground. Aggron's wet and blackened body crackled with static as it struggled onto all fours, roaring weakly and smacking its tail into the earth. "Aggron, can you still go on?" he asked, and his Pokémon nodded its great head and reared onto its hind legs, flexing its fingers threateningly.

"Nirvana, use Helping Hand on Kong!" cried Ari.

"Kong, Focus Punch on Aggron!" Leoric commanded.

Blissey clapped its hands together, striking a high clear note that rang out through the stadium. It kept clapping its hands in a slow, repetitive beat as Slaking cocked its fist and held it, growling as it charged up the enormous store of power it would need for its attack. Blissey's applause grew louder, and the crowd quickly joined in; they couldn't help it. The clapping slowly grew quicker, akin to the applause a cricket bowler gets as he makes his run-up to the pitch. Jonathan could do nothing but watch on helplessly as Slaking tensed itself for the Focus Punch. Aggron was still under the effects of Truant, and it wouldn't be able to defend itself in the slightest until _after_ Slaking had delivered its attack.

"Antoine, do something!" he hissed at his partner. "If that move connects, you're gonna be on your own!"

"Poliwrath!" gasped Antoine, trying to get through to her deluded Pokémon. "Use Brick Break on Slaking, stop it in its tracks!"

Poliwrath stumbled forwards. It looked like a drunkard; its eyes were unfocused, it was lurching around on the spot, and it was swinging its arms wildly at thin air. Finally it calmed itself down and, miraculously, trained its sight on Slaking. Like its target, Poliwrath cocked its fist backwards, readying the blow, but instead of hurtling into Slaking it sent its attack crashing straight back into its face, knocking it off its feet with a strangled cry. The force of its own punch rendered Poliwrath unconscious even before it hit the ground, lying spread-eagled over the bare earth.

"Poliwrath is unable to battle!" cried the referee, and Antoine shrieked in dismay, refusing to believe that she'd ordered her Pokémon to knock itself out. "Withdraw your Pokémon at once, please," he said calmly, and the distraught Trainer resigned to the outcome, snatching her PokéBall from her belt and recalling her fallen Pokémon in a blink of red light.

"Come on, Jonathan, hang in there!" she shouted encouragingly, but Jonathan shook his head in despair.

"Move in for the KO, Kong!" grinned Leoric, throwing his arm forward.

"_Kiiiing!_" bellowed Slaking, pouncing towards the immobile Aggron with terrifying speed, in an odd-looking three-footed run using its feet and free hand. It leapt into the sky and thundered down with a roar, and with a bone-crunching sound that sent a shockwave throughout the entire stadium, Slaking's fist swung into Aggron's jaw. The massive grey Pokémon flew sideways through the air and was sent smashing into the corner of the battlefield with an explosion of dust and earth.

"Aggron, no!" yelled Jonathan. The dust cleared and he saw his Pokémon sprawled across the bottom of a small hole in the ground, its eyes closed and its body motionless. "Aggron!"

"Aggron is unable to battle! This match goes to Ari DeVarro and Leoric Reiger!" roared the referee, but even before he finished his declaration his voice had been drowned out by the hysterical crowd. Ari and Leoric punched the air in victory and gave each other an over-enthusiastic high-five before recalling their Pokémon and walking out to the centre circle. Once Jonathan returned Aggron to its ball, both he and Antoine joined them to commemorate their opponents' victory.

"Congratulations," mumbled Antoine, grudgingly putting her arm forwards. "You won, and we lost."

"A victory is only worth as much as your opponents," said Ari wisely, shaking her hand.

"And you two are worthy opponents," Leoric grinned, putting his hand out for Jonathan, who smiled back and shook it roughly.

"Until next we meet," said Antoine warmly, shaking Leoric's hand as Ari and Jonathan exchanged a handshake. "We'll be watching you."

"Okay, we'll be sure to perform our best then," joked Ari. "See you around."

"_A più tardi_," boomed Jonathan, speaking in his native Italian. "_See you later_."

The two defeated European champions waved one last time at the cheering crowd, beaming at them and thanking them for their support, before they walked arm in arm to the exits. While the crowd emphatically roared and applauded Ari and Leoric for their win, from his spot in the stands Ash could see Jeanne – from Trainer Spotlight – and her camera crew already racing onto the field for the post-match interview.

"Hey," he called out to Brock and Dawn, "let's head down to the tunnel and wait for them to finish up."

Brock nodded. "Good idea, that way we won't have to wait around while the rest of the fans are leaving. What do you think, Dawn?" He looked behind him, but Dawn had vanished. "Dawn?!"

"Down here, you pair of Shuckle!" shouted Dawn, who was already halfway towards the exit. "Come on, hurry up!"

"Alright, alright, we're coming!" Ash yelled, holding Pikachu on his shoulder as he jumped down the stairs to join her. "_She's_ the Shuckle," he muttered to Pikachu.

* * *

Ari and Leoric entered the tunnel under the stands, personally congratulating each other on their performances in their win. As Leoric touched on the Metronome that Ari's Blissey had used, he saw Ash, Brock and Dawn waiting at the end for them. Leoric nudged Ari on the arm, pointing over at the trio, and Ari turned to look. He waved happily and ran over to them, leaving Leoric to stroll behind him.

"Good morning, beautiful!" he said, stopping in front of Dawn and putting his arms around her. Dawn returned his embrace half-heartedly, and he pulled away awkwardly, a worried look on his face. "What's the matter?" he asked, his eyes searching her expression for an answer.

"What, so _today_ you're feeling all happy and lovey, are you?" she asked bitterly. She tore herself away from him and stormed off down the tunnel, and in moments she was swallowed up by the darkness while her floundering footsteps echoed off the cold stone. Ari stared after her, surprised and also saddened, but as he turned around he saw that Ash, Brock and Leoric were all purposefully looking away.

"This is because of what I said last night, isn't it?" he said. It wasn't a question; he knew that was the cause of it.

"Yeah, I'd say it's safe to assume that," grimaced Leoric, still looking deliberately at the walls. "But hey, I'm sure you had your reasons for not telling her. Or your best friend, for that matter," he added.

"That's not fair," wailed Ari, stung by the remark. "You can't guilt trip me like that, Leo! I _do_ have my reasons!"

"We respect that," Ash cut in, worried that things might escalate between the two. "Right, Leoric?"

"No, I want to know what this big secret you hid from me for nearly four years is!" he shouted at Ari, his temper beginning to boil. "And how come you just cleared off after I got that little get-together started, huh?!"

"Because I—!" began Ari, but he broke off, realising that explaining his absence would expose his secret. He roared in frustration and kicked the wall, wincing and hobbling as a flare of pain shot up his leg. "I—can't really explain it. It's complicated."

"Too complicated that in all the time you've known me you haven't been able to think of a way to say it?" questioned Leoric. "Come on man, I've always told you _my_ secrets. That's what best friends do. At least have the _guts_ to return the favour."

"No! I can't!" howled Ari, throwing his hat onto the ground and pulling at his hair. To Ash and Brock, standing some feet away, he looked quite deranged. "I'm not going through it all again!"

"Through _what_?" asked Brock evenly, trying to calm Ari down. "What happened?"

"Something that happened a long time ago," muttered Ari. His face paled, his eyes darkened, and his body shook as though it were being torn by a strong wind. "Now I have to go and find Dawn and set this right. If all goes well, I'll tell you later today," he added.

Leoric weighed his options, wondering if he could keep interrogating Ari about his past, but as he pondered, Brock warningly put a hand on his shoulder, which instantly discouraged him from pushing the envelope. "Fine. Must be a pretty big skeleton in your closet, but fine," he hissed, before Ari turned on his heel and stormed down the tunnel just like Dawn had done a minute ago. But just as he disappeared into the shadows, Ari heard Leoric's parting words, a venomous remark that hit him like a thunderbolt.

"But don't expect me to still be your friend when it's over."

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Slaking's nickname should be of no surprise – it's named after King Kong.**

***Nirvana, although originally a Buddhist belief, was chosen as Blissey's name out of a randomly-generated list of Final Fantasy: Tactics Advance weapons – the Nirvana Staff.**

***Blissey exchanging Slaking's Truant ability is a tactic used by the Petalburg Gym Leader, Norman, during a double-battle rematch in Pokémon Emerald. (Kudos to BlackShadowKnight for bringing this one up!)**

**Quiz:**

***Which non-legendary Pokémon has the highest base stat total **_**under**_** 600?**


	38. Talkers And Teasers

**CHAPTER 38 – TALKERS AND TEASERS**

Ari pored over the streets in the main hub of the island, vainly searching for Dawn amongst the thousands of people moving along the footpaths. He knew that it was going to take a lot of explaining to get back on her good side, and he was prepared to do whatever it took to do so, but at the same time he was scared. Scared because he was going to have to open up about an experience of his life that he wished he would never have to relive again. As he grappled with the prospect of facing his demons, he frantically looked around at the crowds, searching for a soft white hat perched on a sweep of navy blue hair, or some other sign that Dawn was around.

"Come on, Dawn, where'd you run off to?" he muttered, pulling a PokéBall from his waist. He looked down at it, contemplating, before he shook his head and put it back in its place. "No, not this time." He set off again down the street, not looking where he was going, and as he crossed onto the paved road a passing car clipped him on the side. The force of the collision, despite being only a glancing blow, was enough to bowl Ari over and onto the pavement, smacking his head on the asphalt. A worried-looking motorist jumped out of the car, hurrying over and apologising to him, but he quickly stood up and waved him away.

"My fault… wasn't watching where I was going," he said calmly, flicking on a smile before moving on his way. But he hadn't taken two steps before a hand clamped down on his shoulder. "Dawn?" he asked, spinning around. He groaned in disappointment when he saw that the person standing behind him wasn't Dawn, but a tall teenage boy, with a mess of spiky brown hair, wearing a tight-fitting black shirt.

"Guess again, chump," smirked Gary. "But don't tell me your head's been wrecked by a little bump like that, mistaking a Machoke like me for your girlfriend!"

"Well if it's any consolation, Machoke aren't the smartest Pokémon," fired Ari, pushing Gary's hand off him. "And I really don't have time for you; I'm looking for Dawn, alright?"

"What a stroke of fortune, then!" said Gary, clapping his hands together. "I just happened to see Dawn running off down that way—" he jerked his thumb down the street, "about ten minutes ago."

"In that case, sorry but I really must be off," blurted Ari, starting down the road in the direction Gary had pointed, but Gary snatched at his arm and held it, his grip like steel.

"Slow down, speedy," he said, wrenching Ari back around to face him. The latter could see that Gary, now, wasn't in the arrogantly joking mood that he'd been in a moment ago: his eyes were firm, and he wasn't smirking in the slightest. "From what I could see, she was either really angry at something, really upset, or both."

"Yeah, because I—"

"Let me finish," Gary interrupted. "Now I'm sure that you want to go and clear the air with her over… whatever it is that's got her like this, but—"

"Oh come on," rasped Ari, rolling his eyes. "Look, I don't need your advice, Gary! Your track record in serious relationships, from what I've heard, is pretty poor."

"At least I've _been_ in a serious relationship, Ari," shot Gary coldly, his eyes flashing warningly. "I can help."

"Not this time."

"Well, what's the whole deal, eh? You can tell me over a burger or something, my treat," Gary offered kindly. Ari grunted in approval, so Gary let go of his arm and motioned towards a small restaurant nearby. "Come on, this one looks pretty decent." Ari let himself be ushered inside, taking note of the restaurant patrons who were turning to stare at himself and Gary, amazed, and probably feeling privileged, to be in the company of such elite Trainers.

_Great, now Gary wants to know_...

* * *

"Come on, daddy!" squealed a tiny pink-haired girl as she skipped along the sidewalk, heading for a girl's fashion shop around the corner.

"I'll meet you there, Amy, I just want to check out this digital camera!" her father called out, peering into the window of an electronics store. Amy ran the last few steps to the corner and swung around it, crashing into a tall figure and falling onto the ground. "Hey, watch it mister!" she huffed grumpily.

"Watch it _yourself_, runt, or you'll be sorry," hissed the stranger, fixing Amy with such a sour look that she took to her heels and ran crying back to her father down the street. "Stupid kid…" he muttered, briskly walking along before the man could give chase to him. He heard a shout behind him, so he quickened his pace, his feet thudding along the cement until he turned into Wilson Street and sought cover behind the large maple tree by the bakery where he and Ash's friends had waited for Staravia to find them yesterday. He remembered hearing of Ash's predicament from Ari at this very spot, but the thought of Ari inflamed his mind and drove him to anger. In an attempt to lower his temper he rummaged through his pockets, pulling out a flick-knife from the deepest pocket in his pants. He opened up the blade and drove it into the tree, pushing the knife in up to the handle and shouting out his frustration as he did.

"Alright, Leoric, you're calm, you're cool, you're not angry at Ari, you're angry at yourself," he growled, pulling the handle. The knife didn't budge, and so he planted his foot against the base of the tree and tugged it out, almost losing an ear as it flew past his shoulder and buried itself in the soft grass. "Stupid knife…" he murmured, picking it up and turning back to the tree. He considered slashing a message in the bark, but he decided against it and closed the knife up, stowing it back in his pocket. "Stupid everything!" he bellowed to the heavens, clenching his fists.

"Even stupid _me_, Leo?" pouted a girl's voice behind him. Leoric spun lightly on his feet and saw a familiar kind-faced orange-haired girl strutting toward him.

"Uh, no, not _you_, Misty," stuttered Leoric, his hands in his pockets and intentionally looking everywhere else but at her as she came closer.

"Got a Beedrill in your bonnet?" she asked, leaning against the maple tree and raising her eyebrows at him.

"Yeah, it's—ah, never mind, you wouldn't be interested," he said dismissively.

Misty's eyebrows shot up further, disappearing behind her fringe. "Well now, I most certainly _am_ interested! So spill. What's got you stabbing trees?"

"You saw—?" Leoric asked, and Misty winked at him in answer. "Right. Well. I just found out that my best friend, who I have told _everything_ to, has this enormous secret that he's kept from me since when we first started travelling together. It's been about four years since he and I met in Blackthorn City, and he never told me," he said bitterly.

"I thought you were from Hoenn," she commented.

"Well, I was thirteen when I met Ari. He was twelve."

"Okay, that explains it," Misty said warmly. "So—" she pushed off the tree and moved a little closer, "how come you're so worked up over it?"

"Who says I'm worked up?" Leoric asked. "Oh, the tree-stabbing, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well I don't know why I'm so angry, to be honest," he hissed, poking the tree with his shoe. "I guess it's that I was always honest with him – y'know, shared everything with him – and now I found out that he's got all this stuff that he's kept secret? I feel a bit betrayed, to tell the truth."

"Because you don't think he's been honest with you, like you have to him?" Misty put forward.

"Exactly!" shouted Leoric. "You should be a psychologist." Misty blushed and shuffled her feet, but said nothing. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this stuff anyways. I don't even _know_ you, for one."

"True," she said, a hint of disappointment in her voice. She smiled at him. "Which means there's no reason for us _not_ to get to know each other a little more," she whispered suggestively, her eyes twinkling at him.

Now Leoric raised his eyebrows at her. "Was that just what I thought that was?"

"Depends on what you thought it was," she teased.

"I'm thinking that that was a… _continuation_ of you working your little magic, like you obviously were when we were riding on Apache," he winked.

Misty shrugged. "What can I say? When a hot guy has me between himself and his Pokémon – _and_ has his arm around my waist – I _might_ get the wrong idea and something _might_ happen," she said softly, her voice lilting at the end.

"Me, a hot guy? I must say, Misty, I'm flattered. But y'know, there's a fine line between flattery and ass-kissing," he said cheekily, sticking his tongue out.

"Believe me, from where I'm standing, that line isn't the _only_ thing that's fine," replied Misty unashamedly, tilting her head to the side and moving her eyes up and down.

"And I think you just crossed over into ass-kissing."

"Whatever you say, _Leo_," she said, sensually curving her speech around the last word. "Well, good luck on your spat with Ari," she added, turning around and walking away, excessively swinging her hips in her stride, knowing that Leoric couldn't help but look.

He couldn't. Leoric quickly found his eyes following the dipping, rocking rhythm that her mid-section was making, and he crossed his arms when she bent down to fix the strap on her shoe. After close to a minute Misty finally stood up, and he was extremely surprised to find her walking back towards him. "Back for more?" he called arrogantly.

"Oh, you w—" started Misty, but her feet caught on something in the ground and she tripped, falling towards the ground. Leoric yelled and jumped forwards, his hands clutching under her arms to stop her from cracking her skull on the concrete.

"Come on, you could at least help!" puffed Leoric, trying to heave her back on her feet, but Misty seemed full of dead weight. "Just—_oof_—put your arms—_hah_—around me to—pull yourself up—!" He felt Misty put her arms around his waist, and finally he could pull her upright. "You _really_ should focus less on me and more on where you're going," he smirked.

"Sorry, guess a girl can't help herself," she whispered.

Leoric suddenly realised that her hands were in the back pockets of his pants, and that their faces were so close to each other – her nose was nearly touching his. He swiftly reached for her hands and pulled them away from him, taking a nervous but firm step back. Misty flashed a crestfallen look at him, and for a fleeting moment he was tempted to her, but he released his grip on her hands and smiled arrogantly at her. Misty saw the look in his eyes and smirked.

"You're a tease, Leoric Reiger. And you know it."

* * *

"Y'know, if you don't touch that, I'm gonna finish that off," remarked Gary. He looked across the table and over his half-eaten chicken burger. Ari hadn't touched his meal; he was just staring at it moodily, his head in his hands. "Losers, weepers!" he said, switching his burger for Ari's and taking a huge bite out of it. The latter just blew out a deep breath and looked away.

"Okay, never mind the burger. Just tell me what the heck's going on with you and Dawn."

"It's not—! It's not her," Ari mumbled, making Gary look at him in surprise; that was the first thing he had said since they walked into the restaurant. "It's me."

"Well if it's not her, it must've been you. I kinda figured that one," he smirked. "So then, what's the problem with you, eh?"

"Stuff that happened a long time ago…"

Gary regarded Ari with a cold set of eyes as the younger Trainer purposely looked everywhere but at him, but the ghost of a smirk played at the corners of his mouth. Unfortunately for him, Ari happened to glance at him at that moment, and his face twisted with anger.

"You think this is funny?!" he shouted, making several people near him turn in confusion.

"This '_stuff that happened a long time ago_' wouldn't be that old story of you and Paul, would it?" ventured Gary.

"No, I told her about that nearly a week ago, the first day we met," he explained. "Sort of became necessary after Dawn nearly slapped him off the bridge when we ran into him."

"What'd she slap him for?"

"Because he spat on the ground in front of me."

"And that was _before_ you two were going out, right?"

"We'd only met each other about an hour ago, in fact. But they know each other from before, apparently," he shrugged. "Give me that back," he hissed, grabbing his hamburger from Gary's grasp and tearing a chunk out of the unbitten side.

Gary laughed. "Well, good to see you're finally hungry. I was worrying I'd really have to eat the whole thing!" he joked, and Ari chuckled, his mouth full of burger. "So, if _that's_ not it, what is?" he asked. Ari decided not to answer, continuing to chew his food, so Gary chose to step things up.

"Does it have anything to do with the two bouquets I saw you and a certain arch-rival of yours hurl into the ocean?"

Ari stared at him and started choking on his food. After much coughing and spluttering he finally managed to force the food down his throat, and once he'd done that he looked incredulously at Gary, who let the smirk on his face show. "How do you—?"

"I'll put it this way; you two aren't the only ones who like taking walks."

"Fine, yes it does have to do with that," snarled Ari. "But that's all you're gonna find out about that."

"I can always ask Paul," Gary sneered.

"And he'll be more likely to shoot you than tell you," said Ari coldly, getting to his feet.

"Geez, Ari, who died?" Gary joked.

Ari's mouth twitched in anger as he pulled out a few notes and coins and slammed them down on the table where they were seated. "That should cover me," he seethed, before he strode out of the restaurant and into the open air. Gary looked at the spot where Ari had disappeared before glancing down at the money he'd left. He counted them in his mind and laughed.

* * *

**Quiz:**

***Which of the Weekly Siblings appears in Blackthorn City, and what day does he/she appear?**


	39. Heating Up

**CHAPTER 39 – HEATING UP**

Ash sighed and checked the clock on the wall, waiting in the hallway inside Stadium 7. The Trainers' Tunnel was right next to him, a gaping black mouth waiting to swallow him up, but he paced in front of it, becoming increasingly frustrated with each passing moment.

"Where the heck _is_ she?!" he muttered, circling on the spot like a demented Fearow. He felt a soft hand on his shoulder, so he stopped his pacing and turned around.

"I'm sure Ari's talking to her," Anabel said soothingly. "They probably have a bit to talk about, and maybe they just need some alone time, yeah?"

"Yeah, maybe," he muttered.

"Don't worry about it!" encouraged Brock with a supportive smile. "You should just worry about winning this match!"

"Right," Ash nodded before he turned back to Anabel. "Okay, well I'd best be going."

"Alright then," she said, putting her arms around him. Ash kissed her and returned her embrace, his arm curling up to her shoulder, before Pikachu jumped up and onto his own shoulder. "Good luck, Ash," she murmured, pulling away.

"I've never lost when I've had your _good luck_ on my side," he joked, pulling a familiar object from his jacket pocket. "Or on my collar," he added, smirking, as Pikachu helped him pin the Kasib charm to his shirt, using the back of his Ability Symbol to hold it in place. He figured that it would only do the charm justice to have it held in place by the badge that was the reason for his and Anabel's meeting in the first place.

"Go out there and win," she said, blushing.

Ash nodded and turned to Brock, who gave him a thumbs-up, which Ash returned before he and Pikachu made their way down the tunnel to the stadium. _Time for round three,_ he thought, raising a hand to scratch Pikachu's fur. By the time he had reached the end of the tunnel, the stadium entrance had already opened up, and he didn't slow down as he walked out onto the field, which, he saw, was a grassy knoll in contrast to the earthy, sandy fields he'd battled on in the first two rounds. _Excellent, this'll suit my Pokémon _much_ better than a Rock- or Ground-type arena._ Ash smiled and waved at the crowd, which cheered and clapped back at him, and he saw several banners amongst them, some with encouraging play-on-words involving his name, others with a picture of himself and Pikachu flanking various slogans, such as '_Ash, leave them in the dust!'_ or '_You won't win a clash with ASH!_'and '_Smash 'em Ash!_'.

He tore his eyes away from the bright colours and saw that his opponent was already present on the field. The Trainer was a short but sturdy man in, Ash guessed, his fifties, from the soot-grey colour of his hair, and he was wearing an odd assortment of clothes, all of which seemed to make him look much larger – and more intimidating – than he really was. But Ash knew not to underestimate this challenger; he had won through the Initiation for a reason, and that reason was about to be put to the test against Ash's own Pokémon.

"Hi. I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town in the Kanto region," Ash said formally, extending his hand to the elderly man.

The old man smiled, showing a row of discoloured teeth, as he took Ash's hand in both of his own withered hands. "Josef McKellar." He pronounced it _Yosef._ "I must admit I've never heard of the Kanto region, but I suppose that it is understandable. This tournament is my first outside my native country," he said. His voice was light and soft, but his accent was deep and swung his words, like that of an opera singer.

"Where's that?" Ash asked conversationally.

"I hail from the Kaldari region in southern Africa, from a tiny shire called Durkema Town," he answered, his sunken eyes peering out from under his thick eyebrows. "I still have trouble finding it on most maps nowadays; geography was never my strong suit. But Pokémon _is_, however."

"Same with me," smiled Ash. "May the better Trainer win, Josef."

"It is not simply a matter of the Trainer, Mr. Ketchum," Josef corrected, smiling wisely. Ash nodded knowingly, and the two competitors turned and headed for their boxes at the edge of the grassy field; Ash striding confidently, Josef hobbling away at his own pace. Ash heard the pre-match introductions being conducted over the megaphones, but he didn't pay enough attention to catch the words.

"Are both Trainers ready?" asked the ginger-haired referee standing at the centre line of the field.

Both Ash and Josef looked at each other and replied with a loud call of "Absolutely!" The referee thrust her flags into the air and declared the start of the match, and the starting siren blared over the stadium.

"Zangoose, now is the time!" bellowed Josef, hurling a PokéBall onto the grass. A large ferret-like Pokémon erupted from the ball, swinging a pair of ferocious-looking blood-red claws in front of itself. It had what appeared to be a sharp blue scar running across its left eye, but as Ash looked he realised that it was simply the colour of a patch of fur; another jagged flash of blue was splayed across its belly.

"A Zangoose, huh?" Ash murmured, digging into his pocket. "Let's take a look at you…" He pulled out his Pokédex and opened it to the Pokémon.

_Zangoose, the Cat Ferret Pokémon,_ buzzed the Pokédex. _This species of Pokémon will instantly spring into an uncontrollable rage in the presence of a Seviper, which has been the arch-rival to Zangoose for uncounted generations. Normally, Zangoose stand on all fours, but when angered rise onto their hind feet to extend their sharp claws, which are their greatest weapons._ A picture of the Pokémon flashed onto the miniscule screen, but Ash saw that the image showed a Zangoose with _red_ splashes of fur, rather than the blue patches on Josef's Zangoose.

"So, it's a rare kind of Zangoose," he muttered, thinking of his own Noctowl, which was similar to this Zangoose in that it was differently coloured to the rest of its kind. "Right, so we'll have to watch out for those claws, won't we Pikachu?" he said to Pikachu, who nodded forcefully. "Let's show them what we're made of!" he said confidently, and Pikachu agreed with him, leaping forward and onto the ground, curling its fists and standing firm to show that it was not intimidated by the opposing Zangoose.

"Ash Ketchum's Pikachu vs. Josef McKellar's Zangoose! Begin!" shouted the referee, as the commentators in the upper stands struck the starting bell.

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack!" Ash yelled. Pikachu obeyed instantly, running over the short grass at high speed, dodging and weaving left and right to avoid any oncoming attacks, and also to confuse Zangoose as to where it was going to strike from. But Zangoose stood unnervingly still, its eyes darting from side to side as it seamlessly followed Pikachu's advances.

"When you're ready, my friend," said Josef calmly. Zangoose's ears twitched, and it closed its eyes, tensing its body. Ash and the crowd were puzzled as to why Zangoose had shut its eyes to its attacker, but Josef knew that his Pokémon's ears were keenly tracking his opponent's every move. "Now, False Swipe!" he barked, and Zangoose's eyes flew open at once. Its crimson claws flashed with harsh white light, and at the last second before Pikachu made contact with it, Zangoose arced its right claw upwards, tearing viciously at Pikachu. The claw hooked around Pikachu's yellow neck, and Zangoose swung its adversary around in a circle, spinning around on its feet, before it let go of its prey and hammer-threw Pikachu, squeaking with fear, across the field, and sending it crashing onto the soft ground on the other side of the stadium.

"Pikachu, are you okay?!" Ash asked anxiously, but Pikachu sprung up instantly, its small face stubbornly twisted in anger as it bounded forwards. "Excellent!" he cheered.

"That's a worry," Brock muttered, having just seen Zangoose toss Pikachu across the ground. Anabel, who was sitting in the seat next to him, looked over at him.

"What is, Brock?" she inquired.

"That Josef had his Zangoose use _False Swipe_, of all moves," he answered, frowning deeply. "False Swipe is a move that can never knock your opponent out, so it makes me think that Josef is having Zangoose toy with Pikachu."

"But it threw Pikachu like he was a rag doll!" she argued.

"False Swipe isn't a very strong attack, compared with what Zangoose are capable of," Brock pointed out. "Those claws can do some wickedly powerful attacks, like Slash or Crush Claw, but Josef opened with a False Swipe?" he asked rhetorically.

Anabel frowned, annoyed at his logic, but she knew he was right. "Well, he's going to end up regretting going easy on Ash," she rallied.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash shouted.

"_Pii…kachuuu!_" growled Pikachu, shooting a bolt of electricity straight at Zangoose, sizzling through the air as it went. But Zangoose adroitly jumped to the side and dodged the attack, which incinerated a small circle of black in the green grass. Zangoose flashed its gaze briefly at the charred patch of ground, and it clicked its jaws hatefully. It cracked the bones in its neck threateningly and fixed its steely eyes on its foe, who returned the look just as fiercely.

"Zangoose, Double Team!" cried Josef. Ash gritted his teeth and Pikachu yelped, as they knew what was about to happen next. Zangoose roared, and its voice began to magnify and build upon itself, then all of a sudden Zangoose seemed to be shifting and warping its shape.

"Pikachu, get away from Zangoose!" Ash shouted. Pikachu didn't need to be told twice. It started to run back towards its Trainer, but before it could get halfway its path was blocked by three blue-and-white Zangoose, standing at attention. Ash cursed silently. Pikachu looked around saw that it was encircled by no less than thirty-two Zangoose standing shoulder-to-shoulder, each one as identical as the two on either side.

"How about a game of Duck-Duck-Zangoose?" Josef taunted, his eyes glinting mischievously.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt on the Zangoose closest to you!" Ash yelled. Pikachu loosed a bolt of lightning at the nearest of them. The attack spat and sizzled, but passed straight through Zangoose, and the fake copy shimmered and disappeared.

"Duck," said Josef mockingly, as a Zangoose re-appeared in the empty space where the fake had been destroyed.

"Use another Thunderbolt on the one that just came back!" cried Ash, and Pikachu shot another blast of lightning at the Zangoose, which flickered and dissolved just like the first.

"Duck," repeated Josef. He snickered as Ash ordered Pikachu to launch a third Thunderbolt, this time at a Zangoose on the other side of the circle. The attack passed out the other side of the circle, obliterating the copy. "Duck!" he called. But now was the time to _really_ have some fun. "Zangoose!" he shouted.

The circle of Zangoose started to run around in a perfect circle, their movements completely synchronised, and Pikachu began to grow dizzy as it tried to keep up with their progress. All of a sudden, a blood-red claw struck Pikachu from behind, knocking it face-first onto the ground. By the time Pikachu raised itself off the ground, all it could see was the circle of running Zangoose, continuing on as though nothing had happened. The circle slowed, and after a moment all thirty-two Zangoose were standing stock-still like they had been before the attack.

All Ash had seen was a blue-and-white shape streak out from the circle, strike Pikachu in the back, and speed back into the blurred ring of red, white and blue. _Oh no, it's using those copies to camouflage itself!_ Ash suddenly realised Josef's strategy; he was having the shadow Zangoose mask the real Zangoose, and while the real Zangoose attacked, they kept their pace in the circle. After Pikachu had been hit, it simply rejoined the circle, blending in completely, and there was no way to tell which one had performed the attack once they had slowed back to a halt.

"Pikachu, this time, just use a ThunderShock on those copies!" he shouted. He wanted Pikachu to conserve its energy for the later stages of the battle, and if it was going to continue using Thunderbolts, it would quickly wear itself down. Pikachu shot three small bolts of lightning at random spots on the ring, disintegrating three more fake Zangoose, and Ash clenched his fist in anger. _This isn't working! I need to come up with a better strategy_ he thought desperately, his heart sinking as he saw the circle of Pokémon racing around Pikachu again.

"Pikachu, if Zangoose can use Double Team, you can too!" Ash roared. Pikachu nodded, and as Ash watched, it split itself into three identical clones, which started to zip around inside the ring of Zangoose. "Try and hit Pikachu now, you stinking Zangoose!" he yelled at his opponent.

Josef smirked at the remark. "Well, you heard him. Use Crush Claw!" he bellowed, his voice surprisingly loud for his frame. Three Zangoose shot out from the circle, each one swinging their claws at one of the Pikachu in the middle. Two of the Zangoose met with two of the Pikachu, and the pairs simply meshed into each other, disappearing into the air. The third Zangoose met a similar fate, but the Pikachu it was assaulting remained on the field, unharmed. "Go!" Josef ordered, and the ring of Zangoose suddenly melted into the atmosphere, leaving the original Pokémon alone on the field. This Zangoose scurried over the grass at frightening speed. In little more than a second it had run fifty feet towards Pikachu.

"Pikachu, Agility!" Ash shouted. Pikachu nodded and cleaved a path through the high grass on its left, moving far quicker than Zangoose, who was giving chase close behind. "Now stop and use Volt Tackle!" Pikachu stopped in mid-dash and curled itself into a ball, wrapping itself in a current of yellow energy. Zangoose skidded around the bend and slashed at Pikachu with a glowing, vicious right claw. Pikachu was sent hurtling into the tall grass, obscuring it from view, whilst the electricity from Pikachu's attack coursed up Zangoose's arm, paralysing it from claw to shoulder. Zangoose screamed in pain and anger, and with its still-functioning claw it tore the leafy grass to shreds, its electrocuted arm hanging limply at its side.

"Pikachu, now! Quick Attack!" cried Ash, as Zangoose continued to rip through the sheaths of grass where his Pokémon was hiding. A rustle in the grass got Zangoose's attention, but before it could send its claw through to attack, a yellow blur struck it in the face, sending it reeling backwards and falling onto the grass. "Now, use Iron Tail!" he roared, and Pikachu jumped into the air, its jagged tail glowing white.

"Zangoose, block it with a Night Slash!" shouted Josef. As Pikachu swung its tail down towards Zangoose, the latter thrust its left arm up to deflect the onslaught, its claw flashing from red to black and back again. The two attacks met with a shockwave that flew across the grass all around them, cutting it down to the roots. Neither Pokémon wanted to give in, so as Pikachu jumped backwards, Zangoose rolled to the side, jumping to its feet and hissing at its enemy.

Ash and Josef could both see that the two combatants were nearing the end of their ropes; there were cuts and bruises all over Pikachu's body, Zangoose's arm had been rendered useless, and both Pokémon were panting, their bodies heaving as they tried to stay upright. Zangoose steadied itself, adjusting its weight to compensate for its disability as Pikachu centred itself, and, sensing that the next move was crucial, Josef sent his Pokémon forward for what he knew might be the last time in the battle, and Ash did the likewise with Pikachu at the same time.

"Quick Attack!" they both bellowed.

Zangoose roared and leapt into the sky, its left claw extended to full length, as Pikachu growled and hurled itself forwards, a sleek yellow shape speeding through the air. As the two Pokémon clashed in mid-air, the crowd roared with anticipation, and the two Trainers watched on anxiously as Zangoose and Pikachu fell to the ground, Zangoose digging its claw into the ground, Pikachu leaning heavily on its elbow. "Come on, buddy, you can do it!" encouraged Ash.

"Zangoose, keep at it!" said Josef. Both Pokémon struggled to their feet, their bodies shaking as they eyed each other off, neither willing to give in. But at the same moment their strength left them, and they fell back onto the soft grass, unmoving and unconscious. The crowd gasped in amazement, surprised at the rather anticlimactic conclusion to the battle.

"Zangoose and Pikachu are both unable to battle!" declared the referee, waving both flags into the air. As Josef returned Zangoose to its PokéBall, whispering proudly to it, Ash walked out onto the field and picked up Pikachu in his arms.

"Well done, Pikachu, you did great," he murmured, stroking his Pokémon's head. He walked over to the stadium's boundary wall, where Brock had made his way down through the rows, and he handed Pikachu over the steel wall to his friend. "Take care of him, okay, Brock?" he said.

"Will do," Brock said caringly. "Now get back on that field and win." Ash nodded, took one last look at Pikachu, and walked back to his Trainer's box. Brock strode back up the centre aisle and took his seat next to Anabel, passing the unconscious Pikachu over to her. "I think he might feel more comfortable with you, Anabel," he said, as Anabel laid Ash's Pokémon down on her lap. She smiled at Brock and looked down at Pikachu, her eyes unfocused and half-closed as she slowly ran a finger down his side. Pikachu's mouth twitched into an unmistakeable smile, and he moved his foot and gave a weak noise, which made Anabel smile even wider as she looked back at Ash, who was now back at the edge of the field.

"I must admit, Mr. Ketchum, I underestimated your abilities," conceded Josef, pulling his second PokéBall from his waist. "But do not think for a moment that I will make that mistake a second time."

"I don't think that will be a problem, considering my next Pokémon," Ash smirked, pressing a button on his own PokéBall. "Tauros, I choose you!" he shouted, tossing the ball onto the ground. There was a flash of white light, and Ash's Tauros – an enormous and intimidating bull-like Pokémon with three tails and a proud set of horns – burst forward, mooing and tossing its head as it stamped a cloven hoof on the short grass with a sound like a whip-crack.

"_Ahhhooooooo!_"

"A Tauros, eh? I certainly won't be taking _this_ opponent lightly," nodded Josef, throwing his PokéBall out onto the grass. "Let us fight, Flareon!" he cried. A red and yellow cat-like Pokémon jumped out of the ball and touched down lightly on the ground, mewing softly. Its enormous yellow tail wavered as though it was made of fire, and the small puff of fur on top of its head looked like a crown of flames, nestled between its ears. To Ash, it looked like it could spontaneously burst into flames at any second.

"Tauros, start off with a Horn Attack!" Ash ordered. Tauros tossed its horns in the air and pawed at the ground, setting its sights firmly on Josef's Flareon. It gave an almighty roar and charged forwards, thrusting its horns in front of the rest of its body as it continued its stampede.

"Flareon, Secret Power!" cried Josef, and Flareon jumped to its feet, giving an ominous bark. Suddenly, a pair of enormous green vines sprang out of the ground on either side of the Flame Pokémon and shot at Tauros, wrapping themselves around its massive horns. Tauros squealed in rage and swung its head around as it charged on relentlessly, but the tendrils held fast. The snaking vines pulled to the left, sending Tauros veering off course, before they dragged the hapless Pokémon into the air and threw it down onto the ground with pulverising force. The crowd craned their necks forwards expectantly as they watched Tauros struggle to its feet, striking another hoof on the grass.

"You alright, Tauros?" Ash asked. Tauros roared in response, and Ash smiled at his Pokémon proudly.

"Use a Fire Blast, Flareon!" shouted Josef, throwing his arm in front of himself. Flareon nodded, and Ash saw the large yellow collar around its neck swelled and expanded with a sound like sizzling leaves. Indeed, the leaves and grass that formed a circle around Flareon were withering and turning black, dying under the extreme temperatures that were building up inside the Pokémon's body. Flareon roared, its body shimmering in a veil of heat vapour, and a crucifix of searing orange flame exploded from its open mouth. The fiery cross swept over the ground, incinerating the grass all around it, blazing a charred path towards Tauros.

"Tauros, use Fissure and jump down into the crack!" yelled Ash desperately. Tauros reared and thundered its front hooves into the grass, sending a small-scale earthquake through the stadium. From under Tauros' feet, the earth split open, revealing a narrow chasm that stretched down fifteen feet to the darkness. Tauros neighed in fear of the hole, but as it glanced up it saw Flareon's attack bearing mercilessly down on it, so without another hesitation it jumped into the crack. As the Fire Blast rushed over the diving Pokémon's head, Tauros could feel the heat of the attack singeing the hair on its back, and it cried out in pain as it fell into the abyss.

All the crowd could hear was Tauros' strangled cry, and then… silence. Flareon's Fire Blast flickered and died as it finished its path over the gap in the earth, and as the stands erupted with panicked cries and frenzied whisperings, Josef looked on unfalteringly, his eyes staring down at the jagged line of black that ran down the length of the circle of green, like a scar across a beautiful face. "Stay where you are, Flareon," he warned, as out of the corner of his eye he could see his Pokémon shifting restlessly on the grass. "Stay focused."

Ash waited with baited breath, and he too was staring at the gaping crack that wound across the field. It was sheer desperation and split-second thinking that had given him the idea of forcing Tauros down into that chasm, but now he was starting to doubt whether it was such a good idea. _Of course it was a good idea! It stopped Tauros being cooked alive by that Fire Blast!_ he thought, his eyes darting from place to place. "Tauros, give me a sign that you're still there!" he shouted at the hole. He – along with Josef, Flareon and the crowd – strained their ears for the faintest sound to tell him that his Pokémon was still hanging in the battle.

A rough-hewn boulder, the size of Ash's torso, flew out of the hole and thudded into the ground, missing Flareon by centimetres. Ash roared with delight, Josef's eyes widened in shock, and the crowd stood and cheered as Tauros leapt gracefully from the rift in the ground, bellowing as it crashed back to earth and stamped its feet. The Wild Bull Pokémon turned its horned head and growled at Flareon, who had only just recovered from the shock of nearly being crushed by Tauros' missile.

"Way to go, Tauros!" Ash shouted, punching the air. "Ready to keep going?" Tauros tossed its head and whipped itself with its three tails, a sign that Ash took as a definite 'yes'. He smirked and ordered his Pokémon forwards, "Zen Headbutt!" Tauros roared again and reared on its hind legs, kicking at the air with its hooves. The three small ridges on its forehead glowed pearly blue, and the light spread to cover its entire head, from its nose to the tips of its horns. Tauros threw itself forwards, swinging its head to and fro as it headed straight for Flareon.

Josef wasn't unnerved in the slightest. "Flareon, Overheat!" he smiled, as Tauros drew closer to his Pokémon. Flareon opened its jaws wide and fired a spiral of white-hot fire at Tauros, enveloping it in a cocoon of flames. Ash cried out in alarm, as the smell of burning hair filled the air, and Flareon continued the assault on Tauros, who started thrashing about wildly in an attempt to douse the blaze. "That is enough," he said coldly, and Flareon instantly stopped the barrage. Tauros screamed in pain and rolled onto the ground, but the fires consuming it were already dying down to embers.

"Tauros!" Ash yelled, and Tauros staggered weakly to its feet. Its body was scorched and seared, it had sustained a terrible burn on its left hind leg, and one of its eyes was closed. But it stood defiantly and struck at the grass with a hoof, roaring at its opponent. A proud tear sprang to Ash's eye, and he quickly wiped it down, beaming at his Pokémon's display. _Even after all the damage it took from that Overheat, Tauros is still willing to fight on despite the odds. _"Okay, Tauros, payback time for Flareon! Rock Tomb!"

Tauros stamped the ground with its feet, creating several cracks in the surface of the soft ground. One blow from Tauros' powerful hoof sent a large rock into the air in front of its head, and it caught the rock in the cradle of its horns, hurling it forwards and crashing into the ground behind Flareon. Flareon squealed in fright, but stayed firm as Tauros sent four more of the boulders flying towards it. None of them struck Flareon, but formed a tightly-bound ring around the Pokémon, trapping it. Tauros stomped at the ground for the final time, and a stone the size of itself bounced into the air. Tauros charged at the rock, sending it hurtling at Flareon. The rock landed with a definitive _thud_ as it encased Flareon in its prison of stone.

"Good job, Tauros!" Ash cheered.

Josef called out to his Pokémon, but the tomb was as still as the rocks that made it. "Flareon! Flareon! _Flareon, can you hear me?!_" he shouted, his voice ailing. His eyes twinkled with joy when he saw a crack of light explode from the side of the stone, blasting the roof off the dome. "Excellent work, Flareon!" he cheered, and his Pokémon burst majestically from the depths of the Rock Tomb and landed in front of its Trainer. "Finish this feud with one more Overheat!"

Just as it had before, a large swirl of flames burst from Flareon's opened mouth and sped at Tauros. The attack met the Pokémon head on, searing its hide for the second time in the match, and Tauros roared in agony and beat down the flames, furiously smacking its tails against its burnt skin. But the effort of deferring Flareon's Fire-type attacks had finally taken its toll on Ash's Pokémon, who mooed faintly before falling in a heap to the cushioning grass, where it moved no more.

"Tauros is unable to battle!" shouted the official, making the crowd burst with applause, not only for Flareon's victory but also for the valour that Tauros had displayed in its loss. Ash gave a sad smile, disappointed at the defeat, but he was proud of his Pokémon nonetheless, and as he returned Tauros to its PokéBall, he said, "Well done, buddy. I know you haven't let me down."

"Ash might be in trouble here," Brock observed, as Ash stowed Tauros' PokéBall back onto his belt. "He's only got one Pokémon left, and Josef still has two of his. _Plus_, his Flareon doesn't look very worn out, to me anyways."

"Well thanks for stating the completely obvious," muttered Anabel sarcastically, frustrated at his pessimism. "But just you watch; Ash is gonna pull through and win this with style!" she added enthusiastically, making Brock grunt half-heartedly in agreement.

_For Ash's sake, I hope you're right, Anabel,_ he said to himself, watching Ash take out his final PokéBall from his waist. _Now, Ash… let's see what you're going to do to prove that Anabel's support is justified._

"Well, this is it," Ash murmured, looking down at the red-and-white ball in his hand. "We mess up now, and come this afternoon we might be in for some serious trouble. So since we're here, we might as well pull out the win!" he said loudly. He threw the PokéBall out onto the field with a cry, "Come on out!"

Ash's PokéBall flew open in a flash of bright light, and out of the open space, a smoky haze filled the air, blocking Ash's choice of Pokémon from the eyes of everyone. The fans in the back row had no clearer an image than Josef did, standing a stone's throw away. As the PokéBall rushed back to Ash, the smoke slowly cleared, eddied on by the blowing breeze, and all of a sudden his Pokémon could be properly seen. It was a huge red tortoise of a Pokémon; its enormous coal-grey shell was encrusted with red coals that glittered like rubies, its crimson feet and neck poked out at all angles from under the shell, and its head and nostrils were ringed with grey circles. The Pokémon gusted a plume of smoke from the hole in the top of its shell, with a noise like a steam train, and Ash smiled at his Pokémon.

"You ready to fight, Torkoal?" he asked encouragingly.

"_Toooor!_" chimed Torkoal, blowing out more smoke from its shell and its nose with another whistling sound. The crowd began to chant, eager for this all-Fire-type showdown to get itself underway, and both Ash and Josef looked at each other, their expressions saying more than words ever would; they were eager for the contest too.

"_Torkoal!" "Flareon!" "Ash!" "Josef!" "Fight! Fight! Fight!" _These were the words that swelled and rose out from the stands, full of excitement, to egg the competitors on. Their words had their desired effect, and both Trainers sprang to action at once.

"Flareon, Secret Power!" commanded Josef. Flareon mewed deeply, and a familiar pair of thick, green vines snaked out of the ground at the sides of Tauros' Fissure. They twisted in the air and sped at Torkoal, who was standing firm, its veiled red eyes unblinking.

"Block with Iron Defense, Torkoal!" Ash shouted. Torkoal whistled for the third time and dug its feet into the mossy ground. A gleam of sunlight bore down on the Pokémon, which reflected the light across its vast body. The vines struck at Torkoal, but its steel-hard body repelled the attack as though they were nothing more than toothpicks on its hide. Josef gritted his teeth in anger as Flareon had the tendrils continually whip into Torkoal, but they had no effect on the Pokémon whatsoever, making Ash grin with excitement. "Now, get rid of those vines with Lava Plume!" Torkoal blew a ring of steam and smoke from its shell, followed a split-second later by an arrow of molten rock that spewed over its body and onto the ground. The air shimmered with sulphuric fumes as the lava spread over the grass, hissing and spitting. Some of the lava splashed up and onto the vines, and they burnt through on contact. The severed tips coiled and fell onto the grass, where they were quickly devoured by the orange tide. "Excellent! Follow up with a Smog attack!" Ash yelled, pointing at Flareon.

"_Kohhhl!_" Torkoal hissed, stepping forwards through the searing lava. To it, the molten rock might as well have been a layer of jelly; it would have done more to slow it down anyways. A poisonous green stream of smoke blew out of Torkoal's nose, seeping over the burning liquid. It mixed with the sulphur in the air, which seemed to instantly bond with it, for suddenly it was speeding to Flareon, and for the second time in the battle Flareon was imprisoned, but this time it was inside a sickly cloud of toxic gases.

"Flareon, blow those clouds away!" roared Josef.

"Torkoal, back into your shell!" Ash warned, bracing for the attack. Torkoal nodded, blowing another plume of smoke from its nostrils as it retracted its limbs and neck into its shell, hiding itself completely from the outside world.

"Oh no," said Brock, his brow furrowed and his expression afraid. Seeing Anabel's worried look, he pointed at the cloud that had enveloped Flareon. "That cloud is full of toxic gases, right? There's carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, some really nasty stuff mixed in with it like silicon dioxide," he explained, counting them off on his fingers, "and so on. But there's also the sulphur from the lava flow. If Josef has his Flareon try and blow it away with fire—" he added, dramatically cutting off before the end of his sentence. He saw the dark green cloud starting to change its colour to a light shade of red, and he shrunk down in his seat and covered his ears, whispering to her, "—well, the merchants at the harbour are going to hear about it."

_KA-BOOM! _An ear-splitting explosion rocked the foundations of the stadium, flooding the grounds with light and a shockwave of heat that tore at the faces of the people in the stands, making them cower and turn away. The noise echoed above the roof of the battleground and sent flocks of Starly into frightened flight, and the field below was covered in black smoke that rippled and swirled. As the smoke finally cleared, all that could be seen were two large bumps in a field covered in soot, dust and dead grass. Every last shred of green had been destroyed in the blast.

"Okay, it's safe to come back, Torkoal!" coughed Ash, spitting soil from his mouth and wiping at his eyes. The bump closest to him rose off the ground, and Torkoal shook itself, shedding its coat of grass and ash. It healthily blew a gust of white smoke from its nose and shell and stamped its feet, looking over at the stationary bump that everyone now knew to be Flareon, knocked out by the force of its own attack.

"Flareon is unable to battle!" shouted the referee, evoking a huge cheer from the audience. Ash pummelled the air with his fist, while Torkoal had burst into a round of joyful tears, bounding back to its Trainer and rearing up on its back legs, pressing its front pair against Ash's shoulders.

"Good job, Torkoal!" he cheered, putting his hands on his Pokémon's paws. "But we still have one more Pokémon to take care of, so don't let the win get to your head, y'hear?" he added, tapping Torkoal on the nose with a finger. Torkoal nodded and snorted a blast of smoke at Ash in reply, making him cough and splutter. By the time Ash opened his eyes and stopped coughing, the Coal Pokémon was already back in the centre of the field, stomping and whistling its enjoyment, much to the applause and entertainment of the crowd, and to the dismay of its opposing Trainer.

"Your Pokémon certainly knows how to celebrate," said Josef, a hint of disgust in his voice as he recalled his own Pokémon, unconscious, to its PokéBall. A sneer formed on his withered lips as he brought out his final PokéBall, which was hanging on a necklace around his neck. "But in the end, the bell will toll for thee," he added mysteriously, flinging the ball into the air. "Come, Bronzong!" he screeched, as the ball snapped open in a burst of light.

An enormous blue Pokémon rose up from the depths of the light, hovering a few feet above the ground. Ash smiled inwardly as he realised the humour behind Josef's remark. _Wow, that Bronzong of his really _does_ look like a bell… maybe like the ones they have at those huge temples, or something similar to it, in any case. Well, except for those markings all over its torso… Like those little red circles that look like eyes hanging over its… well, would you call that a face? Not that it matters, _he added, shaking his head at his wayward chain of thought. "Come on, Ash, focus on the battle!" he muttered to himself, training his Pokédex on the new arrival.

_Bronzong, the Bronze Bell Pokémon, the evolutionary form of Bronzor,_ chimed the Pokédex, a picture of the Pokémon flashing up onto the screen. _Capable of summoning rain clouds, people in ancient times revered these Pokémon as the bringers of plentiful harvests. One particular Bronzong created a news sensation when it was unearthed at a construction site after a two-thousand-year-old sleep. Speculation has arisen as to a common ancestor – existing eons ago – that this species may have shared with the Baltoy and Claydol species._

_Oh yeah, I remember that,_ Ash thought, casting his mind back. _They said that some fancy corporation was digging up an old ruin to turn into a department store, and they found this Pokémon perfectly preserved in the rock. They snapped the rock open, and all of a sudden it flew out as though nothing had happened! _he recounted, thinking that that information may somehow come in handy for the impending battle. "Well, Torkoal," he said finally, snapping his Pokédex shut, "kick things off with another Smog!"

"By all means," muttered Josef, smirking evilly as Torkoal whistled and spewed another cloud of poisonous fog at its opponent. The gas rushed over to Bronzong, wrapping itself around the Pokémon, but Bronzong didn't seem fazed in the slightest; it simply floated there and let the Smog run over its grooved body. After a few seconds the fumes disappeared, and Ash gaped as he saw that Bronzong had been completely unaffected by the attack.

_That Smog didn't do anything! _he thought, his mind racing. …_That means that Bronzong has to be immune to Poison-type attacks. But it can't be a Poison-type… it doesn't look like the sort of Pokémon to be anything like what my Muk is… it has to be a Steel-type! Of course, it's a _Bronze _Bell Pokémon; bronze is a kind of metal! Why didn't I think of that before?!_ He slapped himself in the forehead angrily for not reaching this conclusion earlier and wasting an attack.

"Bronzong, since our opponent seems to be a bit… _hot under the collar_," Josef suggested slyly to his Pokémon, his voice calm and soft, "how about we show some hospitality and cool them down? Use Rain Dance!" he bellowed.

"Not Rain Dance again!" Ash shouted imploringly, but it was far too late to do anything about it. A high, clear note emanated from the depths of Bronzong's bell, reaching to the farthest corners of the stadium and sending a cold shiver down the spines of everyone who heard it, the hairs on their necks straining on end. _Here we go again…_ Ash thought dismally, but he suddenly realised that Torkoal was at a disadvantage to the rain that would soon be engulfing them all. "Torkoal, use Withdraw again!" he yelled, and Torkoal promptly obeyed its Trainer, receding back into the confines of its glittering shell, just as the first thunderclouds crackled and rumbled overhead, and the deluge began. Ash could still see, through the misty rain and his impaired vision, his Pokémon's shell standing resolutely amongst the downpour, and he was relieved and overjoyed to see that Torkoal was – ingeniously – pumping smoke from the peak of its shell to stop the water from invading its tiny sanctuary.

Josef quickly gained on the uptake, sending his Bronzong forwards. "Move in and attack with Extrasensory!" he shouted, his voice fighting against the thunder and incessant rain. Bronzong cut through the air effortlessly, impervious to the weather, and it stopped just feet in front of Torkoal. The sky seemed to darken even further from under the cloud cover as, from what Ash could tell, Bronzong seemed to be bending what little light there was in the sky around itself, focusing it into a small ball in front of the two curved strips of metal bending from the top of its bell-chamber.

"Torkoal, Smog and spin!" Ash said, hastily going defensive. He heard a hissing grunt from inside his Pokémon's shell, and a moment later he saw the dark mass that was Torkoal being to rotate like a top. From the hole at its peak, a dark green spiral of smoke erupted, which quickly blanketed the field in an thick layer of toxins that were impossible to see through. Bronzong fired its Extrasensory attack into the cloud, aiming precisely where it had seen Torkoal's shell right before it had camouflaged itself. The force of the attack blasted a hole in the gas, and as it blew away the crowd in the upper stands saw that it had left a sizeable crater in the surface of the scorched ground.

But it hadn't hit Torkoal, and the spectators gave shouts of '_Ooh!_' and '_Ah!_' with fascination and relief as the rippling cloud closed in over the bare speck of ground, covering the stadium again. Ash understood what the moans and gasps meant, and an infectious smile crossed his face. "Good work, Torkoal! Now just stay hidden!" he shouted, encouraging his Pokémon on as the crowd roared with pleasure. Josef, on the other hand, roared with frustration at Ash's tactics, and he hurled insults at his opponent, branding him a coward. But the words rolled off Ash's shoulders like feathery down; he'd endured much worse taunting at the hands of his enemies before now, and he had learned not to rise to it. "How about we have our _Pokémon _do the talking, Josef?" he called, laughing lightly as the old man jumped crankily on the spot.

"Bronzong!" he seethed, baring his yellowed teeth. "Skim a Charge Beam over that cloud of smog! Blow it out of the sky!" Bronzong gave a deep, rattling cry as it lowered itself into the toxic blanket, completely immune to the noxious fumes that were surrounding the lower half of its body. A sparking yellow ball flickered above the Pokémon's head, slowly growing in size as it crackled with lightning and electrical energy.

"What are you doing?!" Ash screamed, backing away from Bronzong with fear in his eyes as he stared at its gathering attack. "You saw what happened when your Flareon tried to get rid of Torkoal's Smog! If that thing makes a spark with that smoke, this stadium is gonna blow!" His wail reached Josef's ears loud and clear, and the old man staggered back, his eyes wide with shock. "Torkoal," Ash shouted at the swirling mass of green, "move to the edge of the stadium! Stay in your shell and use Iron Defense!"

"Bronzong! Don't fire that Cha—!" started Josef, but his command was never completed. Bronzong launched its Charge Beam straight forwards, a white-hot jet of lightning that speared through the smog, splitting it right down the middle as sparks flew off, spitting and spiralling down to the ground, narrowly avoiding the retreating haze. The crowd edged away, fearful that the attack would – appropriately – _spark_ a chain reaction and possibly put their lives in danger. As the beam made for the far side of the stadium, their fears were realised. A tiny spark flew from the front of the beam and into the cloud, igniting it on contact.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Josef's last name is taken from the famous British actor, Sir Ian M****c****Kellen. **

***Josef's Zangoose actually uses **_**five**_** attacks in its battle with Pikachu: False Swipe, Double Team, Crush Claw, Night Slash and Quick Attack. However, False Swipe could be considered a Crush Claw or Night Slash attack that has been dulled down at the last second.**

***The way Josef has his last Pokémon's PokéBall around his neck is similar to Drake, the leader of the Orange Crew, who has his Dragonite's PokéBall hanging on his necklace.**

***Bronzong is the only Pokémon used in this battle that does not belong to the Ground egg group.**

**Quiz:**

***On which terrain will Secret Power have a chance of **_**confusing**_** the opposing Pokémon?**


	40. The Flash Of Cannon Fire

**CHAPTER 40 – THE FLASH OF CANNON-FIRE**

"Dawn? Is that you?"

Dawn brushed her hand across her eyes and sniffed as she looked up and turned her to the sound. Her Piplup, propped against her chest, put its arms in the air to steady itself as her Trainer saw an auburn-haired woman in a flowery green shirt and thigh-length khaki shorts walking over to her. Trailing dutifully behind her was a human-shaped Pokémon with puffy pink cheeks and two bulrushes of blue hair at the sides of its head. Dawn let a tiny giggle escape her as she noticed the woman's attire; it suited her – and her character – as much as a bucket of ice-cold water would suit a Charmander.

"M-Mrs. Ketch-um?" she stuttered, hiding the smile on her face as the woman and her Pokémon strolled closer.

"That's me!" she chimed, beaming as she walked over, her Mr. Mime by her side. She followed Dawn's gaze down to her shirt, and she grabbed at it with two fingers, laughing. "Oh, this? Well, you can't expect even a housewife like me to be stuck in a dress and apron wherever I go!" she joked, making Dawn laugh. "But wait," she added, her brow slightly creased as she checked her watch. "Isn't it time for Ash's match? Shouldn't you be there, cheering him on?" she asked.

"Shouldn't you be there too?" Dawn asked rudely.

"Ash doesn't need his mother to support him in the stands. He knows that I'm always rooting for him," Delia answered, sitting down alongside Dawn and her Pokémon. "Hello, little Piplup," she giggled in a honey-sweet voice, tickling Piplup under the chin. She crossed her legs and rested her hands on her knee as she looked over at the young girl. "So what's keeping you from going with Ash and your friends?" she asked.

"It's nothing…" Dawn grumbled, looking away.

"Well to be perfectly honest, Dawn, it neither _looks_ nor _sounds_ like nothing," she murmured with a wink. Dawn gave a small smirk.

"Okay, but it's not something that you can help with," she said bluntly, casting her eyes down at the top of Piplup's head.

"Ah… it's boy troubles, isn't it?" ventured Delia, making Dawn jump slightly off the bench, her hands gripping her Pokémon tightly.

"No…" she said after several moments, but Delia wasn't going to be fooled, not in the slightest.

"Is it about that Ari boy?"

"Look, you're not my mother! You're Ash's, so if you really want to give a boy-girl lecture, talk to _him_ about _his_ relationship with _Anabel_, not _mine_ and _Ari's_!" Dawn burst out, her face red with anger and shame.

"Dawn, I'm just here to listen; I'm not here to lecture," she corrected softly, putting a reassuring hand on Dawn's shoulder. "So do you feel like telling me what's happened between the two of you? You don't have to, but I've always found that it helps to talk about these things," she added, her tone soothing. Dawn picked up her PokéBall and returned her Piplup, then she finally caved in.

"I don't even fully know what it is!" she wailed, snatching at her hat and throwing it away. Delia flinched and jumped in fright, but Dawn took no notice of it; she was too caught up releasing her emotions. "Last night he just brushes me off, flies away without an explanation, and what am I supposed to think of that?! And then, this morning after his match, he acts like nothing happened; like he never hurt my feelings!"

"He must have had a very good reason for it," Delia argued.

"Then how come he didn't try and explain it? Or even say sorry?!"

"Maybe… maybe it's something that's hard to put into words…" she suggested. "I know that when… well, when things back home became difficult for me, long ago, I got very… angry at… certain people. But I didn't know the full picture. And now, when I look back, I realise that I was foolish because I, well, I jumped to conclusions without getting all the facts…" she explained, her face turning red towards the end. She hastily smiled and looked back at Dawn, and she said, "My point is, Dawn, that you should see the bigger picture before you focus on the details that make it up. D'you understand what I'm saying?"

Dawn slowly nodded and turned to face her, a smile on her face and her eyes twinkling. "Yeah, I think I do," she said. "But I'm still not going to forgive him unless he apologises for hurting my feelings," she added fiercely, and Delia chuckled warmly.

"Well, from what I've seen of Ari, I can tell straight away that he doesn't seem like the type who would intentionally do something to hurt you. But the PokéBall's in his court now, I suppose," she joked, as a mass of clouds swarmed overhead, and a downpour of rain quickly followed it. "Come on, Mimey, we don't want to be caught up in this storm!" she called to her Mr. Mime. Whilst Dawn retrieved her hat, and the three of them ran along the street, Delia felt full of admiration for the young girl. She couldn't quite place the source of it, but there was something in her character; a gentle heart, but full of steely determination. And, she thought wryly, someone that she wouldn't like to bring to anger, for she could sense that there was a red-hot temper hidden beneath her dark blue hair.

"I wonder if the weather's always this unpredictable?" Dawn shouted as a thunderclap echoed overhead. "Look, those clouds are centred on that stadium over there!" she observed, pointing over to the stadium that was below the darkest section of the stormclouds.

"Ah, that explains it," Delia sighed. "It must be a Pokémon that's causing the weather…"

Suddenly, from the open top of the stadium, an enormous crown of fire spewed upwards, tearing at the spread of black above them with a hideous sound somewhere between a rumbling and an explosion. Dawn, Delia, and Mr. Mime all jumped and shrieked at the sight of it, scared witless by the noise, then turned to face each other and started laughing hysterically, as the wind-blast from the fire blew across them, making their hair fly up and whip their faces.

"I don't envy the people who are over there right now!" joked Delia, wiping a tear of laughter from her eye as she tucked her hair behind her ear. She motioned towards Mr. Mime, who nodded and sprang forwards, before she looked over at Dawn. "Sorry dear, but Mimey and I have errands to run. I'll see you later on today, okay?"

"Okay! Thanks for listening, Mrs. Ketchum," Dawn said merrily; her conversation with Delia had helped in more ways than one.

"Anytime! I'm always willing to help out," she said modestly, waving a hand. "Good luck with your boy troubles!" she added, as she and Mr. Mime walked off down the street. Dawn let the grin slide off her face, as she felt like her happiness was walking away with Delia. To try and compensate for this, she called Piplup back out of its PokéBall and scooped it up, putting it tenderly on top of her hat.

"Well, Piplup, I guess the ball really _is_ in his court now," she sighed, moving down the street amidst the rain, as miserable as the landscape around her.

* * *

Ash opened his eyes. He was lying sideways on the ground, and from where he was he could see, through his blurred vision, a crust of black earth being pummelled by pouring rain. He tenderly got to his feet, feeling a pain in his chest that told him he'd been severely winded by the explosion that had just occurred. _The explosion!_ he thought, his eyes snapping open and probing the field. He breathed a quick sigh of relief when he saw his Torkoal's shell lying on the ground in one piece, but his mouth dropped open when he saw that Josef's Bronzong had somehow maintained consciousness.

_That's impossible! How could a Steel-type have survived that much firepower?!_ Ash wondered, trying to stay calm. "Torkoal, are you okay?!" he shouted, cupping his hands over his mouth. To his intense relief and joy, his Pokémon's head snaked out of the front of its shell, soon followed by its sturdy legs which raised its body off the ground. The crowd, which until now had been subdued and recovering from the force of the blast, suddenly realised that both contenders were still in the battle, and they stood as one and roared, stunned that they were both standing, and encouraging this fiery encounter to continue.

"Well, Josef, I say we keep at it, don't you?" Ash called out, looking up at the thousands of fans. He didn't hear Josef give a reply, and his eyes swivelled back around to face his opponent. Josef was still getting to his feet, swaying ungainly, and his arms shook as the veteran Trainer managed to push himself up off the ground and keep on his feet. There was a nasty-looking scorch mark on the side of his face, and one of his thick, woolly eyebrows had been burnt off, but the same look of sagely determination was on his face, and Ash smiled and flashed a brief thumbs-up toward him. Josef returned the gesture, before looking proudly at Bronzong, who was still hovering above the ground despite the sickly rattling sounds that were emitting from it.

"Josef, are you good to keep battling? We can wait a bit if you need to get your head back on straight," asked Ash, not concerned in the slightest if another of his matches would have to be delayed. But to his surprise, Josef gave a raucous peal of laughter and crossed his arms.

"Mr. Ketchum, this match has been one of the most exciting clashes I've had the pleasure of participating in for many years!" he roared jollily. "I have absolutely no intentions of ceasing our combat, for even a second. But enough talk! Bronzong," he shouted animatedly, "Move in for another Extrasensory attack!" Bronzong obeyed immediately, booming as it seamlessly floated forwards, heading for Torkoal.

"Torkoal, you know what to do! Use Sm—" Ash cried, before he cut himself off. _If I use Smog again, there might be a repeat of that big fire-spire… and I don't want that…_ he thought, remembering what had happened just as Bronzong's Charge Beam met with the Smog cloud, which made him shudder. "Change of plans, Torkoal!" he decided. "Knock Bronzong down before it can launch its attack!"

Torkoal whistled compliantly and stomped forwards to meet Bronzong head-on, as the latter began to focus the light around it into a large pale ball. Ash's Pokémon leapt up to tackle Bronzong, but before it got halfway the Bell Pokémon launched its Extrasensory, which cannoned into Torkoal's head and sent it crashing onto the blackened ground. Amidst a cloud of dust, Torkoal sprang instantly to its feet and launched a jet of fire at Bronzong of its own accord, furious that it had been brushed aside so lightly by its opponent. Bronzong ducked to the side, but not before the Flamethrower struck one of its flanks. The Pokémon gave a rattling cry of pain, and in a fit of anger it hurled another Extrasensory at its opponent for its insolence. The force of the attack knocked Torkoal back several feet, its feet digging grooves in the earth as it tried to hold its ground in the wet.

"Torkoal, don't attack unless I tell you!" Ash shouted harshly. Torkoal looked to be on the verge of tears, so he quickly changed his tact and said, "Look, I know you want to do well, but you can't just go shooting your mouth off at your opponents without thinking about the consequences, eh?" he said, taking care to make sure that his tone was much kinder. Torkoal turned and nodded at its Trainer. An idea quickly formulated in Ash's mind, and he decided to spring the element of surprise as soon as he could on his opponent. "Okay, use Lava Plume!" he yelled.

Torkoal hissed a jet of acrid black smoke from its shell, followed moments later by the eruption of magma spewing from its core. The falling rain hissed and spat at the lava as it fell and evaporated inches above, the circle of searing yellow spreading over the already scorched ground like topping on a burnt pudding. The familiar smell of sulphur filled the air, making Ash, Josef and the spectators wheeze and cough, but it was of no concern for the two combatants; one at the centre of the outflow, the other hovering keenly above it and away from the worst.

"What's Ash thinking?" Brock pondered aloud, scratching his chin. "That Lava Plume isn't coming close to touching Bronzong…"

"I'm sure it's all part of his master plan, Brock," reasoned Anabel, putting a somewhat patronising hand on his shoulder just as Pikachu kicked at the air and rolled over onto his side, still seated on Anabel's lap. "Maybe he's doing it to stop the rain from damaging Torkoal. I mean, if the ground heats up enough, the water won't harm it," she suggested, pointing at the falling water. Indeed, it was turning to steam about six feet from the surface of the magma, which meant that as long as Torkoal stayed on the ground, it was impervious to the weather that would have otherwise weakened it.

Down on the ground, Josef's thoughts were the same as Brock's for as to why Ash had had his Pokémon use such a fruitless attack. But it didn't matter to him as he gave Bronzong its next order. "Bronzong, launch a Flash Cannon at Torkoal!" he shrieked, fire dancing in his eyes in the glow of the molten rock in front of him. His Pokémon nodded sluggishly and raised itself higher into the air, collecting a strange silvery light as it got higher off the ground, and the light formed a glowing orb in front of Bronzong's bell.

"Torkoal, in your shell, now!" Ash roared, deciding that it would be better to have his Pokémon defend itself than try to deflect an attack like the one that would be released from that orb, which was now as large as Torkoal's shell alone, and growing bigger with each moment. As the last word escaped his lips, Bronzong boomed and launched the silvery ball at frightening speed, and Torkoal only just had enough time to hurriedly conceal itself in its protective casing before shell – and all – were blown sky-high by the immense power of Bronzong's Flash Cannon. Torkoal made two slow, full revolutions in the air, stopping at the height of its climb for what seemed like a long time, its trajectory followed by ten thousand pairs of eyes, before it fell back down and plummeted into the ground with an explosion of dust and hot lava; fortunately for Ash, some of the lava that flew into the air landed on Bronzong, who hissed as the stinging heat lashed across it.

"Torkoal!" he shouted, staring at the spot where Torkoal had fallen into the ground. The dust cleared, and he saw that Torkoal was lying upside-down at the bottom of a small crater in the stadium. Its shell was frantically spinning on its top, but it didn't seem to be slowing down, which Ash instantly took as a sign that the Pokémon had endured both the attack and the crash. "Stay in your shell, but blast Bronzong with a Flamethrower, full power!" he cried, continuing on with the battle.

"_Kol torkoal!"_ rasped Torkoal, its cry deep from the echo inside its shell, as a stream of fire shot out from the hole in the shell's side.

"Bronzong, counter it with Extrasensory!" Josef ordered, and Bronzong fired a shining ball of light in reply to Torkoal's Flamethrower. The two attacks collided head-on in the middle of the stadium with a flash of smoky orange light and a small explosion. "Now," he said, keeping up the offensive, "fire another Flash Cannon at Torkoal before it can counter!" Bronzong gave a booming cry as the silvery ball formed in front of it, and it gave another cry as it launched the ball forwards, shooting straight at Torkoal.

Unbeknownst to Josef, Ash had been waiting for the attack all along, and a confident smirk formed on his face. "Torkoal!" he yelled, as the Flash Cannon approached his Pokémon, "use Smog to push yourself into the air! Not too much, but enough to avoid a direct hit!" he added. The moment before Bronzong's attack slammed into Torkoal, the latter blew a large cloud of gas from the peak of its shell, pointing into the ground, which set it hovering above the ground, supported on a cushion of air. The Flash Cannon smashed into the ground, and the force of the attack sent Torkoal rocketing into the air for the second time in a row.

"Now, Torkoal, stick your head out and use your Smog to guide you straight into Bronzong!" Ash bellowed. Just as the rainclouds began to dissipate, and the first rays of the sun began to seep through the dark, Torkoal's serpentine head came out of its shell, and its orange eyes gleamed as they focused on its opponent and target. A puff of moss-green smoke jetted out from its shell with a high-pitched whistle, and Torkoal shot forwards in mid-air, propelled by the momentum of its attack. "Okay, now move in for a smack-down!"

Torkoal's limbs snaked out of its body, and its full figure crashed into Bronzong with pummelling strength. Bronzong moaned in pain, trying to shake Torkoal off, but the Pokémon held on grimly, fastening a foot through the gap in its bell-head. Bronzong then shrieked in fear as the weight of its burden began to slowly pull it down, slowly, inexorably, and inevitably, towards the hissing sheet of lava that lay on the surface of the ground.

"Bronzong, get rid of that nuisance!" Josef cried anxiously, his eyes tracking the two Pokémons' slow descent. To him, it was like watching something out of a horror movie, where the hero is slowly dragged to an unspeakable death, for he knew that his Bronzong would not be able to survive a full-on brush with Torkoal's Lava Plume. "Shake it off, now! Do anything you can!" Bronzong reared sideways, back and forth, and around and around, but nothing would throw Torkoal off, and still the two of them headed downwards, their destination getting closer every moment.

"Torkoal, blast it in the face with another Lava Plume, then weigh it down even more with Iron Defense!" Ash shouted, going for the jugular. Torkoal hissed, and Bronzong gonged in despair as a third wave of fiery magma exploded from Torkoal's shell, washing over the Steel-type Pokémon. A hideous grinding noise came from the agonised Bronzong, making the crowd cover their ears and shiver in their seats. But they watched on, horrifyingly drawn to the spectacle, as Torkoal shone metallic white in the glow of the sun, now shining brightly in the clear, blue-white sky. Its body doubled in weight instantly, pushing its half-conscious enemy down, and Torkoal unhooked its foot from Bronzong's body and rolled heavily onto the ground as Bronzong came into contact with the lava. Bronzong gave one last shrieking, tortured chime, before it finally gave in to its extensive injuries. Josef, realising that the battle was, at last, over, hastily recalled his Pokémon before it could fully fall back into the lava that had damaged it so greatly.

"Bronzong is unable to battle! Torkoal is the winner! Ash Ketchum is the victor!" roared the referee, waving her green flag enthusiastically at Ash, making the crowd explode with noise; clapping, cheering, chanting and stamping their feet as Ash punched the air, and Josef joined in the celebrations, applauding the one who had bested him.

"Alright! Way to go, Torkoal!" Ash cheered, running joyfully over to his Pokémon, who had already collapsed into tears of happiness. He hugged Torkoal around the neck, and the latter hooted proudly, spewing a cloud of white-grey smoke from both its nostrils and shell as it rubbed its head against Ash's. "I always knew you had it in you!" he said, patting Torkoal's head.

"_Too-too-torkoal!_" whistled Torkoal, and it kept congratulating itself even as Ash took out its PokéBall and recalled it safely, just as Josef appeared to his left, a huge grin across his tired face. To Ash, his opponent seemed both physically and emotionally drained by the battle they'd just had, and he had to admit that he was worn out by the ordeal himself.

"Mr. Ketchum—"

"Come on, Josef, after a match like that, I don't think we need to be formal to each other," sighed Ash. "At least call me Ash."

Josef nodded and smiled again, putting his hand out in front of him. "Very well, _Ash_. From an old man who has seen much, thank you."

"For what?" he joked, sheepishly scratching his head.

"For giving me one of the fiercest battles I have had the pleasure to be a part of," Josef answered, his eyes twinkling. "A battle where no quarter was given, and none was expected. A battle where I can walk away happy, even though I lost, because it was in such dramatic fashion!"

"Yeah, those fireworks can do that," chuckled Ash. Then he smiled and shook Josef's hand warmly in both his own, returning the gesture the Trainer had given him before the battle. "Well, you certainly made me pull out all the stops, and I'm thankful that I had an opponent like you that pushed my Pokémons' skills to the limit. We're going to need to be able to meet our challenges if we want to progress in this tournament."

"After bearing witness to those skills, I have little doubt that you and your partners will do just _that_," grinned Josef. He gave Ash one last nod, then gingerly turned around and made his slow way back to the tunnel from which he came, much to the applause and adoration of the crowd. Ash watched the old man's back disappear into the shadows at the other side of the stadium, before turning to acknowledge the crowd for their support, particularly the purple-haired girl that was taking care of his Pikachu. Anabel gave a beaming wave back to him, and, together with Brock and Pikachu, she headed towards the exit, and Ash felt the familiar shake in the ground that signified the approach of the news team and their post-match interview.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Bronzong doesn't know a single **_**physical**_** attack (as of Generation IV) in its moveset, and neither does Torkoal, who uses Lava Plume, Smog, Iron Defense and Flamethrower.**

**Quiz:**

***Delia's Mr. Mime has a rivalry with which of Ash's friends over cleaning and cooking duties?**


	41. A Four Year Story

**CHAPTER 41 – A FOUR YEAR STORY**

After two hours of endless, frantic searching the innumerable streets and roads of Ayers Island, Ari finally found Dawn, sitting alone in an empty plaza, by the fountain where they'd shared their first kiss. Right away he could tell that his actions had left a considerable mark on her; from his position at the other end of the courtyard, he could easily see her bleary eyes, and the filmy lines where the tears had cascaded down her cheeks and fallen onto her skirt. Her Piplup was cradled against her chest and stomach, crooning softly with a pitied expression on its face as its Trainer rocked slowly back and forth.

Ari knew that he had some explaining to do, and he was going to have to face up to it sooner or later. He sucked in a deep breath, hurriedly crossed himself in the off-chance that he didn't leave the courtyard alive, and walked over to her. "Hi. This seat taken?" he asked, grimacing at the cliché as he motioned to the stretch of stone next to Dawn. "Look, Dawn… I—" he started, sitting down alongside her, but suddenly Piplup jumped out of her arms, its expression wild and livid, and it sprayed Ari with a Bubblebeam, knocking him into the fountain with a loud splash.

He flailed about, spluttering and coughing as he pushed his head out of the water. He snatched his water-logged hat from under the fountain's surface and stood up, his sodden clothes dripping as he upturned his hat, which poured a surprisingly large amount of water back into the small pool. "Okay, I… guess I deserved that…" he admitted, smacking his hair out of his eyes as he stepped out of the freezing water and onto dry land. He started to shiver in the cool afternoon air, and he dropped his hat down onto the bench next to Dawn.

"W-W-Well, it certainly is c-cold in there," he spluttered, folding his arms tightly into his chest.

"Trust me, you haven't even _begun_ to know what cold is," Dawn hissed icily. Ari blinked.

"I suppose I had that one coming as well," he sighed, hanging his head. "And now, thanks to Piplup—no offence," he added, as Piplup puffed its chest out dangerously and readied another Bubblebeam, "I'm soaking wet…"

"Don't blame it all on my little Piplup," she said haughtily, scooping up her Pokémon and purposefully looking the other way. "_Piplup_ doesn't keep secrets, do you, Piplup?" she asked Piplup, loudly enough that Ari could hear her. She wasn't even going to consider being nice to him again until her gave her an apology for what he'd done last night, along with a more than reasonable explanation. So it came to a surprise to her that a moment later she heard, not Ari apologising, but the scraping sound of fabric on fabric. She turned her head and her eyes widened briefly as she saw Ari unsticking his wet shirt from his body and pulling it off, throwing it onto the nearest table, where it was quickly joined by his hat.

"Uh, what _are_ you doing?" she asked harshly, her eyebrows raised at him.

"What does it look like? I'm trying to keep myself from freezing!" he joked, rubbing one of his PokéBalls against a dry patch on his jeans. "Colenzo, dry my clothes out, would you?" he muttered, opening his PokéBall. Magmortar jumped out and obediently fanned Ari's clothes down, blowing out all the moisture and leaving them crisp and dry. "Cheers, buddy," he said happily, returning Magmortar to its ball in a bright flash of red. "Ah, damn," he cursed; his hat had been blown off the table from the force of Magmortar's arms, and it was now lying on the ground about twenty feet away.

Dawn shook her head at Ari as he rushed over to get it. _What was he thinking, stripping off his shirt like that? _she thought coolly, dropping her chin onto Piplup's head. _It's not like he couldn't have had Magmortar dry him out with his shirt on… Although… _She smiled hungrily as she ran her eyes over his physique; his broad shoulders, his toned arms, and his bronzed chest, where a large chain necklace was bouncing about. _He probably hasn't hurt his chances of getting back on my good side now… definitely hasn't hurt them at all… _she added, smirking wider and giving a girlish giggle. Piplup turned its head up to its Trainer puzzledly, wondering what the grin on her face was because of. "Don't worry, Piplup, it's nothing," she said soothingly, stroking her Pokémon's fluffy blue had as Ari knelt down to retrieve his hat from under a chair. A pencil-thin line of white flashed across his muscular back, making Dawn shoot upright, which in turn sent Piplup backwards and into the fountain.

"_Pip!_" huffed Piplup, irritated that Dawn had thrown it off. But the water was pleasant and cool, and so it quickly changed its attitude and began paddling leisurely through the water, chirping joyfully. Dawn stood up as Ari came back over, and as he turned around to pick up his shirt she could see a wicked-looking scar running diagonally across the length of his back, starting at his left shoulder blade and finishing just above his right hipbone. She instinctively put a hand out towards Ari as the latter stuck his arms through the sleeves of his shirt, and as he brought the collar over his head and neck, she lightly put a finger on the mark, resting her hand against his upper back.

Ari yelped and jumped forwards, crashing into the table and chairs in front of him, falling to the ground in a tangle of limbs and metal legs. He groaned with pain and picked himself up off the ground, kicking a chair aside, before finally stretching his shirt back over his torso. He rubbed his kneecaps and, after pulling the tables back upright and positioning the chairs, turned to face Dawn, an almost guilty look on his face.

"Sorry, did I hurt you?!" gasped Dawn, her voice full of concern.

"No, no, that hasn't hurt for a long while," Ari muttered, subconsciously running his thumb along the back of his shirt. Dawn knew that he was moving his hand across that scar, and so she couldn't help but ask.

"Can I see it again?"

Ari blinked and looked at her in surprise; he hadn't been expecting that request. After a few moments, he shrugged his shoulders and lifted his shirt up over his arms, turning his back to her. Dawn could see the scar much more clearly this time, and she lightly ran her hand across the length of the pale purple line. Ari jumped again when her hand moved along his lower back, and she recoiled in fear and anxiety, but he quickly calmed her down, saying that he was just a little ticklish.

_I'll have to remember that,_ she thought childishly. "H-How did this _happen_ to you?" she asked in a whisper. Ari stepped forwards, away from Dawn, turning around and sitting on the table that he'd previously knocked over. He hastily covered his frame under his shirt and gazed at her sadly with his piercing hazel eyes. Dawn felt unnerved by this, but she was curious and wanted to know more about him, so she held his stare firmly until Ari finally gave in, sagging his shoulders and folding his hands in his lap.

"I got that scar years ago…" he muttered bluntly, his eyes beginning to cloud over. "From Paul."

"Oh no…" whispered Dawn sympathetically, putting her arms around Ari in an effort to comfort him. He awkwardly put his hands around her in reply, but he looked over her shoulders at the horizon, clearly confused by the gesture.

"Well, since I'm at it…" he sighed, pulling Dawn away from himself, "I'm sorry for being so cold to you yesterday. It was a pretty rough day for me, but I know it's not an excuse. So let me explain myself," he said remorsefully.

"No, you don't have to—" she started; he'd apologised, and that, surprisingly, was enough for her. But Ari pressed a finger against her lips to silence her.

"I _do_ have to," he said softly, and Dawn could see that he meant it. "It's actually the reason I got that scar—" he ran a hand across his back, "—and I've never told anyone about it, not even Leoric."

"As a matter of fact," he continued, an ironic smile on his face, "there's only one other person alive who knows about it, and he just happens to be the person who _gave_ me my scar."

"_Paul_?!" she shrieked. "I don't believe that, not one bit!"

"Well it's the truth, so you'd better be ready to believe it," he hissed, casting his eyes down to the ground. "Okay, so, like I told you – and Ash and Brock – before, Paul and I met five or so years ago while I was still living in Ecruteak City. I was nine at the time; I was going to turn ten in a month. You know the story; we hated each other, I rescued a Duskull, Paul tortured me, and I was given Horazon," he summarised, absent-mindedly touching his Dusknoir's PokéBall as he finished.

"Yeah…?" Dawn murmured, wondering why he was going through all this again.

"A month later, on my tenth birthday, I was officially recognised as a Trainer, and so I decided to travel around Johto to collect the Johto Gym Badges, much like Ash would have done," he went on. He picked up a nearby stick from the ground and started to draw in the dirt at their feet. Once he was finished, a rough diagram of the Johto region had been etched in the ground, with X's to mark the cities and towns that housed the Johto Gyms. He pointed at a spot just above an elliptical shape towards the lower left of the drawing, where there was a crossroads. "I started at my hometown, Ecruteak, and headed south-west to Goldenrod City—" he traced the stick down the left side of the ellipse, stopping at an X halfway down the side, "—to get the Plain Badge, then after that I travelled to Azalea Town through a place called the Ilex Forest—" he moved along to the next X, at the southern edge, "—and after I won the Hive Badge, I went north to Violet City," he said, raking the stick up the right-hand side, jabbing the X in the north-east corner. "You follow so far?"

"Sort of…"

"Okay, well I came to Violet City to win the Zephyr Badge from the Gym Leader, Aires. Nowadays his son Falkner runs the Gym, but that's not important. What's important is that before I challenged Aires, I chose to pop in at the Trainer's School that was across the street from the Gym. You see, I'd been a student the year before – seeing as how Ecruteak City is only a town over – and after I'd left, the teachers there had encouraged me to return once I came back to Violet City. Anyways, while I was there, I met a girl. Her name was Tina."

"Tina…" muttered Dawn.

* * *

At the northern-most edge of Ayers Island, high atop a cliff-face surrounded on three sides by sheer rock-faces and a three-hundred-foot drop into churning water, two Pokémon were engaged in a fearsome battle. The larger of the two, an enormous black-and-yellow Pokémon, fired a bolt of pure lightning at the smaller Pokémon, a hooded blue bird with a hooked beak and red tail-feathers, which flickered and disappeared as the attack sizzled at it, reappearing a foot to the side of the Thunderbolt. With a haunting crowing sound it spread its huge wings wide, and they glowed white as it sped forwards and struck its foe's shaggy head. The yellow Pokémon was knocked to the ground, but sprang back to its clawed feet instantly. Its red eyes glowed from inside the black band of fur that ran around its head, and its antennae-like ears bristled with energy. In the blink of an eye it had leapt into the air, hands outstretched, and although the aerial Pokémon was able to avoid its grasp, it couldn't avoid the two black tails, tipped with red, that swung around and jabbed into its neck.

Twenty thousand volts of electricity coursed through the bird's body, and its opponent felt the soft feathery body beneath its tails crumple instantly. As its prey fell to the rocky ground, smoke trailing from the electrical burn on its neck, the victorious Pokémon controlled its descent to the ground, smashing a black-fingered fist into the stone below it. It beat its chest proudly and gave a barking roar as its fallen opponent was recalled to its PokéBall in a flash of red light. The bird Pokémon's owner walked over to the remaining combatant, who bowed its head obediently as it faced its master.

"Well done, Electivire," he said, his eyes showing no kindness to go with the compliment as he pulled out the Pokémon's PokéBall. Electivire, like the Honchkrow it had just defeated, was recalled to its ball.

"Now, which ones should I test next…?" he pondered aloud. "Actually…" he snatched his Electivire's PokéBall and threw it back onto the cliff, and his Pokémon thundered out, hissing and flexing its muscles. "Electivire, you're going to keep fighting until you faint, or else…" he threatened, and although his attitude frightened Electivire somewhat, it had learned long ago that to show any signs of weakness or intimidation would be paramount to losing a battle to its cruel master.

"_Eelek!_" it growled, bounding over to the edge of the cliff to wait for its opponent. But before its Trainer could choose another Pokémon to battle against Electivire, a cell phone clipped to his side pocket rang suddenly, vibrating against his waist. Shouting in anger, he ripped the phone from his trousers and flipped it open. He saw a name and number displayed on the flashing, vibrating screen, and he snorted with contempt. Even without the contact name, he would have known who was calling; he had unfortunately committed this number to memory years ago. He couldn't believe that the caller would have tried to contact him at this time of year, especially considering what had happened to cause their separation. Granted, he still kept a certain amount of admiration for the man, but there were some things in the world that were unforgiveable, and what he had done was one of them.

He closed the phone without answering and turned back to Electivire, clipping it back to his pocket in case a worthwhile call came through. By the time he summoned his next Pokémon to battle, the call was already out of his mind.

* * *

"So were you and Tina…?" Dawn asked suspiciously.

"What—? No, nothing like that!" Ari laughed, shaking his head. "Tina was only nine herself at the time. You're my first," he added lovingly with a glint in his eye, and Dawn couldn't help but blush and smile. "But she quickly became my best friend – this was a long time before I met Leoric, mind you. She was studying on how to be a Pokémon Trainer while she was at the School – amongst other things – and since I was new on the road, I taught her a couple of things about being a real-life Pokémon Trainer," he recounted. "But two weeks later I'd beaten Aires and won myself a Zephyr Badge, so it was time for me to move on to my next destination, Ecruteak City—" he tapped the stick in his hand on the X at the crossroads. "Tina was, understandably, pretty upset over it, and so I made her a promise that next year, once she'd come of age, I'd join her in her own adventures around Johto."

"That's so sweet," grinned Dawn, making Ari blush this time.

"So I left Violet City – and Tina – behind to continue my journey throughout Johto. Once I'd collected eight badges, I made for Mt. Silver to compete in the Silver Conference, which is where all the top trainers in the region go to compete. It's different from the Sinnoh campaigns in that you don't face the Elite Four to become Champion; it's a huge tournament, like the Championships here. I entered the Conference, and, amazingly, I won through to the finals and became the Johto Champion on debut. Everyone who'd been keeping an eye on the tournament suddenly started calling me a _prodigy_, or something close to it, as though I was destined for greatness… or some load like that," he added modestly, squirming slightly with embarrassment. "I had to get away from it all. Back then, I was only just starting out; I couldn't cope with all this… _expectation_ suddenly put on me. So I went to the Hoenn region."

"And that's where you met Leoric?" ventured Dawn.

Ari chuckled and shook his head casually. "No, Leoric and I didn't cross paths until later on; I never travelled close to Fallarbor Town. I was mostly in the south-west of Hoenn, but I managed to capture a few Pokémon while I was there. You remember by Gallade?" he asked, and Dawn nodded in reply. "I caught him as a Ralts, in the wilderness right outside Petalburg City," he explained. "Once I reached Petalburg, I decided to try my luck against the Gym Leader, Norman. I got swamped," he chuckled, smiling as he remembered the battle. "But he and his family seemed nice enough. Yeah," he added, as Dawn gave a little squeak, "I met May and Max while I was there. And yes, Max knew more than me even then," he joked, laughing. "But I'd made a promise to Tina, and so after two months I came back to Johto, and I arrived back at Violet City just in time for her tenth birthday. Her parents were the rich type, so they bought her a Growlithe as her first Pokémon. She was so happy, too," he added, his eyes watering briefly.

"Ari…?" Dawn asked, concernedly, but he pushed on with his story, worried that a show of emotion would stop him in his tracks.

"Once Tina got her Trainer License, she and Growlithe went straight to the Violet Gym to challenge Aires. He beat her convincingly, which wasn't surprising, but she was guttered by the loss."

"What did she expect? She'd barely even had her first Pokémon," Dawn pointed out, and Ari grunted in agreement.

"I said pretty much the same thing. But she didn't give up, and so I helped her train her Growlithe in Route 36—" he jabbed at the drawing on the ground, pointing at a small line between the X's of Ecruteak and Violet, "and soon after Tina had her rematch, and she beat Aires. He was impressed by the win, but surprised by my appearance – imagine seeing the Champion helping out a complete novice!" he commented with a barking laugh. "After that, we headed south towards Azalea Town, but we had to make our way through a place called the Union Cave," he said, poking his stick at a point halfway between Violet City and Azalea Town, but Dawn could see that the hand holding the stick was shaking, and his eyes had clouded up again.

"What happened in the cave?" she asked tentatively, her fingers quivering. Ari clenched his jaw, and his fists, and looked her in the eye.

"Paul happened," he hissed.

"Paul?!" Dawn gasped.

"Yeah, Paul," repeated Ari. "We ran into each other – literally – smack-bang in the middle of Union Cave. Now I wasn't too happy to see him again; the last time I had, he'd… well, you know—" he shook his read roughly, ridding himself of the memories of that excruciating experience from his mind. "But I was more than willing to settle the score with him, and for some reason, he seemed to want to have another go at me; I don't know why, you'd have to ask him on that one. So, we started threatening each other, and we were pretty much ready to let the fists fly, but then all of a sudden Tina steps in and separates us with her Bellsprout's Vine Whip, so we shut up like good little schoolboys."

"Did she really?" Dawn giggled, and Ari laughed along with her.

"I must say I wasn't expecting to be put in line by a starting Trainer," he chuckled. "But she was at a loss at as to why I was losing my head at some random Trainer. So I told her the story of how I knew him, with some… _colourful_… additions from Paul, and she punched Paul square in the nose. Your slap looked pretty tame compared to it," he added jokingly.

"That must have been a surprise, at the time," Dawn observed, smirking.

"I thought so too, but it turned out that Tina was _full_ of surprises," he said mysteriously.

"What makes you say that?" Dawn asked, as Piplup hopped onto the fountain rim after its enjoyable swim.

"Because the next thing I know, she's called off her Bellsprout, helped Paul to his feet, and _invited_ him to journey with us!" he replied exasperatedly, throwing his hands up in the air. "Can you believe that?! I had no idea _why_ she'd asked him," he added, answering Dawn's shocked expression, "but that was nothing compared to Paul."

"Why?"

"Because he _agreed_ to it."

"You mean Paul actually _wanted_ to travel with you?!"

"I was as surprised as you are," Ari admitted, scratching his head. "I couldn't have even begun to imagine travelling with my arch-nemesis, not in my wildest nightmares. But Tina pleaded with me – begged me, in fact – to be accepting, so I eventually gave in and let him come along."

"A way to show Paul that you were the bigger man?" Dawn suggested cheekily, and Ari grunted.

"Something like that," he muttered.

* * *

A jet of fire exploded from a claw-tipped arm and shot at Electivire, who had to leap to the sky to avoid being burnt by it. It bellowed and charged up a Thunderbolt as it dropped back to earth, discharging the electricity at its opponent. The attack narrowly missed Electivire's foe, a bulky red Pokémon with a crown of flames rearing on its head, and it seamlessly launched another Flamethrower at Electivire, striking the yellow Pokémon across its broad chest. As Electivire backed away to escape the heat of the blast, it felt its foot push into open space, and it realised that it had been manoeuvred towards the narrow end of the cliff-face. It nervously turned around and saw the rocky ground drop away steeply, only ending when the raging water crashed against it and sprayed upwards. It hissed savagely, deciding that a burn would be preferable to the more serious injuries that would accompany such a fall, and it shot out another bolt of lightning from its head, counter-attacking its enemy's Flamethrower.

The two met with a bang, and as the smoke from the explosion filled the air, Electivire threw itself forwards, colliding with the red Pokémon and knocking the two of them down to the ground. Electivire swung its wide fists at every inch of its opponent it could reach, and in return it was met with slashing claws and punishing blows as its foe showed as little mercy as it was being given. A foot drove into Electivire's stomach, knocking the wind out of it, and before the yellow Pokémon could blink, its opponent had thrown it off. Electivire crashed into a rock-face with a howl, struggling to its feet as the red Pokémon charged over, but Electivire wasn't even close to defeated. It waited as long as it dared, and right as its opponent swung its yellow arm backwards to deliver the finishing blow, it countered with a vicious uppercut, crunching into its foe's jaw. The red Pokémon flew upwards with the force of the punch before crashing down onto the cliff with a resounding crack, and its world went black.

Electivire leapt forwards, ready to deal more punishment to its foe, regardless of its condition, but its Trainer threw his arm out, and Electivire was struck dumb, even though he was standing thirty feet away. Electivire humbly stood back as he coldly strode over and pulled a PokéBall from his belt. He knelt down and contemplated the unconscious Pokémon lying on the ground in front of him, then grunted contemptuously.

"You disappoint me, Magmortar," he muttered to the Pokémon. "It seems I haven't been pushing you hard enough. We will have to work harder to correct your… _mistakes_," he sneered, and he stood up at once, recalling Magmortar to its PokéBall in a flash. He turned around to face Electivire, who glared back evilly at its master. "Don't try that with me, Electivire," he spat, and Electivire blinked and bowed its head.

The cell phone tucked in his trousers rang again, a sharp beeping tone, and he roared in frustration at being interrupted during his training routine for the second time, let alone in the space of ten minutes. "_What_ could you possibly want with me?!" he shouted, ripping the phone from its clip and throwing the lid open. The same name and number flashed on the screen as it had before, and he realised what was going to happen: unless he answered, his caller would continue to ring, and he had to admit that it wasn't unlike the man to do so. "Fine, let's see what you want…" he muttered, pressing the green button marked '_Connect_' at the side of the keypad and smacking the phone roughly against this ear.

"What?!" he snapped.

"Paul, it's me," said the voice on the other end of the phone. It was, as Paul had thought, a male's; a cold-hearted, deep voice that boomed through the receiver. Paul was unsurprised.

"I know it's you," he said rudely. "Your name and number came up on my caller ID. Now what do you want?!"

"I want to talk, nothing more, nothing less," was the reply. "How are you? It's been a long time since we talked."

Paul gave a disgusted laugh; he couldn't believe this. "You're kidding, right? This is some kind of joke, isn't it? Are there cameras hidden around here? Is someone going to jump out of the bushes behind me and shout '_Surprise_', huh?"

"I'm not kidding. Come on, it's been a long time since we've had a civil conversation."

"Nearly four years," Paul corrected, "and I was hoping we could keep that record going for a lot longer."

"There's no need to get snappy with me, Paul!" said the caller, his voice laced with anger. "I think those Galactic goons you've been dealing with are starting to rub off on you."

"Ah, so now we find out why you've _really_ called," sneered Paul, turning his back on his Electivire, who looked on, confused. "You didn't call to know how I'm doing; you're worried that I'm… _consorting_ with a rival organisation."

"So what if I am? I think I have every right to keep tabs on you."

"You've got _no_ right at all!" Paul roared. "Now stay out of my affairs!" And with that he disconnected his caller, snapping the phone shut and ramming it into his trouser pocket. He spun around, and he saw Electivire staring worriedly at him. "_What are you looking at me like that for?!_" he hissed, and Electivire backed away. "You think this is _amusing_?" he said provokingly, grabbing at a PokéBall on his waist. "Let's see how amusing you find this, then," he smirked, hurling the ball towards his Pokémon. "Torterra, show Electivire some manners."

* * *

"So, after agreeing to have Paul join us, Tina and I came out the other side of Union Cave, and we were in Azalea Town," Ari explained, continuing with his story. "Only… it wasn't Azalea Town anymore."

"Why not? What happened?" Dawn asked curiously, captivated by the tale.

"Team Rocket had taken over the town," he said bluntly, stabbing the ground where the X of Azalea Town was inscribed. "They'd shut down the Gym, along with most of the major stores and buildings, plus they blocked the way to Ilex Forest to make sure that no visitors were going anywhere. Just when we made our way to the Pokémon Center, they blocked off the way out through Union Cave. That alone would have ticked me off, but next to Azalea Town is an ancient, sacred place called the Slowpoke Well, where the Slowpoke gather and signal the start of the rainy season. As it turned out, the Rockets had invaded Azalea to take over the Well, capture the Slowpoke residing in it, and then cut off their tails and sell them on the black market," he growled, and Dawn's hand flew to her mouth in horror. "I know, terrible, huh?"

"That's one way of putting it," she hissed, scooping up her Piplup and wrapping her arms around it comfortingly.

"Well, the townsfolk were in uproar over it as well. But their strongest Trainer, the Gym Leader – Bugsy – tried to intervene, and he got dealt with pretty severely. I think he still has trouble running, poor guy," he said sadly. "So there wasn't anyone big enough to take down their operation. But there was this one person, an old man by the name of Kurt. He was an Apricorn-smith, who could make PokéBalls from Apricorns if you gave him enough time. Anyways, once word of our arrival reached him, he had us snuck into his house at the back of the town. He teamed up with Paul, Tina and I, and we split up to get rid of the Rockets."

"Paul and Tina were to go to the well and clean it out, while Kurt and I would go around the town and kick the Rockets out of their posts," he explained. "Kurt and I did a good enough job, but the other two must have done even better, because before we knew it those Rockets came clambering out of the Well like it had flooded," he said dramatically, making Dawn giggle.

"So the three of you rescued an entire town, did you?" Dawn said, her eyes full of admiration for Ari, who blushed and scratched his nose.

"Well, it was nothing, really…" he mumbled. "Anyways," he continued, shifting in his seat, "we travelled through the rest of Johto together – me, Tina and Paul – and we confronted Team Rocket a few more times. When we reached Mahogany Town—" he pointed at an X at the north-east section of his Johto map, "—we heard that the Magikarp at the Lake Of Rage—" he pointed at a circle above Mahogany Town's cross, "—were suddenly evolving into Gyarados. We had to team up with a Trainer called Lance, who was actually a former Champion himself, to destroy the Rocket base operating underneath Mahogany Town."

"Underneath?"

"They had their centre underground," Ari answered. "But once we'd cleaned them up, Lance took off without any thanks at all. Tina and I were a bit less than pleased by it, but Paul seemed glad to see the back of him for some reason. I'm still yet to ask Lance why he left without saying goodbye…" he murmured, trailing off into his own thoughts. He shook his head and looked back at Dawn, giving an apologetic smile before he went on. "So once the Rockets had left, Tina and Paul were free to take on Pryce, the Mahogany Gym Leader."

"And they won?"

"Convincingly," he smiled. "But right after Tina had gotten her Glacier Badge, Paul disappeared, saying that he had '_family matters to attend to_'. He seemed pretty displeased, and Tina was a bit sad to see him go, but we didn't question him over it."

"So you and Tina went ahead to the next town?" Dawn asked. She immediately regretted it; Ari's eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched menacingly.

"Not quite," he muttered through his teeth. "The next day, we were walking along Route 44—" he whacked his stick against the line joining Mahogany Town to the X on its right, "—and I turned my radio on to listen to some relaxing music… and all of a sudden there was this broadcast from Team Rocket."

"They just don't give up, do they?" Dawn commented sardonically.

"As I'm sure you're aware, they're notorious for it," grunted Ari. "They were saying that they'd seized control of the Goldenrod City Radio Tower, and they were calling their Kanto counterparts for reinforcements… something about an '_Operation Mayfair_'. Tina didn't like the sound of it, and so she and I flew to Goldenrod to shut them down for good. Well," he said, correcting himself, "_I _just rescued the Radio Tower's director. _Tina_ fought her way to the top of the Tower and defeated the head of Team Rocket's Johto faction," he concluded, to a cheer from Dawn.

"Girl power!" she said merrily, making Ari bark with laughter.

"Must have been, because the Johto head immediately disbanded all of Team Rocket's criminal activities in the Johto region," he added. "They'd been humiliated, crushed by a ten-year-old girl and her small team of Pokémon," he smirked at the way his words made the scenario sound. "And that left Tina free to pursue her last badge, right at Johto's edge, in a place called Blackthorn City—" he tapped at the X in the far top-right of the hand-drawn map. "To get to Blackthorn City, you have two options; head east through the Ice Path, or head north through the Itar mountain range that runs above New Bark Town," he explained, pointing to each route as he said their names. "I'd travelled through both, and I knew that the Ice Path was the safer of the two, so Tina and I flew back to Mahogany Town to travel through the Path, but—" he stopped, his eyes swimming with tears.

"But—?" repeated Dawn foolishly. Ari wiped at his eyes and looked away, taking three deep breaths to calm himself down.

"But the Rockets from Kanto had heard about what Tina had done to them at Goldenrod, and what had happened to the Johto faction," he said huskily. "Their Boss, Giovanni, had ordered a hit on Tina, and—two weeks after she took them down—at the Radio Tower—they caught up with us—inside the Ice Path—right near—the Blackthorn exit—and—killed her—"

He couldn't have held himself in check any longer even if he wanted to; he burst into tears and hung his head, letting the wracking sobs shake his body as Dawn gasped at the tragic news. She had no idea of the ill fate that Ari had met in his youth, and she wanted to cry out as well, to say that she was sorry, even though she knew it would do no good. All she was able to do was to sit beside him and embrace him, and Ari leant his head against her like a child against its mother. It took a minute for Ari to stop crying, but even though he hadn't made a sound during it all, he still couldn't talk for another few minutes.

"There… was a funeral service held for her at Blackthorn City," he finally managed to say, his voice thick with grief. "The Gym Leader, Clair, even turned up to it. Tina, she—she idolised Clair; she'd always loved Dragon-type Pokémon… We held the funeral yesterday, four years ago…"

"Yesterday…" muttered Dawn, her eyes widening as everything, suddenly, fell into place. "So that's why you were…? Oh no, Ari, I'm so sorry for ever getting cross with you!" she cried ashamedly, throwing her arms around him again. "Please, forgive me!" she begged, as Piplup, sandwiched between the two of them, gasped for air.

"Of course you're forgiven!" Ari said, closing a hand around the back of her head as she leant into his shoulder. "How could you have known? I don't think _Paul_ would have told you," he said, trying to be positive in light of what he had just recounted. He gave Dawn a quick, wet kiss on the forehead – his hair and face were still wet from being knocked into the fountain – and extracted Piplup from between their bodies, kindly putting the Pokémon back into the water, where it chirped gratefully.

"So what _did_ happen to Paul?" she asked, curious as to this one little mystery.

"He took it hard. And I mean _really_ hard," he answered pityingly. "He'd been waiting in Blackthorn for us to arrive; he'd taken the Itar mountains. When he saw Tina's body…" he sighed, batting away a tear at the edge of his eye, "I thought he'd lost his mind. At the funeral, he attacked me in front of everybody, saying that it was _my_ fault she'd been killed, that I should have taken the mountains like he'd done instead of going through the Path…"

"But how could you have known what would have happened?" Dawn argued.

"That was what I told him," Ari said, "but he wouldn't listen. He was inconsolable, you could say, and he wasn't going to back down on his opinion. He said that I'd stabbed him in the back for leading Tina to her death, and so he was going to repay the favour. And so, true to his word, he cornered me after the service had ended, just like he had done at Mt. Mortar the year before. He summoned his Sneasel, and had it strike me down."

"So that's where you got that scar…?" Dawn whispered, mortified, and Ari answered with a grim nod.

* * *

Torterra fired a jet of orange-yellow light at Electivire, cannoning into its chest and sending it flying backwards. Electivire howled in pain as it crashed through five trees, snapping each one cleanly in half, before it thudded into the side of an outcrop and slid down to the ground, unconscious. Torterra stomped forwards to stand over its fallen opponent, roaring triumphantly as Paul walked over to address them both.

"Well done, Torterra," Paul said proudly, and the colossal Pokémon happily snapped its jaws in reply. Paul stared down at his Electivire, the trademark sneer playing on his lips as he knelt down in front of it. "And you…" he whispered coolly, "might have, by now, hopefully learnt when not to try and satisfy your curiosity with matters that do not concern you. Let this be a lesson," he hissed, standing back on his feet as he returned Electivire to its PokéBall. "I think we have done enough training for now," he concluded, and in turn Torterra was recalled to its own PokéBall.

Paul took one sweeping look at the bleak scenery to the north – the craggy grey cliffs and the flecked, foamy water – before he turned and made his way back through the mountain pass. But before he climbed down from the first ridge, his cell phone rang for the third time in an hour. Shaking with disbelief and anger, Paul shot a filthy look at his trouser pocket, where his phone was vibrating to a relentless, irritating rhythm. He rummaged through his pocket and roughly pulled the phone out, and, as he thought, the same caller was on the other end of the line, his caller ID flashing on the small screen.

"Give it up!" he shouted at the compact phone, but he flipped open the lid and connected the call nonetheless. "What _now_?!" he said venomously into the speaker.

"I want to talk," said the caller, repeating the line he had used at the start of their last conversation. But Paul noticed that his voice was… different, somehow; it had lost the sarcastic edge, and now it sounded deeply serious, possibly even sad.

"About how I'm hanging around with Team Galactic?" shot Paul, unwilling to let the change in tone unsettle him. "Or about how I hung up on you a few minutes ago? Well, you can go get—"

"No, I don't wish to talk about those things," he said, a quiet whisper that sounded, shockingly to Paul, remorseful. "I want to talk about… Johto."

"Oh, well then you can _definitely_ get fucked," Paul spat, and his thumb was halfway towards the disconnect button before he heard a reply.

"Do _not_ use that language with me, boy," he bristled, the edge back in his voice.

"Well, I sure as _hell_ ain't going to be polite to you, not after what you did."

"Damnit, Paul, I make the effort to call you – _against your wishes_, I might add – to try and work things out between the two of us, and this is the respect I get?!"

"This is as much respect as I'm _ever_ going to give you!" roared Paul. There was a short silence on the line before the caller answered, and his voice was cold and indifferent.

"Fine. I see how this is. But hear me out. _Please_."

That last word made Paul's eyes widen; he had never heard him use that word to him before. That, more than anything else, turned Paul's attitude, and coerced him into listening. "Okay. Why did you want to talk to me about Johto?" he asked quietly.

"We both lost much that year."

"I lost more than you did," Paul hissed, knowing that he was right.

"That is true," he admitted. "And before you say it, you're right; your loss was, ultimately, my fault. Even then, I knew that you two were… well-acquainted."

"And yet you _still_ signed her death warrant," whispered Paul, the phone shaking in his hand.

"It became necessary!" snapped the caller. "She _humiliated_ my organisation; my name; me! She destroyed half of my operations, and besmirched _my name_ across the world! Who would take Team Rocket seriously as a criminal power anymore? Who would tremble before their might, now that their forces had been decimated by a ten-year-old girl and her pathetic group of Pokémon?! It was an embarrassment, and I had to exact my revenge on her."

"Then you should have killed Ari! _He_ was the one you should have sought revenge on, not Tina! _She_ was doing the moral thing to do!"

"That boy is guilty of nothing, Paul; you cannot judge someone purely by their blood. Besides, I did not come here to talk about that boy, nor his family. I came to talk about ours."

"What _is_ there to talk about?! Our family was never close to perfect, or even proper! You disappeared, and left mother to take care of Reggie and I! You never called, or even _tried_ to stay in touch with us!"

"Again, that became _necessary_! When you moved to Veilstone City, right under the noses of Team Galactic, I couldn't just call every other week! They'd know who you were! They certainly knew that your mother had links with Team Rocket; that much we _do _know."

"And _you_ knew that I had 'links' with Tina! And even then, you didn't change your mind; you _still_ ordered the—" he broke off, not wanting to say the word '_hit_'. "Y-You don't know what it was like, waiting for her in Blackthorn City, then see—seeing her… dead…" Paul choked.

"I _do_ know, son," he hissed. "When… when it happened, when you and Reggie were left alone… I knew what it felt like." The connection was silent, but Paul heard the faintest sniff on the other end of the line.

"I know. I'm sorry, father," he mumbled. Silently he cursed himself for apologising, but he knew that there was nothing for it.

"There's no need for apologies," said Paul's father, who seemed to have pulled himself back together. "But Paul, I'm… glad… that we had this talk… it got a lot of things out in the open…"

"Father, why did you _really_ call me?" Paul asked, his resentful demeanour starting to return to him. "You've had a long time to talk to me about this sort of thing, and now, out of the blue, you just call out of nowhere?"

"I see you've inherited my sceptical nature," he grunted, the slightest trace of a laugh in his voice. "But whatever you may interpret this as, it's just a phone call. A father catching up with his son. Now, stay safe," he finished, and the line went dead.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Ari and Paul both have a Honchkrow, Electivire and Magmortar, shown in Chapter 11 and here.**

***The mountain range that includes Mt. Silver – dividing Johto and Kanto – is named Itar after the family of Pokémon that exclusively appeared inside Mt. Silver in the 2****nd**** generation games.**

**Quiz:**

***Which PokéBall could Kurt the Apricorn-smith fashion out of a Yellow Apricorn in the 2****nd**** generation games?**


	42. Speculation

**CHAPTER 42 – SPECULATION**

As the sun began to move away from its perch high above Ayers Island, and started its gentle creep down to the horizon, a wiry-haired man checked his watch before jamming his eyes against a pair of thick, jet-black binoculars. He'd been staring through the binoculars for close to an hour, monitoring the actions of the two people – one boy and one girl – seated by a large stone-set fountain in the middle of an open plaza, three hundred feet away. Despite the distance, he could see right down to the individual fibres on the boy's orange-lined, round-brimmed hat; the technology he had access to was mind-boggling.

Mark reached under the table at which he was seated, and from a light blue shopping bag he pulled out what looked like a futuristic ray-gun. He couldn't help but smile every time he saw this gadget of his; it looked almost comical, but with it he could hear the scraping of a Weedle through undergrowth from a mile away. Taking aim, he trained his gun on the couple at the fountain and eavesdropped on their conversation, sticking a headphone in his left ear. The majority of it was idle chit-chat, that interested Mark far less than the cappuccino in front of him, but as he took a sip of the steaming drink, he heard the name '_Paul_', which nearly made him spit it back out onto his grey-black vest.

"_Now_ we might be getting somewhere," he murmured, snatching his binoculars back up from the tabletop, and pointing it at the two youngsters as the boy spoke up again.

"_The hospital told me I'd have to stay put for six weeks. I could barely walk without nearly passing out with pain. And whilst I was stuck there, I slipped back into detesting Paul; what he did, what he said… everything about him. Half the time I was high on painkillers, and the other half I was wishing I could run out of there and strangle him with my bare hands. I even tried to escape once or twice,_" he jested, and Mark saw the navy-haired girl next to him let out an enthralled laugh. "_But I never got past the corridor! Can you imagine that, being stuck in a bed for a month and a half, with no-one to talk to? Not even Mum knew what had happened to me, so there was no way she'd have come."_

"_Must've been tough…"_

"_Well, I survived, didn't I?"_ he laughed. _"But by the time I'd recovered, it had been three months, not six weeks. Anyways, I was glad to be out of there, and I walked outside… and I ran straight into this other Trainer! Just my luck."_

"_Did you watch where you were going?"_

"_Ye—no. But that's not important. You see, I'd smacked right into Clair, the Blackthorn Leader, and she recognised me right away. Said that she wanted to give me something. So she took me behind the Gym – no, not like that—"_ he added, because his friend was eyeing him suspiciously, "_—there's a cave behind the Gym called the Dragon's Den, home of some extremely powerful Dragon-type Pokémon. Anyways, she led me right down to the bottom, where there was this… shrine, of sorts. This old guy greeted me at the door and ushered me inside. He said that Clair had told him of what had happened to me – getting slashed in the back and all – and he gave me this PokéBall, saying that '_this Pokémon is yours now, my child; treat it with love and care, just as you cared for your friend'."

"_I was about to say something back at him, but then the door burst open and this Trainer barged in, saying he was looking for Clair,"_ he went on. _"He had to be held down by three monks before he stopped causing a racquet fit to make an Exploud uncomfortable. And as it turned out, that Trainer just happened to be—"_

"—_Leoric, right?"_ the girl asked with a smirk.

"_Yep. He—"_

Mark had heard enough; mentioning Paul's name must have simply been a coincidence. He threw his 'sonic-snoop' back into his bag and took another swig of his coffee, keeping his binoculars focused on the two, even as he heard someone approach and sit down next to him. "I don't need to check my watch to know you're late, Em," he muttered, not looking around at his company, who snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Big whoop, like you were never late back at HQ," Emily grunted, clawing at Mark's binoculars. "Come on, let me see!" she moaned, as he pulled them away from her reach.

"No! Shane assigned _me_ with all the gadgets, and—"

"—A pair of binoculars is _not_ a gadget!"

"Regardless," Mark hissed, staring daggers at her, "you're the _physical_ detail; I get to hang back and watch," he added smartly, smirking as he put the binoculars back to his eyes. His free hand groped in the air, and once he found Emily's arm he latched on to it. "They're going," he muttered, getting to his feet and throwing his binoculars into the shopping bag. "Grab the bag; it'll help give us cover."

"Cover? _What_ cover?!" Emily shrieked.

"We'll look like a pair of tourists. I'll be taking some happy-snaps—" he held up an old-fashioned camera, "—and you've just had a spell of shopping," he explained, poking his boot against the bag next to her feet. "We'll be a holidaying couple," he added, and there was no mistaking the mischievous grin on his sallow face.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" asked Emily coolly, snatching the shopping bag up and looping it around her arm. As she glanced down at it, she gave a small, sarcastic laugh and looked back up at Mark, who was easily six inches taller than her. "Light blue? Subtle," she muttered.

"Hey, if Alex was here instead of you, I'd have gotten a red one," he chuckled. "I like to see myself as a bit of a gentleman."

"Who questions his orders at the first sign of complications?"

"Em, that's not fair. I'm not worried about capturing that kid; I'm worried about working with Paul. Now, quit trying to pick me apart and let's tail those two."

* * *

A huge wave rolled in the sea, swelling and eddying as it rushed over the surface of the ocean. In the middle of nowhere, surrounded on all sides by an endless expanse of blue, were the shattered, charred remains of Team Rocket's Magikarp-submarine, bobbing about in the tide. As the wave crashed over the wreckage, a small white shape shivered with cold as the water came in contact with its fur.

"Meeee-ow! Stick da heat up, woodja?" it said, its face muffled by a large sheet of fibreglass that it was lying on. "Eeugghh… My head…" Meowth slowly raised its head and looked around at his surroundings, massaging his head with a paw as things came flooding back. "Jess… James…" he mumbled, getting to his feet and looking around. Jessie was sleeping – or maybe she was unconscious – on the nearest neighbouring piece of fibreglass; James was awake, and he was leaning back on the half-destroyed fin-hatch of their submarine, his arm leaning on a knee brought up to his chest.

"Welcome back to the real world," he groaned, his eyes half-closed. "Let Jess sleep," he added, as Meowth made to jump over to her. "We should be thankful that she's not already up and screaming at us."

"Yeah, some tings are a blessing," Meowth agreed, leaping over the water and plunking himself down next to James. "Y'know, she could've at least _tried_ to get away from doze two," it muttered.

"Well, Jess' nature matches her hair colour, we know that," he grunted, looking over at their team-mate, and he let out a sad laugh. "But those Pokémon… whoa…"

Jessie stirred and sat up gingerly, patting her hair with her hands to make sure that it was still styled the way she liked it. She looked around wildly, and upon seeing James and Meowth, she sprang to her feet. "Where are we?" she shouted.

"Somewhere where dere's a lotta water," Meowth mused. "I'd say we're a fair way out at sea."

"Great, so we're stuck out here in the middle of nowhere!" Jessie seethed, kicking at a loose piece of metal on the ground. James ducked in fright as it sped towards him, and as he looked back up at the spot where his head had been, he saw the sharp end of the fragment embedded in the submarine fin.

"No tanks ta you," fired Meowth, standing on his feet. "If you'd have come back to da sub like we was screaming at you, doze Trainers wouldn't 'ave wiped da floor wiff you, and sent us way out here wiff half a stinkin' ship!"

"If I'd gone back to the submarine, they'd have easily picked us off, you simple-minded dolt!" Jessie roared, baring her teeth and brandishing her fist. The two of them fell into an angry silence, and both turned to face James, who hadn't made a sound since Jessie regained consciousness.

"Who was the twerp with the Luxray?" he piped up, looking from Jessie to Meowth and back again.

"I think that other twerp – the one who saw us in the alleyway – called him… Layonic?" she muttered.

"Layonic? What kind of stupid name is Lay—oh wait, you mean _Leoric_?" Meowth asked loudly.

"Well _excuse me_, but it was a bit hard to hear over the thunderstorm!" Jessie spat, but she was surprised that Meowth had known his name. "So who's this _Leoric_, anyways?" she asked, hopping over to join them.

"He's a Pokémon Trainer, and he's wickedly good, too," James answered, cutting in before Meowth could answer. Meowth rounded on him, his thin eyebrows flying up, and James looked at him just as suspiciously. "What? Didn't you hear those little blonde-haired kids when he came running up to us? Right before we stole Pikachu?"

"Oh yeah… good ears, Jimmy," Meowth cheered, flicking at his own ears.

"If I had to make a rough guess, I'd say that the other twerp – the one with the Garchomp—"

"—The one who saw us in the alleyway," Jessie reminded him.

"—yes, that too," James continued, frowning slightly. "He must've been Leoric's Tag Team partner."

"Tag Team?" asked Jessie blankly, but her patience soon ran out as James looked pityingly at her. "Well, who _is _he?!"

"He'd have to be, uh… Ari DeVarro," James said calmly, pulling the jagged shred of metal from the fin above his head. He almost dropped it in fright when he heard Meowth give a loud yelp from next to him.

"You jus' said _Ari_, right?" gasped the Pokémon, shaking his head and clutching at it with his hands. "Oh boy… dis is bad… dis is _very_ bad…"

"What's bad?!"

"Dat Ari twoip…"

"Well, that solves everything! It's not like we need an explanation to tell us what the heck you're going on with!" Jessie yelled sarcastically.

"Do you two remember when we foist followed da main twoips inter Johto?" Meowth asked, and James nodded in response. "Before dat, while we was huntin' 'em down in da Orange Islands, tree kids took down da Johto Team Rocket."

"What?! Three little punks beat an entire section of Team Rocket?!" screamed Jessie, while James let out a low whistle.

"Yeah, only a few months before we got dere, too," Meowth went on, calling on his memory. "Dey forced da head of da Johto faction to disband everyone on dat side of da Itar mountains. Da Boss wasn't pleased wiff dat, dough. He got his best lieutenants to head to Johto, on orders to kill da twoip who'd done da finishing blow. If I remember correctly, dey got her while she 'n' Ari was going through da Ice Path between Mahogany and Blackthorn."

"So this Ari was there when Boss had her snuffed out? Wow, that must have been rough," commented James quietly, and Meowth nodded sympathetically.

"Yeah, 'n' now, wherever dis Ari character goes, Rockets – leff, right 'n' centa – seem to go a bad way. Dere was dis report of a Grunt in Saffron City last year, who Ari put in a coma wiff his bare hands."

"How did they know it was him?" Jessie asked Meowth, curious.

"He's always got dis hat he wears, wherever he turns up. Some ugly, brown-orange hat dat looks like it belongs on some fisherman," he explained gruffly.

"That kid that I battled was wearing something like that," she recalled.

"Then it must 'ave bin Ari den."

"But wait," shot James, sitting upright now, "you said that there were _three_ twerps that took down Team Rocket. One's dead, the other's been taking his revenge on us—" he counted them off on his fingers, "—so who's the third one?"

"No-one really knows," Meowth shrugged, but there was a spark in his eyes. "Alldough, I heard a rumour dat da last twoip was—" he beckoned his fellows closer to him with a paw, as if worried that someone could hear them in their isolation, "—da Boss's _son_!"

"_The Boss's son_?!" gasped Jessie and James at the same time, their hands flying to their mouths.

"Does the Boss even _have_ a son?" asked James wildly.

"You should ask him yourself," Meowth remarked, making James look at him worriedly. He hopped over to a nearby platform of broken metal and scooped up a bright, rectangular object from inside a small pile of rubble. He opened it up, pressed a button and threw it over to James, who held it as though it were a ticking time bomb.

"Wh-Wh-What are you doing?!" Jessie stammered, looking apprehensively at the object.

"Calling the Boss," purred Meowth. "Well, not me; _you_ are."

"Meowth, are you insane?! We can't just go calling the Boss in the mid—" James began, livid, but his face fell as he heard the phone give a rough click, meaning that the call had gone through.

"What do you three bumbling twits want _this _time?!" hissed Giovanni's voice from the receiver. James hastily put it to his ear.

"G-Good day to you t-too, B-Boss," he said nervously. "We m-might have some v-valuable information for you."

"You always say that, and inevitably I am always sourly disappointed. If you're trying to suck up for another pathetic grant, you're wasting your time."

"N-No, sir, n-n-nothing like that!" James stuttered foolishly, trying to sound positive. "But—in order to fully—u-understand—the gravity of our, uh, in—formation, we're af-f-fraid that we have to inquire about your son," he blurted, looking desperately at Jessie and Meowth for reassurance, but the pair of them looked as though James had just sold their souls. He waited in a terrified silence as he heard his Boss beginning to breathe heavily.

"…How do you know about my children?" he hissed softly, his voice as cold as the water surrounding them.

"Ch-ch-child_ren_?!" James exclaimed, making his team-mates shoot upright with shock. "We never knew that you had m-more than one, sir. We, um, are only, uh, _concerned_… with the son that—" he casted a quivering look at his fellows, "—assisted in the fall of the Johto faction several years ago," he rushed, his words tumbling over one another.

"_What could you skunk-heads possibly have to do with my boy?!_" Giovanni roared, and James whimpered in fear as he held the phone at arm's length. "_You say you have information on him, but that is impossible! I think that this a pathetic bluff to wean your own gossip out of me!!_"

"B-B-B-B-But, sir!" James cried, still keeping the phone away from himself, "i-it's about Ari DeVarro!"

"_You think that bl—"_ he bellowed, but the mention of Ari stopped him in his tracks. "Wait… how could you know that boy's name unless… hmph. Very well. What is it you wish to know?"

"Well—" James said, looking confusedly at Jessie and Meowth, who craned their necks to hear more, "—we wanted to know the, uh, _details_, of the boy's involvement with your son. It might—shed some light on—recent events," he ventured, taking a wild stab.

"Ari and my son have been, as from what I am aware, enemies from when they first met each other. Much like the three of you and that boy you keep chasing, although the two of them were of roughly the same skill – which is far more than can be said for any of _you_ when it comes to Ash," he added venomously. "However, a young girl by the name of… Tina—" he hissed the word through his teeth, "had a connection with both of them, and somehow, they worked together to foil my Johto operation in Azalea Town."

"Months later," he went on, the resentful edge in his voice sending a shiver down James' spine, "when I had agents in Mahogany Town conducting a top secret project codenamed '_Mayfair_', I got word that they were in the area, and intended to shut down my Mahogany base. I contacted my son, and told him of my plans, which convinced him to play a double-agent and defend the base. However, he was defeated by a former Champion, and the base was destroyed. I then ordered the head of the Johto faction to take control of the Goldenrod City Radio Tower – and consequently all of Goldenrod City – to expand on the success of Mayfair. But I also contacted my son and summoned him to my headquarters, as a way to leave him out of the ambush that I had planned for the two remaining Trainers. Unfortunately – and once again – my plans failed, and the Johto head was so ashamed of his defeat that he, independently, disbanded the Johto faction of Team Rocket."

"And so," he continued, his voice heavy, "humiliated by this crushing defeat at the hands of children, I turned to my most elite lieutenant – code-named '_Vicious_' – to find the girl as quickly as possible, and exact my revenge."

"And he found her in the Ice Path…" finished James, quaking.

* * *

James wasn't the only one who was quaking. Hidden in the shadows of an abandoned warehouse, blackened and crumbling – and missing half its rear wall – stood three people, cowering in front of the towering frame of their commanding officer. He had moved on from the youngest of the three, a curvy woman with a crown of fiery red hair, and had turned his wrath to the other two figures. The taller of them stood unflinchingly as abuse after insult was thrown at him.

"You had the perfect goddamn chance! The target was practically alone, in plain sight at the Fountain Court! It would have taken all of thirty seconds to knock out the other one and get away unnoticed! Why didn't you jump in and—you're a disgrace!" he roared, and his apparent victim could see that the mess of spiky green hair atop his head seemed ready to whip out and strangle him like the vines of a Tangrowth.

"In all fairness, sir, Emily and I _are_ under _your_ orders to survey and survey only. _You_ told us to intercept and capture the target at the conclusion of Mr. Ketchum's third round match against Reena Beech, to commence this afternoon," he retorted impishly, smirking.

"You think taking the piss out of me is gonna save your skin?!" seethed Shane, breathing through his nostrils. "If you _screw this up_, not only do we end up with _nothing_ – nothing! – but I'm pretty sure the Boss himself is going to be _very_ displeased with us! And that's a hundred times worse than failing some mission!"

"B-But sir, we haven't _failed_ yet," stammered Emily, her eyes trembling from under her sweeping cyan hair. "In-In fact, we haven't even had the opportunity to fail, if that… helps…" she trailed off, struck silent by his murderous stare.

"Listen to me very carefully," Shane whispered, stepping back so that Mark, Emily and Alex could all see him clearly, "You had better make _damn_ sure that that kid is lying at my feet, ready to be exchanged, by the end of today… or so help me, by the time I'm through with you, you'll all wish that you had been trapped in a _Darkrai's_ worst nightmares. Understand? …_Do you understand?!_" he bellowed, making them all jump a foot in the air.

"Sir, yes, sir!" they all responded, springing to a salute. But as Shane's ultrathin cell phone beeped, and he turned his back to take the call, Alex and Emily saw Mark change his salute into an extremely rude one-fingered wave, and it took them a huge effort not to laugh at his bravery – or stupidity – for making the gesture. Alex looked over at Emily, pointed at Mark with one hand, and with the other she made the shape of a gun, putting it to the side of her head and pretending to pull the trigger. Emily smirked and shook her head, pointing at him and closing her other fist, raising it to her forehead and moving her hand towards – then away – from it. Mark noticed both, and gave the pair of them a one-fingered salute each before sitting down on an upturned trash can.

"This is Honcho, state your name and status," Shane muttered into the phone, knowing perfectly well that it could be only one of four people; they were the only ones who had the clearance to place a call. He crossed his fingers and closed his eyes in prayer that it was one of the three lesser elites that was on the other end of the line.

"My name is my identity," echoed the reply, and Shane swore silently as he realised that his caller was the one person he _didn't _want it to be.

"Greetings, Abaddon," he grunted, edging along the alleyway to avoid his colleagues overhearing the conversation. "I presume this is an important transmission?"

"What gives you that impression?" the man called Abaddon asked.

"Crimson, Violet or Indigo would have been on your end if it weren't," Shane reasoned. "So, what is the nature of this call?"

"Talk to me as you talk to your colleagues, Honcho."

"I'm… not exactly sure I should, sir. Not _that_ informally," he chuckled, glancing over his shoulder at the three of them. "But I understand. What'd you call for?"

"How goes the mission?"

"It's—going as planned," Shane said, trying to sound confident. "We plan to have the location of the stone by nightfall."

"Very good, Shane," Abaddon said proudly, and Shane's pulse quickened at the use of his first name. "Do you know anything at all about its whereabouts at the moment?"

"Our informant – the Paul boy – says that the stone can be found buried under the northernmost pillar of the Spear Pillar ruins atop Mt. Cor—"

"I _know_ where Spear Pillar is," hissed Abaddon malevolently. "Hmm… I guess it's not unexpected that it's up there… if only I'd have known last year. Oh well, these things happen; no point wallowing in pity," he muttered, seemingly to himself.

"Sir, what about the issue of my…?" Shane asked greedily.

"Ah, of course. Should your mission succeed, you're to be summoned immediately to Veilstone Headquarters for your debriefing as Commander," he said nonchalantly, as though it was merely a formality at this point in time. "But if you fail…" he added, leaving the words to hang like a guillotine over Shane's neck.

"I—I understand completely," he gulped.

"Good. I'll assemble an excavation team to climb Mt. Coronet and await further instructions."

"Sir, what about the kid we're kidnapping? Doesn't this feel… a bit… wrong?"

"Not to me," Abaddon replied evenly, and Shane knew that he was telling the absolute truth. "That information is of utmost importance to my plans, and the well-being of one insignificant child will not trouble me in the slightest. Do you… have a problem with that, Shane?"

"No, sir!" he defended assertively. But then his mind turned to the last factor of the mission. "But sir…" he began, wetting his lips, "what about Paul?"

"Well, I expect you to have _some_ reservations about _that_ child," Abaddon said smugly.

"Yes, considering—everything…"

"Regardless of what you believe _my_ reasons are, your orders stand. Once you have the location of the stone, you – and you _alone_ – are to carry out your final order before reporting back to Headquarters."

"I don't think—"

"You're not paid to think," spat Abaddon. "You're paid to follow orders. The moment Paul has his _hostage_… kill them both."

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Despite being the leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni had his children Paul and Reggie live in Veilstone City, close to Team Galactic.**

***The northernmost pillar at the Spear Pillar is actually not directly to the north; it's closer to the side (going by the 4****th**** Generation games, of course).**

**Quiz:**

***In the 4****th**** generation, which attacking move can only be bred onto Tangela and Tangrowth by chain breeding?**


	43. Hidden Yet In Plain Sight

**CHAPTER 43 – HIDDEN YET IN PLAIN SIGHT**

Ash twisted comfortably in his soft armchair, Pikachu on one of the chair's arms and Anabel propped neatly on the other. The three of them, along with Brock, May, Misty and Leoric had returned to his hotel room after his emphatic win over Josef, and they were talking casually over a few cool drinks – Brock opting, as always, with a tall glass of lemonade. Max was still eager to watch some more matches to help his experience in becoming a Pokémon Trainer, and so Tracey had been more than willing to accompany him to one, his ever-trusty sketchbook and pencil tucked to his side as they left for the stadiums. Ari and Dawn hadn't come back, and Ash believed that it was probably a good thing that they hadn't yet; no doubt they had a lot to talk about.

_Those two,_ he thought, scratching Pikachu's ears. _It hasn't been a full week yet and they've already got problems… I'd hate to see what could happen after a month!_ He sniggered at this, and Brock, looking over at him from between sips, gave him a quizzing look. "Ah, it's nothing," he said, waving him down as he leant forward to grab his Sitrus. As he drained the amber-coloured fluid, May, seated across from him, made a retching motion and shook her shoulders; she couldn't stand the smell or taste of Sitrus juice, nor was she happy with watching other people drink it.

"Congratulations on winning through to the fourth round, Anabel," Misty said merrily, sitting uncomfortably close to Leoric. "I saw your match; you were on fire!"

"Thanks, Misty," Anabel replied, blushing deeply. "Speaking of the fourth round, Ash, aren't you going to get any training in for your last match?" she asked seriously, turning to face him.

"I don't want to wear my Pokémon down before the battle's even begun," he said lazily. "As far as I'm concerned, all three of them are going to be raring to go, and I want to use that to have them take it that extra yard."

"You do realise that if you lose, you're out of the tournament, right?" Leoric chimed in, his head resting on his hand. Ash simply shrugged in answer and took another sip of juice.

"So which of your Pokémon _are_ you going to be using against Reena?" May asked, after he'd stopped drinking the repulsive beverage.

"Reena? Is that who my opponent is?" Ash asked blankly.

"Uh-huh. Don't you ever check who you're going to be facing?" she said patronisingly. Ash shrugged again and smirked.

"Sorry, not gonna tell you which ones I'm using. You'll just have to wait and see," he winked, much to everyone's disappointment.

"Once again, no fun at all," Leoric sighed sarcastically, making everyone else smirk along with him. Misty leaned over and whispered something in his ear, the smirk still planted on her face. May's face twitched uncontrollably, but no-one took any notice; they were still looking over at Leoric, and they could all see that Misty's words had an effect on him, because his grin instantly dissolved into open-mouthed surprise, and his eyebrows flew into his hair. Even as Misty leant back in her seat, he was still staring vacantly at the same spot on the wall he had been when his face had so comically changed expression.

"Leoric? Hey, Leoric, snap out of it," Ash jested, waving his arm in front of Leoric's face. He snapped out of his trance at once, blinking drearily as he turned, incredulously, to Misty, whose face was the same shade of red as Ash's hat.

"Well I must say, you make a Crobat look sluggish at times," he joked, getting to his feet and helping Misty to hers.

"What's going on?" Brock asked politely.

"Ah, nothing much," he said sheepishly. "Misty's just asked me over to her place for a bit."

"Did she now?" May asked surreptitiously, her eyes narrowed at her orange-haired friend. "What might she have invited you over _there_ for?"

"Just wanted to talk to him _privately_ about some things," Misty replied cheekily, and May flushed in anger to the roots of her hair. She smirked playfully – which only infuriated May more – before she turned back to face Leoric. "Shall we?" she asked, offering him her arm.

"Yeah, sure, there's no time like the present," he said suavely, linking his arm in hers. Despite the stunned looks they were receiving – and a particularly haughty and murderous stare from May – they either didn't take notice or didn't care. As they reached the door, Leoric chivalrously grabbed the door handle, but as he turned it, the door flew open, smacking him between the eyes and knocking him back onto the floor. As Misty knelt down to help him up, May jumped up from her seat and rushed over to assist, whilst Ash, Brock and Anabel looked over at Ari and Dawn, who were the ones who had opened the door and struck Leoric in the face.

"Hey guys, how's th—? What, did Leo have too much to drink again?" Ari chuckled, looking down at his friend, who was being dragged to his feet by Misty and May. Leoric laughed at him in a girly, high-pitched voice before dropping the charade and rubbing his forehead.

"No, I haven't touched the stuff today. You hit me in the head with the door!" he hissed, moving his hand away from a spectacularly red line running down between his eyebrows. "See?!"

"Well now we can use your head as a scoreboard for the next few rounds!" Ari said, snatching up a marker from the coffee table just inside the door. "Hold still…" he muttered, uncapping the marker and trying to write on Leoric's forehead. Leoric grabbed his hands and tried to force them away, but as Ari struggled with him he looked over at Ash and asked, "which side do you want to be, left or right?"

"Come on, that's not even funny," Leoric said, wrenching the marker away and throwing it over his shoulder. "I'm gonna look like an idiot for the next week."

"You look fine," May reassured him, gently patting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, _fine_ indeed," Misty added smartly. "So Leo…?"

"Hmm? Oh right," he muttered, pushing past Ari and walking into the hallway. A wiry-haired man with thick glasses and a Starmie baseball cap, standing next to the elevator, glanced over at the commotion, but quickly looked away. Misty followed Leoric, squeezing between Ari and Dawn, but not before she gave May one last taunting look, and as she joined Leoric in the hallway she linked arms with him again as they walked out of sight.

Dawn walked over the threshold and stood next to May, whose hands had curled into fists, and grabbed at Ari's jacket, beckoning him to come inside. But Ari was still staring down the hallway that Leoric and Misty had just exited through, his mouth agape, and as he felt the tug of Dawn's hand on his arm he slowly turned his head, keeping his eyes on the spot.

"Did I just see what I _think_ I just saw…?" he murmured, as Dawn finally managed to avert his attention. "Leoric with _Misty_?!"

"Since when?!" Ash exclaimed, oblivious.

"Hey, don't ask me, I'm as surprised as you are. I always thought Leoric was more interested in—making a name for himself as a bachelor," Ari blurted, rolling his eyes in relief at the quick save he'd made. "What's up with you, May?" he asked, noticing that she looked ready to explode.

"Ah, nothing, nothing!" she stuttered, her expression disappearing in the blink of an eye as she waved her hands in front of her in defence. Ari continued to look at her suspiciously for close to a minute, then shrugged his shoulders and began to turn away. But out of the corner of his mouth he whispered five words, quietly enough so that only May could hear, and he gave her an inconspicuous wink before he walked over and threw himself down onto the lounge that Leoric and Misty had been sitting at earlier.

"So, uh, Dawn, did the two of you work out… whatever it was?" Brock asked as she sat down next to Ari and crossed her legs.

"Yeah, we're fine now, so there's no need to worry!" she said brightly, clasping Ari's hand. "Just… a little misunderstanding, that's all," she added, with a meaningful look at Ari, which lifted the mood of the entire room.

"That's so good to hear!" Anabel said, clapping her hands together. "Well, Ari, now you know that you should _explain_ everything to Dawn properly, so that there's none of these '_little misunderstandings_' in the future, got it?" she added.

"What are you, my mother?" he joked. "But I get your point," he added seriously, with a kind-hearted smile. "Hey, May, are you gonna join us over here or what?" he called over to her, still standing next to the open doorway.

"Huh—? R-Right!" she stuttered, slamming the door shut as she walked over and sat down next to Brock.

"Good, because there's something I've gotta tell you all," he said matter-of-factly, looking in particular at Ash and Brock. "It's that thing I said I'd tell you if all went well with Dawn, remember?" he reminded them, and Brock nodded and leaned forward expectantly. To his surprise – and everyone's but Dawn – Ari stood up, turned around, and lifted his shirt up to show the huge scar slashed across his back.

"Whoa, that looks nasty!" Ash muttered, while Pikachu gave a small yelp of fright and swayed uneasily on the spot.

"How'd that _happen_?!" asked a mortified May, her hand flying over her mouth as Brock gave a stunned cry and craned closer to inspect the mark.

"I got that scar years ago," Ari began, covering the scar and sitting back down to retell his story.

"You never told me you had something like _that_," Anabel said, turning the slightest shade of green. Ari flashed her a gentle smile and shook his head.

"No, no, I got this a while after you and I met each other," he explained. "Okay, so, like I told you before, Paul and I met about five years ago, when I was still living at Ecruteak City…"

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Ari's comment to Anabel at the end of the chapter indicates that the two met sometime **_**before**_** Tina's funeral.**

**Quiz:**

***Alternately-coloured Crobat are predominantly what colour?**


	44. Nidoqueen Of Diamonds

**CHAPTER 44 – NIDOQUEEN OF DIAMONDS**

"Come on, Pikachu. Let's go out there and win," Ash said to his Pokémon, sitting atop his shoulder.

"_Pii pikachu!_" said Pikachu, grinning fiercely. _Let's do it._

Ash grinned back at Pikachu and stood in front of the tunnel wall, waiting for two o'clock to come around. All too soon, he heard the double-chime of the clock nearby as the hand struck twelve, and with a miniscule buzzing noise the door slid aside, revealing the stadium on the other side. A tidal wave of noise nearly blew Ash back; it was much more than he had heard during his first four battles at the other minor stadiums. Slowly regaining his composure, he took a deep breath and stepped out onto the battlefield, which, he noticed, was neither grass nor sand, but rather the same synthetic material that he had fought the majority of his Gym Battles on. _Wow, this must cost a fortune to keep in condition_, he thought, striding over the hard, rubbery surface.

"Heeeyyy!" he shouted, waving at his friends seated in the front row. He was amazed that they had gotten such good seats, but he was too happy to really care as to how they got them. _Must've been Ari,_ he realised, noticing the familiar brown hat next to Dawn's white one. Once they waved back, he turned back and walked the rest of the way to the purple centre circle. His opponent, Reena, was already standing on the other side of the circle, and so he extended his hand politely. "Ash Ketchum," he smiled.

"Reena Beech," she giggled, pronouncing her last name _Beek_. She was surprisingly tall – a head taller than Ash – and had flowing black hair that curled down past her shoulders. She had bubbly blue eyes, which were reflected in her choice of clothes; she was dressed in a blue buttoned shirt, a blue-and-white striped pair of trousers, and blue cross-trainers. She even wore sapphire-coloured fingerless gloves, and as Ash saw all of these things he had to suppress a round of laughter. "Let us give it our all, shall we?" she suggested, and Ash, not wanting to give anything away, nodded as she shook his hand.

"Definitely," he replied confidently, watching as she began to walk away. "Hey, Reena—!" he called out, making her turn around curiously. "Where are you from, anyways?" he asked foolishly, and as he realised how he sounded he began to blush.

"Oh, me?" she said with a girlish laugh. "I am from Russia, of course!" She did a little hop and a skip, clapping her hands together joyfully, before she strolled to her green Trainer's box at the far side of the stadium.

_Russia, eh? Interesting…_ Ash thought, shaking his head as he and Pikachu reached the red Trainer's box. As the announcer's voice blared overhead, introducing himself and Reena to the crowd, he stuck his hand up to a chorus of cheers at his mention, only half-paying attention to them as he considered his options. _Let's see… Russia… it's north, so it'd be bound to be colder… maybe I should expect some Ice- or Steel-types? Then again, she might be expecting me to toss a counter to that out first, so I'll just predict the prediction!_ After a moment, he pulled a PokéBall from his belt and held it proudly as Reena did the same, both Trainers waiting with baited breath.

"Are both Trainers ready?" asked the referee, looking from one to the other, and they both nodded, eager for the contest. "Then let the battle begin!" he declared, and as he raised his flags the starting siren rang through the stands.

"Come on out, Gliscor!" Ash shouted, throwing his PokéBall into the centre of the field. Ash's Gliscor, a huge purple bat-like Pokémon, flew out of the ball and rested in the air, its sharpened tail poking into the ground and holding it upright.

"_Gliscor glii_!" it hissed, clacking its claws together as it waited agitatedly for its opponent.

"Nidoqueen, I choose you!" called Reena, hurling her PokéBall at the ground in front of Gliscor. From inside the ball sprang an enormous blue Pokémon, stomping on its hind legs and swinging its clawed hands around. It was covered in armoured scales, and a row of vicious-looking spines ran down the length of its back, ending at the tip of its massive tail. On top of its head was a lone horn, which Nidoqueen thrust competitively forwards, as if daring Gliscor to attack it head-on. Ash pulled his trusty Pokédex out from his pocket to study the Pokémon.

_Nidoqueen, the Drill Pokémon, the final evolutionary stage of female Nidoran and Nidorina. Its entire body is covered in hard scales that offer excellent protection from any attack. This species of Pokémon is extremely powerful on its own, adept at sending foes flying with harsh tackles, but it is at its strongest when defending its young, which it will protect with its life._

"Ash Ketchum's Gliscor vs. Reena Beech's Nidoqueen! Begin!" said the referee, commencing the match.

"Gliscor, move in for a Night Slash!" Ash yelled, seizing the chance to attack first. Gliscor swooped into the sky and did a somersault before it flew straight at Nidoqueen, its left claw glowing black as it moved closer to its target.

"Nidoqueen, give Gliscor a taste of your Iron Tail!" Reena roared immediately. Nidoqueen grunted, thumped her tail on the ground, and beat her chest as her tail instantly glowed white. Gliscor swung its dark claw around to strike Nidoqueen across the head, but at the last moment, she whipped her tail up with terrifying speed and smashed it into Gliscor's body, sending the Pokémon spiralling into the ground without even connecting its own attack. Gliscor launched itself back into the air at once, baring its enormous fangs and clicking its claws again as it waited for its Trainer's next order.

"Use Ice Fang, Gliscor!" bellowed Ash. Gliscor let out a soft hiss and once again bared its fangs, and as he watched his Pokémon, those fangs began to glitter as they collected ice from the air. In seconds the ice had solidified over its teeth, forming a pair of sickle-like spears hanging from its jaw, and Gliscor leapt forwards with a howl, latching onto Nidoqueen's back and burying its frozen fangs into the soft hide of her upper neck. Nidoqueen squealed in agony and trampled about, trying to throw her attacker off, but Gliscor wasn't about to let go. In a last-ditch effort to rid herself of Gliscor, Nidoqueen swung her thick-plated arms over her head and crushed the Pokémon's head between them and her back. Gliscor seethed with pain and slid off, shaking its head drowsily as it picked itself up from the ground.

"Show that Gliscor some manners, Nidoqueen!" Reena shouted tauntingly, urging her Pokémon on. "Body Slam!" Nidoqueen smirked and yelped obediently, jumping high up into the air and spreading her limbs wide as she began to fall back to earth, positioned directly over Ash's struggling Gliscor.

"Gliscor, get out of there now!" Ash screamed. Gliscor didn't need to be told twice; snapping itself out of its half-unconscious state, it threw itself bravely to the left just as Nidoqueen hurtled into the hard ground where it had just been, sending out a tremor across the surface, and a shockwave through the air that Gliscor rode like a gentle wave, safely perching itself on the boundary wall at the stadium's edge.

"Nidoqueen, fire a Poison Sting at it," hissed Reena, and Nidoqueen got up from the ground and stood on all fours, her horn glowing a sickly purple. With a roar she reared onto her hind legs and came crashing back down, and a volley of razor-sharp stingers erupted from the horn on her forehead, whistling as they flew towards Gliscor. Gliscor clicked its jaw irritably, spread its leathery wings wide and guided itself over to another spot on the barrier wall, easily avoiding the attack. The crowd seated behind Gliscor's previous post scattered in fright as the purple spines shot towards them, but they smashed harmlessly into the hard seats, disintegrating without causing anyone any damage.

"Go for a Wing Attack, Gliscor!" Ash shouted confidently, throwing his arm forwards. Gliscor nodded and swooped up into the skies, hunching its claws into its body to make itself as streamlined as possible as it rocketed down towards Nidoqueen, its imposing wings at full breadth.

"Nidoqueen, counter with Crunch!" Reena yelled, keeping her eyes set on her opponent's Pokémon's progress. Nidoqueen stamped the foot with a clawed foot and took a defensive battle stance, waiting for Gliscor to come within range of her. Gliscor cannoned its right wing into Nidoqueen's face, severely winding it, but Nidoqueen swung its mighty jaws around and, just before Gliscor could fly away to safety, clamped down on its tail, stopping in its tracks. Gliscor was hurled back by the force of the attack, grimacing and hissing in pain as Nidoqueen's jaws closed tighter around its tail.

"Gliscor!" Ash roared anxiously, watching uncomfortably as his Pokémon gave another pained hiss. Suddenly, a brilliant idea came into his mind, and he cupped his hands over his mouth to get his command across louder. "Use your tail to send a Fury Cutter inside Nidoqueen's mouth!" Gliscor screwed its eyes shut and, although no-one could see it, smacked its tail against the roof of Nidoqueen's mouth. Nidoqueen gave a tiny grunt of pain, but the impact of the attack only made it bite down harder on its prey's tail. "Keep using Fury Cutter until Nidoqueen lets go, Gliscor, I know you can do it!" Ash shouted, cheering his Pokémon on. Gliscor gave a stiff nod and swung its tail against Nidoqueen's jaws again, and again Nidoqueen winced and clamped down more tightly. The crowd watched breathlessly as the great blue Pokémon struggled with Gliscor's Fury Cutter, and as Gliscor itself struggled with the power of Nidoqueen's Crunch attack, wondering what was transpiring between the two.

"What's going on?" May asked, leaning towards Brock, who grunted knowingly and smiled.

"Even though Fury Cutter is a weak attack on its own, it has the special effect of becoming more and more powerful as it's used consecutively," he explained.

"Yeah," Max cut in excitedly, "which means that the longer Nidoqueen holds on to Gliscor—"

"—the more Fury Cutters Gliscor is going to be able to fire off—" continued Brock.

"—and the more powerful Fury Cutter becomes," finished Max, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Nidoqueen's taking a much worse beating than people are realising, and if Reena doesn't call her off soon, Gliscor's gonna knock her out like that," he snapped his fingers, smirking wisely as May slowly nodded and turned back to the action below.

As though reading Max's thoughts, Reena suddenly raised a hand and bellowed, "Nidoqueen, let go of Gliscor and get away from it!" Nidoqueen winced as Gliscor launched another Fury Cutter into her mouth, and grabbed the Pokémon roughly by the back of the neck, ripping Gliscor forcefully from her jaws and hurling it back towards Ash, who threw his arms out, ready to catch his Pokémon if need be. Gliscor righted itself only feet from colliding with its Trainer and braked its wings just in time, stopping an inch from Ash's face. Gliscor checked that Ash was alright, gave him an apologetic hiss, and turned back around to face its opponent, spreading its claws again as Nidoqueen steadied herself and gave a deafening roar.

"Gliscor, be ready to avoid Nidoqueen's attacks, and fly in for another Night Slash!" Ash ordered. Gliscor smirked nefariously, flapping its great black wings wide as it soared into the air. Unlike the time before, both Gliscor's claws shone with a strange black gleam, and with a whirring cry it leant forwards and shot toward Nidoqueen like a bullet, its glowing claws positioned to strike.

"Nidoqueen, I think Gliscor needs to _chill out_, don't you?" Reena asked her Pokémon mockingly. "Freeze that sucker in its tracks with Ice Beam!" she shouted.

"_Niidooo!_" shrieked Nidoqueen, planting her feet firmly over the arena floor and opening her curved jaws wide. A sky-coloured ball of light formed in front of her face, and Nidoqueen shot out a three-pronged beam of blue at Gliscor, headed straight for it. Gliscor saw the attack reaching for it just in time, swiftly barrel-rolling to the right as the Ice Beam whizzed past, missing its underbelly by a hair, and it could feel the cold chill coming from the attack as it set its sights once more on its target. Another icy jet was fired at Gliscor, and this time it had to bank steeply up as the attack dashed through the open gap between its wing and head. Gliscor swerved back onto its course, dodging a third Ice Beam that narrowly flew over its head, and cannoned its shining claws across Nidoqueen's mid-section, sending her flying helplessly through the air before her slammed down into the violet-coloured field. Nidoqueen shakily returned to her feet, growling with pain as she observed the cuts and bruises across her chest.

"Nidoqueen, are you alright?!" Reena asked, looking worriedly at her Pokémon's spiny back. She heard Nidoqueen grunt positively, and so she nodded and clapped her hands together. "Excellent! Now finish that Pokémon off with another barrage of Ice Beams!" she yelled. Nidoqueen charged up another ball of blue light, tensing her body as her jaws gaped open, and launched another pillar of crystal at Gliscor, who was forced to flatten its narrow frame against the ground to avoid being frozen solid.

"Gliscor, go for Nidoqueen with one last Wing Attack!" Ash roared, unwilling to let his Pokémon stay down and suffer another assault, especially considering Gliscor's unfavourable typing when it came to Ice-type attacks. Gliscor glided off the ground and bared its terrible fangs, ducking and weaving through the air crazily to dodge the onslaught of Ice Beams in breathtaking fashion, and each swoop, dip and dive brought out an impassioned roar from the crowd, sitting at the edge of their collective seats as they watched on, mesmerised. Each successful evasion brought Gliscor a foot or so closer to Nidoqueen, and Ash cheered his Pokémon on more and more vigorously with each passing moment.

"Great work, buddy! Don't let that Nidoqueen lay _anything_ on you!" he shouted, watching on with exhilaration as Gliscor nearly turned itself inside-out to avoid an Ice Beam that brushed right against its scaly head. He grinned with delight when Gliscor pulled out of its nose-dive, but the smile quickly fell from his face as Nidoqueen roared and launched another beam of chilled light at his Pokémon, which struck it square in the stomach. "Gliscor, no!" he screamed, but it was too late; a rock-hard layer of ice already covered Gliscor from the base of its tail to the peak of its neck, trapping one of its claws against its body. Gliscor gave a struggling, frightened snarl as the weight of its burden sent it falling like a stone, crushing it against the hard ground with a pulverising thud, cracking the rubbery surface with the force of the impact.

"Now finish it off with Iron Tail!" Reena cried viciously, and Nidoqueen roared as she banged her tail against the ground, sending up a cloud of dust as the appendage flashed a brilliant white. Gliscor fought vainly against its bonds, and as Nidoqueen brought its tail thundering down it bravely threw its free claw up to block the attack. But it was to no avail, because Nidoqueen's Iron Tail tore right through Gliscor's frail defences and slammed down into its body, shattering the ice that had trapped it with a sound like breaking glass. A cloud of dust flew up around the two Pokémon from the immense power behind Nidoqueen's attack, and as it cleared everyone could see – the crowd with anticipation, Reena with pride, and Ash with bitterness – that Gliscor had been rendered unconscious by its opponent's superior strength.

"Gliscor is unable to battle!" shouted the referee, thrusting his green flag at Reena and her Nidoqueen, who stamped proudly on the spot in celebration.

"Oh well, you did your best, Gliscor," Ash murmured, pulling out his Pokémon's PokéBall and returning it in a flash of red light. "I'm proud of you. Now take a nice, long rest," he added soothingly to the ball as he clipped it to his waist. "Well, if Reena thinks she can stop me with ice, I'll just have to show her who she's messing with…" he said in an undertone to Pikachu, who smiled and patted a paw on his Trainer's shoulder as Ash took his second PokéBall from his belt, pressing the centre button to enlarge it.

"Come on, Ash, don't tell me that setback has got you all _frozen_ up!" shouted Reena in a childish sing-song voice, making the crowd roar with laughter. A small nerved twitched in Ash's jaw at the remark, but otherwise he showed no signs of agitation as he hurled his PokéBall out onto the field with a cry.

"Let's go, Glalie!" The ball burst open, revealing a large, spherically-shaped Pokémon that hovered out and into the air. Two charcoal-coloured horns jutted out from the side of its body – which was essentially just a head – like sharpened spears, and its body was encrusted with a thick layer of permafrost, glittering in the afternoon sun. Glalie's cold, sky-blue eyes flashed malevolently from beneath its icy armour, which shimmered in the air as it breathed out a cloud of frozen water from the atmosphere, and it gnashed its row of sharp teeth as it saw its opponent turning to face it for the first time.

"Glalie? That's a smart choice," Brock told May, watching as Glalie snarled at Nidoqueen. "It's an Ice-type, which gives it an advantage over Nidoqueen's Ground-typing."

"I don't know, Brock, Nidoqueen's Iron Tail would still lay some serious hurt on it," Max debated, scratching at his chin.

"Look, you're both right, just stop talking and watch!" Anabel hissed, and the two scalded boys blinked and shut their mouths obediently, hastily turning around to focus on the battlefield.

"Glalie, start things out with an Ice Beam! Show that Nidoqueen the _real_ power of an Ice-type!" Ash roared, pointing forwards at his opponent's Pokémon. Glalie let out a shuddering breath and collected a large ball of white-blue energy in front of its blood-red mouth, firing off a colossal spire of light at Nidoqueen, who clumsily threw herself aside to avoid the attack. The Ice Beam smashed into the boundary wall, creating a towering wall of crystal that obscured the crowd from view and, much to the disappointment of the crowd, obscured their view of the stadium, where Nidoqueen shakily stood to her feet and beat her scaly chest defiantly, roaring at Glalie, who twitched its twin horns restlessly in response.

"You think that's gonna scare Nidoqueen and I?!" hissed Reena, her eyes running up and down the cascading mirror of ice behind her.

"It should, because that's _nothing_ compared to what Glalie can do!" Ash shouted, and Glalie roared as it breathed out more ice crystals. Reena's cheeks flushed with anger, and Ash smirked as they both gave their Pokémon their next attack command.

"Use Ice Beam!" they both bellowed, and Glalie and Nidoqueen spurred into action, readying their frozen spheres to launch at one another as they stood – or in Glalie's case _floated_ – at odds with their foe. As though guided by some unknown signal, both Pokémon shrieked at the same time and shot out a beam of light from the orbs in front of their faces, sizzling with energy as they spiked through the air. The two Ice Beams clashed in the centre of the court, smashing into each other and forming a roughly-shaped cube of ice in the middle of the attacks. As the flow of energy from the two Pokémon collided into the cube, the air around it froze over, and within moments there was a small glacier standing where the beams had met, half the stadium across, blinding the audience as it reflected the sun's rays off its shining surface. Ash shaded his eyes from the glare, but even with this he could see neither Reena nor her Nidoqueen, who were hidden behind the edifice of crystal.

"Glalie, can you see Nidoqueen?!" he asked. Glalie screeched and nodded, pointing its horns towards the berg. "Okay," he said in a loud whisper, "now sneak around the side and hit it with another Ice Beam, alright?" Glalie smacked its blocky teeth against its jaw and flew forwards, edging slowly around the ice to find Nidoqueen. But as it came around to the side, halfway around the glacier, a small white glow, mirrored a thousand times inside the many faces of the ice, blurred through the glistening blue. An instant later the ice cracked from tip to tip, deep gouges spidering through the very core with a howling, grinding noise that tore at the air like a chainsaw. Glalie cleverly backed away just as the fractured ice splintered and exploded, catapulting enormous pillars of crystal into the air and across the field. The frosty shards flew in all directions, some jamming themselves into the field at eccentric angles, others shattered harmlessly against Glalie's wall of crystal mounted against the boundary wall, whilst more threatened to breach the three remaining barriers and strike the spectators.

"Stop those shards from hitting the crowd!" Ash bellowed desperately at Glalie to protect them, and it did just that, launching a salvo of sharp stones from its horns that pierced into the ice and destroyed them as they sped for the boundary wall. Reena ducked for cover as a volley of frozen spines shot towards her, but Nidoqueen dashed in and tore them down to size with a Poison Sting, the stingers shearing through the ice as though they were nothing more than pillows. Once the chaos had finally settled down, all eyes turned once again to the field, where a motley assortment of ice pillars jutted out from the ground, creating a series of natural obstacles which gave the competitors an extra worry; they would have to manoeuvre around them safely in addition to defeating their opponent.

"Nidoqueen, use those chunks of ice as cover to get close to Glalie, then smash it with an Iron Tail!" Reena instructed, quickly getting up from the ground. Nidoqueen turned her sights on Glalie briefly, before her eyes began darting over the rough landscape, working out a path which would give her the best chance to avoid the attacks. She leapt high into the sky, crashing down behind the closest pillar, before swiftly charging across the field, weaving left and right defensively to dodge any Ice Beams that came her way. But Glalie hovered where it was, watching with unblinking eyes as it seamlessly followed every miniscule change in its opponent's direction, even as Nidoqueen thundered closer and her tail sparkled white, signalling her attack.

"Glalie, Protect!" Ash shouted. Glalie gave a low, soft hiss and lowered itself towards the ground, despite Nidoqueen leaping into the sky above its head, her tail adjusted to smash Glalie into the ground. As Nidoqueen swung herself down, Glalie blew a deep, chilling breath that instantly froze the air between itself and its opponent, forming a thin, yet impenetrable wall of ice. Beneath this barrier, Glalie watched on impassively as Nidoqueen roared and smashed her glowing tail against the ice, which resisted the incredible force of the attack without giving a fraction of an inch. Nidoqueen's auburn-coloured eyes widened with enraged shock, Reena cursed loudly, and the crowd gasped in astonishment as the flimsy-looking sheet withstood what Ash's previous Pokémon could not. A stunned Nidoqueen slid off the slippery ice and onto the ground, and Glalie's Protect simply melted into the air, leaving Glalie in pristine health.

"Good work, Glalie!" Ash cheered, and Glalie closed its eyes and nodded joyfully at the encouragement. "Now take Nidoqueen out with a Blizzard attack!"

Glalie's eyes snapped open in an instant, their cold blue irises fixed on Nidoqueen as it raised itself high into the air. Once it reached its desired height, it began to rapidly cool the air around it, and a stream of ice crystals started to orbit around its shimmering body as the air slowly froze. A deathly chill spread from its round body, reaching out with wintry fingers at everything in sight, bolstered by a tough wind. The cold snap hit the crowd first, who shrank back and huddled closer as the raw wind bit at their faces and hands, and as they breathed mist and icicles started forming on the tips of their noses. The brunt of the attack was directed straight at Nidoqueen, however, and she twisted and howled as she vainly tried to escape the freezing gale. A blanket of snow whirled around the Pokémon, covering it from head to toe, and Nidoqueen felt the cold seep through her hard armour and into her bones as she slipped out of consciousness, falling backwards onto the flurry-covered ground.

"Nidoqueen is unable to battle!" roared the referee, brandishing his red flag at Glalie and Ash, who cheered with delight, only to have their victorious voices overthrown by the enormous cries of the crowd, who shrieked and screamed with joy despite the abrupt change in weather, clapping their hands together in celebration as well as keeping warm.

"G-G-Go Ash-sh!" chattered Anabel, shivering from head to toe as she stood and applauded him enthusiastically, where she was quickly joined by Dawn, her tawny legs covered in goosebumps, and then Brock, whose eyes were pinched even further from the chilly air.

"One down, t-t-two to go!" he shouted, his hands cupped under his armpits. Ari, who was sitting comfortably in his chair – his favourite black jacket wrapped snugly over his shoulders – snorted and tossed his windswept hair away from his eyes as he crossed his arms, which earned him a smack across the chest from Dawn, her teeth rattling in their sockets, and her arms securely tucked around her side to keep herself warm.

"Hey, it's f-f-f-f—" she started, trying to stop herself from shivering as she spoke, "—well, you get-t-t the idea," she said wryly, tensing her jaw as the wind blew over her. Ari looked sympathetically at her for a moment before grinning at her. She returned his gaze quizzically, and he answered her by taking his dark jacket off and hanging it off her shoulders, pulling it tightly around her. "Oh, you don't have to…" she murmured, blushing, but she gratefully slipped her arms through the sleeves.

On the snow-blasted battlefield, Reena shook a covering of snowflakes from her hair as she pulled Nidoqueen's PokéBall from her waist and recalled her in a haze of red light. "Well, there's no point sending my other Pokémon out in this storm," she muttered, stowing the PokéBall back on her belt and unclipping the adjacent ball into her hand. "So I guess it's just going to have to be… Starmie! Let's do it!" she yelled, throwing the PokéBall into the icy gale. A flash of white light erupted from the ball, and from the light came a purple Pokémon shaped much like a ten-pointed star, and glowing fiercely with all the colours of the rainbow was a great circular gem, set in the centre of its body.

"A Starmie, eh?" Ash said to Pikachu, who looked on worriedly at their new enemy, its eyes screwed up against the cold. "I don't think I've battle one of them in a _long_ time… But that doesn't mean we're not gonna win, right?!" he called out to Glalie, who nodded assertively as its eyes gleamed. He considered having his Pokémon ease the effects of its Blizzard attack, but he almost immediately decided against it. He could see that it was already taking its toll on Starmie; the colour of its central gem was beginning to dim ever so slightly. Reena saw it too, for she instantly – and even a little faint-heartedly – ignored the weather and focused on her battle, sending Starmie forwards.

"Starmie, let's start you out with a Swift attack!" she bellowed, struggling to make her voice audible over the moaning wind.

"_Kuuuh_!" hummed Starmie, and its back, in the shape of a five-pointed star, spun rapidly as it flew through the air. It fired a burst of star-shaped rays from its core, which arced through the sky, oblivious to the blizzard, and every last ray struck Glalie across its front, knocking the Face Pokémon backwards. Glalie shook itself violently and darted forwards to its original position, agitated by the attack and unwilling to back down for even a microsecond. It shot a filthy look at Starmie, and both Ash and Reena clung a little more closely to their garments as they felt the temperature in the stadium trickle down a few more degrees.

"Glalie, if you want t-to get even with S-Starmie, you don't have to m-m-make us all f-f-freeze to death in the pro-cess!" Ash shouted, wincing as he breathed in the frigid air, which stabbed at his lungs like tiny daggers. "Just launch an Ice B-Beam at it!" he ordered, sighing with relief as he felt the air grow a fraction warmer, even though it was still way beyond his comfort zone, as Glalie hissed and fired a beam of bright light at Starmie, who expertly spun away from it and hovered a few feet to the left. The Ice Beam careened harmlessly into one of the ice pillars, creating an enormous crystalline structure that branched off from it and strained towards the sky.

"Starmie, attack with Hydro Pump!" Reena shouted, opting to play at her Starmie's strengths – namely Water-type attacks – to win the battle. Starmie obediently began to rotate its back star once more, and a thick torrent of water was expelled from its centre, racing through the air towards Glalie. But as it pushed through the chilly air, the water began to cool and solidify, and it slowed down the closer it got to its target. By the time it had come within range, Glalie simply breathed a bleak breath on the weakened Hydro Pump, and the water simply froze up where it was, creating a formidable-looking column of ice that stretched across the length of the stadium, beginning at Starmie and finishing just in front of Glalie. The frosty shaft quickly gave in to gravity and plummeted to earth with a bang, exploding and sending fragments of ice scattering across the stadium floor, as Glalie continued to stare maliciously at Starmie, who stood its ground resolutely.

"Oka, _that_ didn't work out so well," Reena growled, "so we'll just have to try something _else_, won't we? Starmie, fry that popsicle with your Thunderbolt!" she roared, pointing a frozen finger at Glalie, to a shocked exclamation from Ash and Pikachu.

"But Starmie are Water-types! How can they use Thunderbolt?!" he screamed, looking wildly at Reena's Pokémon.

"Like _this_!" she yelled savagely, and Starmie launched a stream of lightning from its uppermost arm, sizzling through the air as it collided with its opponent. Glalie gave a roar of pain as the attack smashed into its body, severely winding it, and it half-fell towards the ground before it regained control of itself and pulled out, once again staring daggers at its foe. Reena cackled at the furious expressions on all three of her opponents' faces, and Ash's face twitched uncontrollably.

"Glalie, show 'em who's boss! Freeze Starmie with an Ice Beam, then move in for a Headbutt!" he bellowed. Glalie hissed ferociously and charged forwards in the air, spewing a stream of ice at Starmie. The Mysterious Pokémon dived down and to the left, but the attack was way too fast for it, and it struck Starmie across the tip of one of its many arms. A crust of frost formed on the arm and quickly spread to cover most of its body, and Starmie fell like a stone, no longer able to keep itself in the air. It plunged towards the ground, and its icy covering cracked as it made contact with one of the ice sculptures projecting from the field, sending Starmie slithering down the side and onto the rubbery surface.

"Starmie, defend yourself with Rapid Spin and Thunderbolt!" shouted Reena, desperate for her Pokémon to fend off its opponent. A high-pitched grating sound came from inside Starmie's frozen prison, and in one swift motion the ice encasing it was ripped away, twinkling as it was shredded into a thousand pieces. Starmie loosed another piercing bolt of lightning at Glalie, who bared its teeth in pain as the attack tore through its body. But it refused to give in to its opponent, and despite the force of the attack it broke through the Thunderbolt before lowering its gruesome horns towards Starmie, careening into the Pokémon with a bone-crunching impact that send a gust of air through the ice-filled stadium. The collision knocked Starmie back at breakneck speed, its motion brought to a pulverising halt by the icy wall at the stadium's rear. Starmie's body cracked the wall from corner to corner, and as it fell forwards and dropped to the ground the wall fell with it, burying it in an avalanche of crystal.

"What a shot!" Max exclaimed, pumping the air with his fist as he jumped to his feet, the crowd echoing his comment with an exploding roar of their own.

"Starmie!" cried Reena, anguish in her voice, "Get up!" But there was no reply from her Pokémon, and the blockade of ice didn't budge. The minutes slowly ticked by as the ice melted, revealing Reena's Starmie lying motionlessly in a pool of freezing water. "Starmie, no!" she screamed, as the referee pointed his red flag at her opponents.

"Starmie is unable to battle!" he shouted, to a chorus of cheering and applause from the crowd, none more enthusiastically than Max, who was shouting himself hoarse in his excitement for Ash and Glalie's victory. Glalie elatedly breathed a cloud of vapour into the already bleak air in celebration, and Reena cursed softly as she snatched Starmie's PokéBall from her belt.

"Job well done, Starmie," she muttered nobly to her fallen Pokémon as she recalled it back to its ball. With a sour twitch of her mouth she clipped the PokéBall back to her waist and regarded Ash with a stern eye. "Well, Ash, it seems that you have me backed into a corner," she admitted. "I am down to my last Pokémon. But I assure you, I will fight my way out of my corner and push you back into yours!" she shouted, wrenching her third and final PokéBall from her belt, and with a guttural roar she flung it into the ice-strewn battlefield.

"Go, Vespiquen!"

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Ash's opponent is based off a female CoolTrainer found on Route 26 in G/S/C, named Reena. Also, two of her Pokémon are Nidoqueen and Starmie, while her third is another Starmie.**

***All of the Pokémon defeated in battle during this chapter have been beaten by a strategy involving an Ice-type move.**

**Quiz:**

***Which attack, used during this chapter, was a TM move only during the 2****nd**** generation? (There are **_**two**_** possible answers)**


	45. Kingler Of Clubs

**CHAPTER 45 – KINGLER OF CLUBS**

Reena shouted eagerly as she threw her last PokéBall into the arena. "Go, Vespiquen!"

The PokéBall burst open in a flash of white light, revealing Reena's final Pokémon to the stadium. Its head was hunched over its sphere-like chest, and a glowing red gem shone atop its horned forehead, glinting fiercely against the sun that struggled through the cold air. It clicked its jaws, baring the set of pincers protruding from the bottom of its face, as it swung two short, spindly arms in front of its head. The arms themselves jutted out from the sides of its chest, each one ending in a two-hooked claw, much like a lizard's, and above these arms were two pairs of translucent wings that whirred as they kept Vespiquen afloat. The Pokémon's chest sharply tapered off towards its waist, which looked like nothing more than simply a joint between its chest and abdomen – merely a thin black strip. Vespiquen's abdomen, however, was enormous. It looked like a vast, yellow ballroom dress striped with black, forming a dome shape as it reached its waist. A faint, buzzing sound came from within, and as Vespiquen's wings raised it into the air, Ash saw that the underside of the Pokémon was actually a honeycomb-like structure, with six hexagons clustered around what looked to him like a pyramid of honey, and so he decided to peruse his Pokédex for further information on his new foe.

_Vespiquen, the Beehive Pokémon, the evolutionary form of Combee, _buzzed the Pokédex as it flashed an tiny image of Vespiquen onto its screen, and the real-life Vespiquen flexed its arms menacingly. _Each colony of Combee contains only one Vespiquen, which acts as the matriarch of the entire colony. Its abdomen is a honeycomb for grubs, which it raises from within, on Honey collected by its numerous Combee workers. When endangered, a Vespiquen's grubs swarm from its six-celled honeycomb to strike back._

_Ah, of course, Vespiquen's a bee…_ Ash thought, and Vespiquen's beady, red eyes narrowed in on him. _Beedrill are bees, and they're Bug-Poison types, but I don't see any stingers on it anywhere… so Vespiquen would have to be a dual Bug-Flying type! Glalie's Ice-type attacks should do pretty well to win the battle… but if that's true,_ he added, because he saw Reena smiling smugly at him, _then what's Reena so happy about?! Hmm… I'll have to be on my guard._

"Vespiquen, use Power Gem!" she shouted. Vespiquen clicked her jaws again, thrilled at the chance to attack her opponent right out of her PokéBall. The droning sound rose from within her body, mingling with the howling wind, and the red stone on her head glowed a pearly white. Vespiquen spun gracefully on the spot, and as she completed her turn a six-sided beam of orange light launched itself from the gem, blasting through the air as it was propelled towards Glalie.

"Glalie, stop that attack with Protect!" Ash cried, watching apprehensively as Vespiquen's Power Gem shot closer. Glalie hissed and formed another wall of ice in the air in front of it, and the attack slammed into it with a bang, creating a massive explosion that sent smoke and ice scattering everywhere, spiralling across the pillars and snow on the ground as they were guided by the strong wind.

"Hidden Power, Vespiquen!" yelled Reena, not waiting for the obscuring clouds to clear. From her side of the stadium, even though Ash could see nothing, Vespiquen began to pulse with a moss-coloured aura, growing outwards as the Pokémon gathered power. Suddenly, the aura split apart and condensed into a circle of tiny orbs that danced crazily around her body, moving this way and that, seemingly at random. With a savage roar from Vespiquen, the orbs radiated outwards and seemed to double in size instantly, and as they spun around in front of their host they shot forwards, plunging into the cloud with a puff of smoke.

"Glalie, keep your eyes peeled for anything weird!" cried Ash. Glalie backed away from the smoke, its eyes darting all over the dark mass, ready to counter the incoming Hidden Power. A green ball of light flitted out from the left side of the cloud, spiralling over Glalie's head and continuing on its way even as it flew out through the stadium's roof. Glalie's eyes followed the orb until it was sure that it wouldn't return, and turned back to the smoke just as three more of the globes shot out. Glalie ducked to the left to avoid the first, which whizzed past its horn and narrowly missed Ash himself, who wasn't prepared to be struck by another opponent's attack and leapt to the side.

The second orb missed Glalie as well, but it passed so close to it that the Pokémon could feel the immense power behind the attack, and because of this distraction it completely forgot about the third ball of light, which smashed into Glalie's forehead with the force of a bulldozer. Glalie was sent hurtling backwards, colliding with the largest of the ice sculptures on the ground, which snapped in two as Glalie crashed through to the other side, Vespiquen's Hidden Power still pushing it along as more than a dozen green spheres erupted from the thinning cloud of smoke and homed in on their target.

"Glalie!" Ash screamed. "Freeze that Hidden Power, then block the others with your strongest Ice Beam!" Glalie nodded weakly and instantly cooled the air around it as it was relentlessly driven back by the attack. A layer of rock-solid ice moulded itself around the green globe, and as Glalie came closer and closer to the boundary wall, it simply fell away and smacked into the frozen ground, where it was quickly buried in a blanket of snow.

"Nice job!" applauded Ash, "Now stop those other Hidden Powers in their tracks!" Glalie blasted an intense beam of light from its horns, shredding the air as it wrestled into the pulsing balls of light that were closing in on it. It encompassed every last one of the orbs and froze them in their tracks, and they soon joined their original fellow, dropping like flies into the blizzard-covered field and disappearing under a casing of white. Ash punched the air triumphantly as the last of the Hidden Power was disabled, and Glalie gave a pained smile as it struggled to stay aloft, having used most of its energy to repel the onslaught by its invigorated foe. The smoke from the explosion finally dissipated in the face of the blizzard Glalie had conjured up so long ago, and Vespiquen was seen hovering resolutely, clicking its pincers eagerly.

Reena, sensing that Glalie was at the end of its rope, decided to move in and seize the opportunity to put her opponent out of commission at last, after decimating her first two Pokémon. "Vespiquen, finish Glalie off with another Power Gem!" she roared.

"_Queh_!" whirred Vespiquen, advancing forwards as her gem shone white for the second time.

"Glalie, defend with Ice Beam!" shouted Ash, just as Vespiquen fired her attack, launching the hexagonal beam of orange in the air, Glalie lying directly in its path. Glalie seethed and loosed a blast of stark white light from its mouth which rocketed forwards to meet its foe's attack head on. The two attacks collided with such intensity that the nearest pillars of ice were instantly disintegrated, and Glalie's beam of white fought against Vespiquen's beam of orange, the two attacks struggling for superiority. But Vespiquen was in a far better condition than her enemy, and Ash watched in dismay as her Power Gem began to push forwards against his Glalie's Ice Beam, forcing it back towards its owner.

In a few short, enthralling seconds it was all over; Vespiquen's attack broke through the white light and carried on its way, striking Glalie with a pummelling blow that made the Face Pokémon give a weary cry of agony as it was catapulted into the barrier wall at the stadium's edge. Glalie remained stuck in the dented metal for a moment, before it finally pitched forwards and crashed face-first into the snow-laden ground, hitting the soft white with a final thud.

"Glalie is unable to battle!" bellowed the referee, shakily raising his green flag at Vespiquen, much to Reena's encouragement and delight, and also to the crowd's, because as the announcement was made, the air, no longer manipulated by Glalie, began to warm in the heat of the sun, and the gale-force winds quickly subsided into a gentle tropical breeze. With the newfound warmth seeping back into their bodies, the crowd stood and applauded Vespiquen for her superb battling. The only people who weren't applauding Reena and her Pokémon were sitting in a line in the front row, and all nine had worried looks upon their faces as they watched Ash take Glalie's PokéBall from his waist.

"So, now we're down to a one-on-one," Ari stated, rubbing his chin to bring the feeling back into it. "Ash's last Pokémon versus Reena's Vespiquen."

"Thanks for stating the obvious, knucklehead," Leoric said grumpily. "Which Pokémon do you think he's going to have counter _that_?" he asked his friends, waving his hand towards Vespiquen. They all pondered over it, scratching their heads and checking their memories, but none of them could think of a possible candidate to carry Ash's hopes of advancing.

Meanwhile, back on the ground, Ash raised his fallen Pokémon's PokéBall level with his chest and recalled Glalie back inside it in a flash of red light. "You did well, Glalie. I would have been a lot worse off if it hadn't been for you. You deserve a nap," he added with a proud smile as he tucked the ball back into his waist. He looked back up, across the stadium to Reena and her Vespiquen, both of whom were waiting edgily for him to announce his last Pokémon. "Well Reena," he said loudly, his voice echoing off the spires of ice that remained on the battlefield amongst the melting snow, "I'm not sure that you've backed me into a corner just yet! I'm not worried about losing to you, because that'll never happen, not so long as I still have my Pokémon to battle for me!"

"Well, send out your last Pokémon so Vespiquen and I can take it down!" hissed Reena, her patience clearly wavering. Vespiquen nodded her head vehemently in agreement, swinging her wiry arms and clicking her jaws impatiently.

"As you wish," Ash said lazily. Mockingly, he took his time unclasping his third PokéBall from his belt, and he grinned as he saw Reena begin to lose her temper, shouting at the referee for '_unsportsmanlike conduct_'. "Ah, don't get yourself strung up in a knot," he shouted, enlarging his PokéBall. Reena shot him a filthy look, which clearly wished him a painful death, which only made him grin that much wider.

"Let's rock, Kingler!" he yelled, tossing the ball high into the air. The PokéBall snapped open in a blaze of bright light, and down from the ball thundered a massive crablike Pokémon. Its size was impressive enough, but what was even more striking about it was the gargantuan left pincer it wielded. Kingler scuttled to the left, towards the closest crystal pillar, and to demonstrate its godly power it smacked its enormous claw against the side of the structure. The pillar shattered instantly, sending a shower of ice crystals spraying everywhere, and Kingler gave a merry bubbling noise as it flexed its claw and turned to face Vespiquen, who was less than impressed.

"_Khoo-kin-khoo_!" crackled Kingler, brandishing its pincer at its foe threateningly. _Come get some, pipsqueak. I can smash through a Cloyster's shell in under a minute; let's see how long you can go._

"Ash has a Kingler? Impressive," Ari mused, looking on excitedly.

"Yeah, it served him well in the Indigo League," Brock said, looking over at him. "It's a hidden powerhouse that Ash has; I haven't seen much of it lately, but I gotta tell you," he added, a glint in his narrow eyes, "this'll be something worth watching!"

"Vespiquen, let us make dinner out of this Kingler!" bellowed Reena, itching as much as her Pokémon to finish the match. "Fire a Power Gem at it!" Vespiquen whirred brutishly and charged up the gem on her forehead, quickly revolving on the spot. Once she completed her turn she launched the six-sided jet of light straight at Kingler, but the Pincer Pokémon was deceptively quick for its bulky frame, and it hastily scuttled to the side. Kingler nimbly dodged the attack, which sailed right past it and sheared through the pillar of ice it had been standing closest to, which thudded to the ground and sent up a splash of lukewarm water, and as the water crashed back down onto the slippery surface, Ash was struck with a fantastic idea.

"Kingler, use your pincer to lift up that giant chunk of ice!" he shouted, urging his Pokémon on, "Come on, I know you can do it!" He watched on animatedly as Kingler bent down and clamped its enormous claw around the length of the half-pillar. With a heaving bellow Kingler thrust the vast shape into the air, gripping it like an athlete's javelin, tossing it roughly into the air to get a stronger hold on it.

"Okay, good work, buddy! Now hurl that thing at Vespiquen, and aim for that rock on its forehead!" Ash yelled. Kingler arched its mighty pincer back into the air, nearly toppling backwards with the weight, before with a harsh, spitting cry it flung the spear forwards, losing its balance and crashing face-first into the water-laden ground with the effort. The projectile twirled in the air, its deadly point spinning as it travelled towards Vespiquen.

"Vespiquen, blast that ice down to size with another Power Gem!" roared Reena. Vespiquen made another revolution in the air, not intimidated by the incoming missile, and fired another beam of orange light to counter Kingler's attack before it could reach her. The light clashed fiercely with the spiralling spear of ice, enveloping it, and as the pillar pushed forwards it began to thin and dissipate in the face of the Power Gem's immense power. But Kingler's spear forced itself forwards, through the column of harsh orange light and colliding into Vespiquen's glowing forehead.

Vespiquen howled with rage and pain as the spear volleyed into her head, knocking her backwards and down into the ground. The Beehive Pokémon drearily picked herself up from the battlefield – still trembling slightly after the force of the blow – and it eyed her attacker off fiercely, her red eyes smouldering with anger as Kingler triumphantly raised its claws into the air. Ash congratulated his Pokémon for its excellent throw, and Reena bared her teeth as she saw, and heard, the crowd join in the accolades.

"Vespiquen, Power Gem!" she hissed. Vespiquen obediently rose into the air at once, clicking her jaws impatiently, but as her Pokémon began to make her mid-air turn, Reena realised that something was amiss. "Vespiquen?!" she asked anxiously, and she gasped in horror as Vespiquen rotated to face her. The great, red gem on the centre of her forehead was pitted and scarred, and a great earthen crack wound its way across the breadth of it. Vespiquen couldn't perform her attack any more, and as the realisation hit Reena like a tidal wave, she turned her head to stare hatefully at Ash and Kingler.

"You! You will pay for what you did to my Vespiquen; both of you!" she shrieked, pointing an accusing finger at her opponents, who looked on blankly. "Vespiquen!" she shouted at her Pokémon, who clenched her wiry fists with equal anger, "Attack Order!" Vespiquen roared – a deep, droning sound that made the hairs of the audience's necks stand on end – and out of the honeycomb underneath her abdomen came a swarm of tiny, many-winged insects. The bugs moved as one, dipping and flying together in the same unit, and they sped towards Kingler with all the fury of their queen, making the crowd roar passionately with anticipation as the dark mass of insects fluttered closer to it.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Ash. "Kingler, avoid those bugs! Do whatever you can to trip them up!" he bellowed at his Pokémon, who succinctly nodded. Kingler hurriedly scuttled to the left, weaving in and around the collection of icy shafts littering the field, and Vespiquen's drones wove around them just as deftly, pursuing their target with a mindless ferocity. Kingler sped up the side of one pillar and leapt agilely to the next, crashing its pincer into the peak. The pillar shattered, violently shooting a spray of icy bullets in all directions, and Kingler winced as they thudded against its hard shell, but it less worried about the shards piercing into it than it was about its hunters being struck by them.

"_Khoo…kiiii!_" it hissed, pouncing forwards from the edge of the precipice as the tiny winged pursuers flew into the storm of ice. The miniscule missiles killed off a large number of the rabid creatures, but the majority sped through unharmed, relentlessly chasing Kingler across the battlefield. As Ash saw his Pokémon begin to tire with the endless running, he realised that there was only one thing he could do to call off the assault; only one threat that the soulless beasts could not ignore.

"Kingler, charge Vespiquen down with Crabhammer!" he roared, his voice penetrating to Kingler over the low-pitched whine of Vespiquen's drones. Kingler clacked its smaller pincer in response and scuttled furiously across the field, throwing up mounds of water with its claws to slow down the bugs, who barged through the water as though it wasn't even there. As it neared Vespiquen, Kingler's colossal claw pulsed with a whitish-blue light, and with an almighty effort it sprang into the air, ready to swing its pincer down onto its opponent.

"Vespiquen, defend!" cried Reena. Vespiquen's red eyes gleamed green for a split second, and the horde of insects instantly switched course, shifting from Kingler to their queen. The pack of drones covered Vespiquen, enshrouding her body in a cloak of buzzing black. As Kingler came thundering down towards them, the midges flew up in a cloud to counter it, launching their tiny bodies against Kingler's enormous frame. Their efforts did little to stop the Pincer Pokémon, who swung its claw over its head and brought it hooking around with brutal power, smashing into Vespiquen's skull. Vespiquen was viciously thrown sideways by the attack, and cannoned into one of the still-standing ice formations left behind during Glalie's tenure on the field.

The crowd cheered expectantly at the sheer power that Ash's Kingler had just displayed, but they also wondered how Vespiquen would come back from such a blow, if indeed it had survived the barrage. A second later their curiosity was answered, for with a great explosion the berg that Vespiquen had crashed into was suddenly blown into a million pieces, revealing Reena's still-conscious Pokémon underneath. Reena punched the air proudly, and Ash looked despondently at Pikachu, as if to say, '_What do we have to _do_ to knock this thing out?!_'

"What, do not tell me you are surprised, Ash!" Reena jeered, as Vespiquen flew back to her position in front of her Trainer, turning to face her opponents once more.

"I actually am!" retorted Ash, baring his teeth. "My Kingler's been pummelling your Vespiquen pretty soundly, and by the looks of that gash in its head, it hasn't got much more fight left in it," he added provokingly, hoping to work Reena into a mad frenzy, and send Vespiquen after his Kingler without thinking it through. But his heart sank, and his temper flared for a moment, as he saw Reena throw her head back in laughter.

"Nice try," she smirked, "but your little mind games are not going to work with me; I made it this far for a reason. Vespiquen," she said sweetly to her ailing Pokémon, "how about a little top-up? Use Heal Order." Vespiquen steadied herself and nodded, emitting another deep droning sound from the depths of her cavernous abdomen. Another flock of insects flew out of the honeycomb at the bottom of her body, but instead of flying towards Kingler, they swarmed over Vespiquen, covering her entirely and obscuring her from view. They scurried and swirled about like a living current of water over their queen, and after they had finished, they took off and buzzed back into their home inside Vespiquen's honeycomb. But the work they had been hiding from the stadium was now visible.

Vespiquen had been completely restructured by her workers; her body shone with a valiant lustre that brilliantly reflect the sun's rays, her wings glistened like curved sheets of pearl, and the gem that proudly sat atop her forehead had been fully repaired. In fact, if Ash hadn't seen the great crack running down it earlier, he'd never have known it had even existed; the drones did their work well. He cursed silently under his breath as he saw his opponent's reinvigorated Pokémon hovering strongly at the other end of the field, compared to his faithful Kingler, who was well worn by its dogged chase at the hands of Vespiquen's workers.

_Come on, Ash, there has to be _something_ you can do to turn the tables on Reena,_ he thought desperately. _Something, anything! A weakness in her strategy, an advantage in the field…_ _wait a moment…_ he added, for he saw a roughly-shaped cube of ice lying on the wet ground next to his feet. "What's this, Pikachu?" he mumbled to his Pokémon. Pikachu scratched his head for a moment, before his ears waggled and he smiled.

"_Pika pii pikaa chuu pika pi?,_" he chirped. _I think it's what Glalie froze…?_

"Of course!" Ash said aloud, making Kingler look around in concern. Fortunately for the pair of them, Reena took no notice of this, as she was intrigued by Ash's cry as well. "Kingler, catch!" he shouted, hurling the ice ball to his Pokémon. Kingler caught it nimbly in its smaller claw, surprised, but it didn't show it as it tossed it in the air like a pitcher about to deliver a fastball. "Kingler, let rip at Vespiquen!" he commanded, throwing his arm forwards, and Kingler did the same as its Trainer, sling-shotting the icy rock through the air. It struck Vespiquen across its vast lower torso, and she grunted with pain as the ball exploded on her rough skin. But Vespiquen's beady eyes widened with shock as her own charge of Hidden Power burst from the rock and flew up past her shoulders, striking her on the wing. The Beehive Pokémon faltered in the air, leaning heavily to one side as the attack damaged her wings, giving her only one properly working set, and so she was forced to land on the ground.

"Good job, Kingler! Now Vespiquen can't fly _or_ summon its drones!" Ash yelled encouragingly. Kingler happily clacked its mismatched pair of claws and, following on the success of the move, scuttled over to the nearest frozen Hidden Power, scooping it up and firing it towards Vespiquen with the speed of a jet plane.

"Vespiquen, counter it with Power Gem!" Reena ordered. Vespiquen, ecstatic at being able to utilise its signature move again, completed a quick turn on the spot and launched an enormous blast of light at the oncoming attack. The beam of orange completely enveloped Kingler's missile, consuming it whole and leaving nothing but a swirl of steam in its wake as it destroyed the rock and its concealed Hidden Power. "Excellent, now show Kingler how to _properly_ use Hidden Power!" she roared, pointing directly at her foe. Vespiquen clicked her fearsome jaws and shimmered with a deep-green glow that surrounded her hourglass-shaped body. As it did with Ash's Glalie, the aura dissipated and reformed into a circle of pulsating green globes that circled around Vespiquen's figure, and they doubled in size almost immediately. One by one the tiny orbs broke free from their orbit and spiralled towards Kingler, whizzing through the air.

"Kingler, fend them off with Water Pulse, and follow it up with Crabhammer!" Ash shouted. Kingler smacked its claws onto the ground and spewed forth a disc of water, shearing indiscriminately through the ice pillars scattered across the field. The jet of water slashed into Vespiquen's Hidden Power and cut half of them down, the tiny glowing spheres exploding with a flash of white light. The remaining half shredded Kingler's attack to pieces, and the water fell onto the ground with a splash as the orbs tore across the field at their target. Kingler roared and launched its body into the barrage of energy, groaning as the globes smashed into its tough hide. But it charged on, its enormous glowing claw held aloft, and Kingler threw itself into Vespiquen, sending the pair of them into the soaked ground with a splash of water and a cloud of dust.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***The taunt Kingler makes against Vespiquen is justified; during the Indigo League, Kingler did **_**indeed**_** break through the shell of an enemy Cloyster using Crabhammer, even though Cloyster had used Withdraw.**

**Quiz:**

***Which "Order" attack was Vespiquen **_**not**_** ordered (ironically) to use throughout the chapter?**


	46. The Jokers And The Thieves

**CHAPTER 46 – THE JOKERS AND THE THIEVES**

As Kingler and Vespiquen collided into each other, the impact of their clashing bodies sent a shockwave spiralling through the stadium, resonating within the ice pillars adorning the battlefield, and as the two Pokémon fell into the scarred ground, a colossal splash of water cascaded up, followed by a booming cloud of dust.

"Vespiquen!" screamed Reena, her hands flying to her face.

"Kingler!" cried Ash, starting forwards in his box. "Are you alright?!" he asked, staring into the swirling void of dirt that had engulfed their Pokémon. The crowd gasped and whispered amongst themselves as they leaned closer to look, and as the dust began to wane and thin, all they could see was the bright red tip of a lone claw jutting out from above the dirt. "Kingler, I knew it!" Ash cheered, punching the air as the rest of his Pokémon's body came into view, standing victoriously over Vespiquen, who lay motionless on the arena floor at its spindly feet.

"Vespiquen is unable to battle! Kingler is the winner! Ash Ketchum advances to the fourth round!" bellowed the referee, and his booming voice was met with a deafening wall of sound from the stands, drowning out all other noise and thought. Kingler raised its vast claw to the heavens, rejoicing in its successful debut on the world stage, and Reena sank to her knees despondently the moment it did, the full effect of her loss finally reaching her.

"How…?" she hushed, her eyes welling up with tears. She brusquely brushed them aside and sniffed, taking her Pokémon's PokéBall from her waist and raising it to chest height. "I'm—so proud of you, Vespiquen… it is a pity that we were conquered—" she choked, holding back more tears as she recalled her unconscious Pokémon to her ball. She stayed on the ground for several moments, gathering herself, before she wound up the conviction to stand on her feet and walk to the stadium's centre with her head held high. The crowd applauded Reena and her Pokémons' valour, and so she smiled heartily and waved back to them, thanking them for their support.

Ash threw his arms around Kingler in celebration, ducking his head to avoid being knocked out by his Pokémon's vicious left pincer, and Kingler blew a jet of frothy bubbles into the air. "We did it, buddy!" he exclaimed happily, rapping his knuckles across Kingler's hard shell, and Kingler nodded humbly before scuttling a few feet to the side. "Modest as ever, aren't you?" he joked, rummaging through his belt and withdrawing its PokéBall. He pointed the ball at Kingler, and with a selfless, proud grin he returned his Pokémon in a flash of red light. Stowing the ball proudly on his waist, he gave the crowd a bashful wave – which was met with great applause – and strode confidently to join his opponent in the centre.

"Congratulations, Ash," said Reena with a warm smile. "I see that my Pokémon and I simply were not strong enough."

"Hey, strength has nothing to do with it," Ash chuckled, with a coy nod from Pikachu. "Most of that was sheer luck and desperation!"

"So… you are saying that you beating me was a fluke?" she asked coolly, smirking as she raised her eyebrows at him.

"I never said that!" Ash retorted, the ever-determined glint in his eyes, and Reena giggled lightly.

"Well in that case…" she replied, offering Ash her hand. Ash looked down at it and smiled, shaking it in his own. "You'd better '_not fluke_' the rest of your matches, either," she added, winking mischievously.

"Don't worry about it; I'll win," he assured her. Reena nodded understandingly and, with a last meaningful look at Ash, turned on her heels and walked back towards her end of the stadium, waving at the spectators with both arms, beaming at them all. The moment she had disappeared beneath the shadowy curtain that was the stadium's barrier wall, Ash felt a rumbling in the ground, and he instantly knew what it is. He half-sighed, rolled his eyes at Pikachu, who returned the gesture jokingly, and together they turned to see the news team racing towards them over the wet ground, moving this way and that to avoid the torn-up ground, the ice pillars that were still miraculously standing, and the deeper puddles of water.

"Hello again, Ash!" said Jeanne brightly, fixing her hair even as she formally extended her hand to Ash, who warily shook it. She saw the look on his face and giggled, tossing her curly blonde hair behind her collar. "Don't worry, I'm not going to ambush you with personal questions this time around," she explained, testing her microphone with the sound technician, who promptly gave her the thumbs-up. "You already answered all my questions when Derek took your interview at the end of the second round," she added, somewhat bitterly, because her brow creased and her mouth twitched as though she was trying to shoo an irksome fly.

"On in fifteen, Jeanne!" shouted the cameraman, hoisting the bulky recorder onto his shoulder and putting it onto standby. Jeanne turned to him and nodded, straightening her reporter's jacket before focusing on the camera just as the red light on top flickered to life.

"Oh great, here we go," muttered Ari, earning himself a light smack in the head by Dawn, who leaned forwards eagerly to hear the contents of the interview.

Unbeknownst to either Ari or Dawn, as Jeanne began her interview with Ash, a wiry-looking man with thick black hair observed the pair of them through a futuristic pair of binoculars. He momentarily lowered them and turned to the two women on his left, and leaning across the closest – a curvy woman with bright red hair – he passed the binoculars over to the blue-haired woman furthest from him.

"So how are we going to do this?" Mark asked, once Emily had the binoculars in her hand.

"What do you mean?" asked Alex gruffly, crossing her arms. "We're talking about kid—"

"Be quiet!" Emily hissed, her eyes still looking through the lenses. "I'm not absolutely sure…" she added, answering Mark's question, and he snorted with frustration.

"You're a big help," he mumbled sarcastically, and Alex shot him a deathly glare.

"We have to get—the kid—away from Ketchum and his other friends," she said coldly, checking to make sure that no-one was overhearing their conversation. "Otherwise they'll get in the way. And if _that_ happens, we might end up getting overwhelmed—"

"—And we can kiss our jobs goodbye," finished Emily, handing the binoculars back to Mark. "Well, come on; we'll just have to wait for—" she looked over her shoulder, "—_the kid_ to move away from Ketchum and the others, then we move in and make the grab."

* * *

Ash strolled along the street outside of Stadium 5, and his heart buoyed upwards as he could still hear the crowd inside talking excitedly about his stunning victory. With Pikachu on his shoulder, he felt on top of the world after the fierce battle, and he could barely keep his excitement in check. Just as he was about to shout out with joy, two figures crept up behind him and threw an arm each around his shoulders, almost displacing Pikachu from his perch. Pikachu turned to glare at the closest of them, but smiled when he realised that it was Leoric and Ari, and the two Trainers spontaneously burst into song, swaying to and fro, and shouting at the top of their voices:

"_**We screamed, we yelled, we made the dash!  
Into the stands to see the clash!  
To cheer and cheer for Ash!  
From Pallet Town!"**_

"_**The crowd gave him a mighty roar!  
Even though they wanted more!  
Of Ash, who we adore!  
From Pallet Town!"**_

"_**So now at last, we chant, we sing!  
And to the sky our voices ring!  
For Ash, the great, the King!  
From Pallet Town!"**_

"_**The next step is the fourth of ten!  
As he heads to the field again!  
And we'll cheer all the louder then!  
For Ash! (Oh yes, for Ash!)  
From Pallet Town!"**_

Ari and Leoric's chant rose high into the air, its catchy tune implanting itself in the heads of everyone who heard it, and as they swept through it for an encore, they were quickly joined in by Anabel, Brock, Dawn, May, Max, Tracey and Misty, who were yelling fit to tear their eardrums with the noise. Ash found himself blushing horribly from the song, which was searing itself into his memory, and he shook Ari and Leoric's hands off of him and rushed ahead to hide his embarrassment. He heard a chorus of raucous laughter behind him, and he turned swiftly on the spot to see nearly all of his friends doubled over, their faces red and their eyes screwed shut as they tried to contain themselves.

"Whose idea was the chant?" he asked them, struggling to suppress a grin of his own. After a few moments, Ari had finally controlled himself enough to stand upright, and he pointed lazily at Leoric, who was still bent double and giggling like a schoolgirl.

"Leoric's invention, but the Pallet Town part was my idea," he explained, shaking his head as Leoric finally regained his composure, although in Ari's opinion he'd lost his dignity in the process. "Nothing like a little town pride, eh?" he added with a grin, looking at Ash. Ash simply shrugged and glanced at Pikachu, who was silently turning red with concealed laughter.

"You too, Pikachu?" he sighed, slumping his shoulders.

"Come on, Ash, it's catchy!" shouted Anabel, performing a little jig on the spot. Ash finally cracked, exploding with laughter and falling to the concrete, and Pikachu sprang from his shoulder and slapped a hand against his forehead as he waited for his Trainer to calm down.

"Okay, _now_ I'll admit that it's alright. If it got you doing _that_," he chuckled, getting to his feet and picking Pikachu up from the ground. Anabel snickered and pushed him in the chest playfully.

"Hey, no need to be so pushy," Ari joked. "Remember, we're celebrating Ash's win, eh?"

"I'm thinking we should _really_ celebrate!" piped Tracey, running his hand through his dark hair. "Y'know, something grand. It's not every day that one of your friends becomes one of the top hundred Trainers in the world!"

"Really, am I _that_ good?" Ash asked shamelessly, smirking from ear to ear.

"Well, _technically_ you're in the top hundred-and-twenty-eight, but who's counting?" he said cheerfully, to a round of laughter from his friends.

"Exactly," agreed Leoric, who seemed to have cooled off, "and that means that all you have to do is win six more matches to become World Champion. But there's no way that's going to happen," he added competitively, "because that title is going to _me_ this year!"

"If you think that you'll be the one on the podium come tournament's end, you've got another thing coming!" fired Ash, glaring at Leoric, who returned the stare just as fiercely.

"In your dreams, Ash! The only way you'll even make it to the _final_ is if I don't meet you along the way, and even if that _does_ happen, _I'll_ be the one on the other side of that field, ready to take you down!"

"Not a chance!"

"I think we should find somewhere more private, don't you think, Dawn?" Ari mumbled, eyeing off the two Trainers apprehensively. "Leoric's over-competitive at the _best_ of times," he added with a small laugh.

"Aw, but I want to see them go at it!" Dawn pouted, her Piplup tapping its fins against her head, before giving in to him. "Okay," she said reluctantly, but as Ari smiled and turned to go, she leaned over towards May and said, "Hey, if these two end up battling – or even better, getting the punches on – you'll tell me _everything_, right?"

"Of course I will," giggled May, patting her shoulder reassuringly. "Now go on, I'm sure your _boyfriend_ is getting impatient," she said craftily with a glance over Dawn's shoulder. The latter noticed the particular emphasis on the word 'boyfriend' and cocked her head sideways. "What?" May asked her.

"Why—? Ah, never mind, it's nothing," Dawn lied, making an impartial face. "Well, see you later!" she said to her other friends, with a quick wave, before she skipped over to join Ari. May watched the couple walk off down the streets, hand in hand, and she sighed dejectedly.

_Why can't _I _have a guy who'll be to me what Ari is to her?_ she contemplated, snapping her eyes back to Ash and Leoric, who were getting much more vocal in their assertions of winning the tournament. _I guess certain boys never grow up_, she thought with a smile. …_But that doesn't mean that _he_ won't…_

* * *

"Honcho, target is on the move. Ready to intercept and awaiting your instructions," Mark muttered into his transmitter.

"Excellent, now listen carefully," came Shane's cold voice, metallic through the receiver. "Hunter, you and Moon are to engage the target and company head on, offering a diversion. Rose is to incapacitate them from behind. If the other child tries to use force, you're authorised to kill if necessary. Once you have the target in custody, return to me immediately."

"Understood, Honcho. Where will we meet you?"

There was a short pause on the line as Shane considered his options. "We'll rendezvous at the northern mountain range, inside the Anjiosi Hot Spring. I hope that the distance won't be too far?"

"Absolutely not. We will see you soon," Mark concluded, ending the connection. He turned to his fellows and told both of them what Shane had just told him, closely watching the expressions on their faces. After a moment of silence, Emily spoke up.

"Will we _really_ have to… _kill_ someone?" she gasped, her eyes full of fear.

"Not if we do get the target quickly," Mark answered coldly. "Then we'll have leverage."

"But still, what if we can't?" Alex whispered. Mark shook his head and began to walk away, but after ten paces he turned around and pulled a blood-red PokéBall from his belt.

"No more buts. And no more questions. We are doing this," he said, fixing them both with a stare to rival Shane's in ferocity, and the two women trembled under his gaze. "Now."

* * *

Ari glanced sideways at Dawn, who was leaning her head on his shoulder and smiling dreamily as she stared at the street ahead. With Piplup sitting on top of her hat and chirping merrily, he had to hold back a laugh. _Compared to yesterday and this morning, this afternoon's turning out extremely well,_ he thought. _And to think,_ he added with a laugh,_ I was worried! Man, I should learn to relax some more, shouldn't I?_ He pulled himself out of his reverie, and squeezed Dawn's hand as they walked down the road.

"Hey," he murmured, swinging himself around to face her, "what do you say we head back to my hotel room, and I cook us up something nice? I'm starving!"

Dawn grinned widely and nodded her head, making sure not to tip Piplup over the edge as she did. "Sounds great! Which way's your hotel again?" she asked, turning her head this way and that. Ari put a hand on Piplup to stop the small Pokémon from falling to the ground, before he pointed to a spot to his left, down the end of an empty, narrow lane.

"That way, and I think it's about… five – maybe ten – minutes' walk to get there. Well, plus the ten minutes you get waiting for the elevator to come down to the lobby," he chuckled. "Come on," he said, walking forwards and leading her down the lane with his arm.

"So what do you think you'll be cooking for me?" Dawn asked cheekily, holding onto his arm as they strolled down the lane. Another couple – a wiry man with dark hair, and a slim woman with bright blue hair, carrying a bulky shopping bag – turned into the street and started walking towards them, and Ari scratched his chin as he pondered Dawn's question.

"Well… I was thinking, maybe… something with chicken?" he suggested, "I'm feeling in the mood for chicken. What do you think of chicken?" he inquired, glancing at her with a wry smile. "I'm rambling, aren't I?"

"Just a tiny bit, yeah," she giggled. "But chicken sounds nice," she added with a smile, and Ari smiled as well and kissed her on the cheek. As he looked in front of him he saw that they were about to walk into the couple striding towards them, so he turned and stepped to the side to let them pass.

"Sorry, go on through," he said politely, waiting for them to walk by. But the two adults pulled to a stop, standing shoulder to shoulder and completely blocking the street behind them. "Really, it's fine. We're letting you through," Ari insisted, waving a hand down the street, but they didn't move forwards. Instead, they did something that both surprised and alarmed him; each one pulled a PokéBall from inside their jackets and held them aloft, leering at Ari and Dawn in an almost threatening way.

Ari sighed and rolled his eyes. "Oh, you two want a battle, right?" he muttered reservedly. Things like this always happened to him; they were inevitable for someone like him, who had always had the spotlight thrust upon him. But as he reached for his waist, the dark-haired man shook his head and cackled.

"No, we don't want a battle, you stupid boy," he hissed, his voice as cold as steel. Ari looked at him warily, searching the man's sallow face, and his eyes narrowed as a distant memory came to him.

"Wait a minute," he murmured, the truth beginning to dawn on him, "I know your face from somewhere… Aren't you—?" he started, and his eyes widened with realisation. "You're that guy that was taking pictures of Ash when he passed out against Kaiden! What do you want?!" he challenged, reaching for his belt. His fingers wrapped around his Electivire's PokéBall, but they never took the ball from his waist, for out of nowhere a crimson pincer crashed into his skull with a sickening crack. Ari screamed in pain as a searing beam of heat and pain shot from his head to the tips of his toes. The world went black, and he was unconscious before he collapsed onto the ground, lying spread-eagled on the worn pavement.

Dawn heard the crack, and felt Ari's grip on her hand go limp, and as she turned and saw his body on the ground she screamed as well. Standing over him, though, was a fiendish-looking lobster-like Pokémon. On top of its head, standing like a royal crown, was a golden star, and its two hollow eyes, staring out from the sides of its face, burned with a cold, lifeless intensity. Its sea-blue lips were curled into a hideous grin like the death's head of a pirate flag, and on either side of its mouth was a cruel, curved pincer. They were red on top and flesh-coloured underneath; both were lined and ridged, and both were powerful weapons that the Pokémon knew how to use with wicked skill.

The Pokémon's Trainer, a shapely woman with a crest of fiery red hair, slapped a hand against its rock-hard exterior proudly. "Excellent Crabhammer, Crawdaunt," she said, and her Crawdaunt clacked its claws and gave an echoing cry. She turned her attention over to Dawn, and a mocking smile formed on her lips. "It's Dawn, isn't it?" she whispered, advancing on her, and Dawn backed away in terror. There were two sharp flashed of light behind her, and so she whirled around to see two more Pokémon standing in front of the other two.

The Pokémon standing in front of the blue-haired woman was large, tan-and-blue coloured, and had a spiky brown top at the peak of its head. Skin-coloured hair framed the sides of its wide face, and its beady black eyes were just as lifeless as the other woman's Crawdaunt. A V-shaped strip of beige ran down the length of its torso, which was surrounded by blue. Its two brown arms ended in bandaged wrists and rounded fists, curled up in anger, and its padded feet were the same shade of blue as its body, each foot having two spiky toes and a spike at the rear. Its blue, ball-like tail ended in another white spike, dangerous sharpened, and the Pokémon swished it left and right impatiently.

The Pokémon's name was Hitmontop, but Dawn had never encountered one before in her life. Because of this, she was completely unaware as to what its abilities were, and so she turned to see the dark-haired man's Pokémon. At first glance, she mistook it for an enormous purple flower with gargantuan red petals, but then with a jolt she realised that there were two tiny red eyes, barely visible underneath the flowers, staring coldly at her in complete contrast to its warm colouring. The petals themselves were mostly red, but covered in pale white blotches, and in the centre was a giant orange circle, which Dawn assumed was the bud of the Pokémon's flower.

The two new Pokémon stared daggers at her, so she began to back away from them as well, but then she remembered through her fear that the Crawdaunt was behind her. Her Piplup bravely jumped down from on top of her head and puffed out its chest, ready to fight for its Trainer. The three strangers looked down at the tiny Pokémon and roared with evil laughter, amazed by the display.

"Do you really think that your puny little Pokémon is going to be able to protect you?" taunted the blue-haired woman, waggling her finger at Dawn. "My Hitmontop could crush it in a second, and my colleague's Vileplume could do just the same. So you'd be wise to call it off before we teach it a brutal lesson."

"You don't want your Pokémon to end up like your little boyfriend, now, do you?" asked the red-haired woman provokingly, pointing down at Ari's unconscious form. Dawn bared her teeth, outraged by the nerve of the woman who'd struck him down in such a cowardly way, but against her heart her mind told her that the woman was right; having Piplup try and fend off three Pokémon at once was paramount to suicide. Slowly, painfully, she took Piplup's PokéBall from her waist and pointed it at her Pokémon. Piplup stared forlornly at Dawn, tears at the corner of its eyes, and Dawn fought back a tear of her own as she returned Piplup in a flash of red light.

"What do you want?" she asked with a trembling voice, clipping the PokéBall to her belt.

"It's not what _we_ want," corrected the man, smirking malevolently. "It's what our _boss_ wants."

"Enough chit-chat," clicked the blue-haired woman, shooting him a filthy look. "Who's gonna take care of her, you or me?"

"Me, of course," he hissed.

"Take—take care of me?!" exclaimed Dawn, horrified. "Wh-What are you going to do—?!"

"Vileplume, Sleep Powder!" he roared, pointing at her. Vileplume chimed and tensed its body, and the flowers on her head contracted, spewing a cloud of golden-coloured pollen into the air. The spores fell lazily onto Dawn, and as she breathed them in, she instantly became drowsy. Within a matter of seconds she had fallen into a deep sleep, falling gracefully next to Ari, her slender arm sprawled across his back as she snored soundly.

"Young love," mused Mark, grunting with laughter. Emily snorted and tossed her hair back, clumsily shaking her head to counter the sparse pieces of his Vileplume's Sleep Powder that were still airborne. Alex giggled at Mark's joke and recalled her Crawdaunt to its PokéBall – a blue-topped ball with two red strips running along the sides – before she knelt down next to Ari and Dawn's motionless figures.

"What do we do about the spare?" she asked, looking up at Mark.

"One word: re-location. We don't want anyone to stumble across a body and involve the police, after all," he said matter-of-factly. Glancing around, he spotted a large dumpster at the far end of the street, where Ari and Dawn had walked past, and he motioned towards it. "In there," he suggested.

"A dumpster? How regal," Emily grunted, rolling her eyes at him. "Well—" she sighed as she bent down, "—come on, Mark, you grab the legs and I'll take the arms—" she clamped down on the wrists and waited for Mark to position himself, "—and on three; one… two… _three_—_oof_!" she heaved with effort as they raised their burden off the ground.

"Come on, come on, let's go!" Mark growled, his face turning red with the dead weight. He and Emily hastily shuffled over to the dumpster, and, swinging the body back and forth, they managed to hurl their victim into the dumpster with a loud clang. "Okay, that's _one_ down," he said, catching his breath as they rushed back to Alex.

"Get the rope," Mark instructed to her, and Alex obediently grabbed a length of rope from Emily's shopping bag, throwing it across to him. He quickly got to work, tying the wrists and ankles separately, and then tying those two knots together and bringing the arms and legs back together in an arch. It would be extremely uncomfortable for someone who had just woken up, but to Mark it seemed little compared to what could be in store; Paul seemed to want his revenge – whatever it was revenge _for_ – very badly.

"Nicely done," Emily muttered, genuinely impressed by his handiwork.

"Thanks," he said brightly, reaching into her shopping bag and pulling the last item out; a large burlap sack stamped with the words '_Poffin and Pokéblock Ingredients_'. "I swear, the techies at HQ need to be a bit more original about this," he said, forcibly pushing their captive into the sack and drawing the tie shut.

"Hey, as long as it works," reasoned Alex, tapping her foot against the middle of the sack, and both Mark and Emily withdrew their Pokémon back to their balls and stowed them on their belts. "So, uh, how are we going to move this—" she pointed at the sack, "—all the way to the mountains up north?"

"Simple," Mark replied, snatching a second PokéBall from his belt. He opened the ball, revealing a muscular, dark-blue humanoid Pokémon with yellow ridges atop its head, much like a buzz-cut. "With my Machoke," he added, as Machoke flexed its bulging muscles. "Grab that sack and get ready to move," he barked at the Pokémon, and it hurriedly bent down and swung the sack over its shoulders effortlessly, waiting to follow its Trainer. Mark nodded at Machoke and turned to face his two cohorts with a grin.

"Shall we?" he asked them smugly.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***The chant is based loosely on a similar chant heard in "Knight's Tale", usually commandeered by the character portrayed by Paul Bettany. In this case, "From Liechtenstein!" is used in place of "From Pallet Town!"**

***None of the Galactics used a 4****th**** generation Pokémon while incapacitating Ari and Dawn. Also, based on the Pokémon he uses, it could be speculated that Mark comes from the Kanto region – his two Pokémon are 1****st**** generation. However, both these Pokémon appear in Johto and Hoenn, so it's impossible to say.**

***With the introduction of Crawdaunt, the Water-type Pokémon Ash has used in the first round have had evolutions make an appearance.**

**Quiz:**

***Under what circumstances will a Tyrogue evolve into a Hitmontop?**


	47. Hot Spring, Cold Heart

**CHAPTER 47 – HOT SPRING, COLD HEART**

Mark trudged through the bare scrub at the base of the mountain range at Ayers Island's northern edge, picking his way across the overlapping paths that were barely visible beneath the wild undergrowth. Frightened Weedle scampered away from him, feeling the rumbling of the ground as his Machoke stomped close behind, the large Poffin sack slung securely over its shoulder. Sluggishly bringing up the rear were Emily and Alex, their bright hairstyles the only thing that Mark could see as he turned to check their progress up the hillside.

"Hurry up, you two!" he barked, tapping his foot impatiently on a rock as his two colleagues stumbled their way up to him.

"You try—walking up a mountain—in heels!" panted Alex, sitting down on the grass and rubbing her ankles. Emily agreed with her and threw herself down next to Alex, burying her tired face in her hands.

"Hey, there's not much farther to go," Mark mumbled, with a sudden wave of sympathy for the two. "Once we meet Shane and deliver the kid to him, we're done. Done!" he said, laughing at the prospect. "Then, I'll treat us all to a nice dinner, and we can go to Trovita Island for a vacation, what do you say?!"

Alex's eyes brightened at the idea of a relaxing trip to the Orange Islands, and so she promptly stood up and clapped her hands together, signalling for Emily to get up as well. Emily raised her head off her hands to look at Alex, then rolled her eyes and got to her feet, grumbling under her breath.

"Fine," she said mutinously, glaring at Mark. "Fine."

"Well, you might as well plonk yourself back down, I've got to place a call to Shane anyways," he said smartly, smirking at the furious expression on Emily's face. He knew perfectly well that she was imagining the various ways in which she could torture him, but that made the situation that much funnier; if she 'dealt with him', then Machoke wouldn't be able to be led through the tunnel into the hot springs, and she and Alex would have to carry their cargo by themselves.

"Son of a…" whispered Alex, groaning with fatigue as she fell backwards onto the soft grass, lying spread-eagled with her eyes half-closed as she stared up into the afternoon sky. The sun was hidden behind the low-lying mountains to her left, throwing dancing shadows across her as the trees swayed, and she smiled and ran her hands through the grass as Mark turned and pressed the speed-dial button on his cell phone before holding it up to his ear.

* * *

A lone Trainer stood in the centre of an enormous platform of bamboo, stretching over a searing current of water that bubbled and boiled, sending hazy spirals of steam into the air. He kept his eyes narrowed on the tiny entrance to the hot spring, never averting his stare even as the phone on his belt rang, its high, sharp tone piercing the muggy air. With a twitch of his jaw, Shane ripped the phone from its clip and connected the call, snapping the lid open and jamming it against his ear.

"You had better have—" he started dangerously, but he was cut off by the caller at the other end of the line.

"Shane, mission accomplished," said Mark, and Shane could hear the jubilation in his tired voice. He punched the air in triumph, before taking several deep breaths to calm himself down.

"Wonderful, simply wonderful! You've done well, Mark," he said excitedly. _Thanks to your efforts,_ he thought,_ I'm going to become a Galactic Commander!_ "How far from the rendezvous point are you?"

"Well firstly, sir, it wasn't just me. Emily and Alex deserve as much credit as I do," Mark said seriously. "And secondly, we're roughly… ten to fifteen minutes away. I trust you're there already?" he asked.

"Of course, in the centre of the platform. The quicker you get here, the quicker we can wrap this all up and have some time off," Shane said happily. "Now, in the immortal words of Emily, _cart your arse over here_," he added with a laugh.

"Will do," chuckled Mark, and he disconnected the call with a burst of static. Shane let his excitement and ambition well up inside him for a few moments, before he lowered the phone to his belt and unclipped his other cell phone; the one he used to communicate with the Commanders.

"Let's see…" he muttered, "one, hash, connect!" He pressed the three buttons and held it to his face. Five rings later, the call went through, and he heard his boss' familiar tone on the line.

"Yes, Honcho?"

"Abaddon, I bring good news. Hunter has acquired the target, and the exchange will occur tonight, as planned."

"That _is_ good news," Abaddon said softly. "This _Hunter_…" he continued, "…you trust him as an asset, do you not?"

The question took Shane aback, but he knew that he'd be required to give an answer. Nevertheless, he hesitated before replying, "Yes, sir, I do trust him. He is a very capable man."

"I see. In that case, I may have further use for him in the future with other… _assignments_. Heaven knows I'm in need of a roaming agent…" he muttered, apparently lost in his own thoughts.

Shane nervously cleared his throat, which seemed to bring his boss out of his reverie. "Sir?"

"My apologies for trailing off there, Honcho. Hmm… okay. Honcho, I want you to keep Hunter with you when you perform the exchange with Paul. As of now, he is officially in the loop about our operation. I trust you will debrief him on our objectives?"

"Of-Of course, sir," stammered Shane, surprised by this sudden change of plans; he had thought he would be the _only_ person on Ayers Island with the appropriate knowledge of it. But he didn't question his superior's requests, and so he nodded and swallowed timidly.

"Excellent. Now as for Moon and Rose…?" Abaddon asked.

"They have been, admittedly, less useful than Hunter… but they have been extremely useful in their endeavours…" he said edgily.

"So what you're saying is that your mission could have been accomplished without those two?" Abaddon pressed. Shane considered the comment, and began to wonder about his line of questioning.

"I don't—well, it _could_ have been pulled off without them, that's true—but I'm not—" he mumbled, his words tumbling over themselves incoherently.

"Say no more," said Abaddon fatherly. "They will be re-assigned to other locations. I don't think it will be wise to continue having the participants in such close contact now that the mission is over, for security purposes, don't you agree?"

"I… I suppose it wouldn't be…" agreed Shane, still uncertain.

"Glad to have your co-operation. But before I move Moon and Rose on, I think they should be rewarded for their efforts… perhaps a vacation in the Orange Islands… so, here is what I want you to do for them before they leave…" he began, and Shane stood silently as he was given his instructions.

"I can do that," he muttered, once Abaddon had finished.

"I know. I'm sure they will be surprised, at any rate," he mused. "Good tidings, Honcho. Contact me again once you have my information." And with that he hung up on Shane, leaving him to plan his surprise for Emily and Alex.

"First…" he grunted, and he took two PokéBalls from his belt. Rolling one of the balls in his left hand, he threw the second one into the water, opening with a harsh burst of white light. A dark mass appeared amongst the churning water, and Shane looked down at it with a cold smile.

"Only at the end," he hissed to the shape, and he watched as it disappeared into the fog, its many fronds rippling into nothing. He stowed the Pokémon's PokéBall back to his waist as he threw the first ball onto the bamboo arena, and his other Pokémon sprang out in a flash. This Pokémon was green and reptilian, and a pair of frilly, golden ears framed the sides of its head. A long, thin, red tongue flicked out from its mouth, reaching down to its stomach, where a jagged red zigzag ran around its body. A large curled tail was wound up in a coil that sprung out from its back, and as Shane watched, it shimmered and faded into the background, completely invisible to his eyes except for the zigzag on its stomach.

"Kecleon, get behind me. I don't want anyone to see you until the time is right," he ordered, and Kecleon wove around and hid behind his legs. After making sure that his Pokémon was safely concealed, Shane turned his eyes back to the tunnel entrance, just as a shadowy figure emerged from the rounded hole and walked into the afternoon light. Shane's hand impulsively moved towards the PokéBall on his far right, for the shape walking towards him from the cavern's sloping wall was far too bulky to be any of his subordinates. Just as his fingers closed around the ball, three more figures walked into the hot spring, and he jerked his hand away from the PokéBall when he saw flashes of red, blue and black.

_If they're Mark, Alex and Emily,_ he pondered, _then who's the fourth one?_ A moment later his question was answered, for the shape walking towards him passed through a cloud of steam and came into focus, revealing Mark's Machoke carrying the burlap sack. _Trust Mark to delegate the labour,_ he thought with a chuckle.

"Well, maybe I exaggerated how far away we were," Mark admitted, gasping for air after speeding towards his commander.

"No matter, that just means that we can complete our task sooner!" boomed Shane cheerfully, clapping the young man on the shoulder proudly. With an order from Mark, Machoke grunted and gently lowered the sack onto the platform, and as Mark returned it to its PokéBall, Alex and Emily finally reached his position on the vast wooden surface.

"You—could have waited—_ah_—for us," gasped Alex, clutching at her throat.

"Alex, could you and Emily wait at the tunnel exit?" Shane asked politely, with a charming smile. Emily blinked and looked at him in surprise, obviously not expecting this show of manners from him. With a suspicious look, she grabbed Alex under the arm and led her away from the two men, walking slowly towards the gaping hole in the hot spring's side. Shane followed them with his gaze, and once he could no longer see them, he assumed that they could no longer hear them, and so he turned back to Mark with an illustrious smile.

"Just to make sure, Mark," he began, nodding his head towards the large bag, "open it up and show me." Mark obliged, bending down and drawing the tie open. Shane's eyes lit up, like a child opening his first Christmas present, and grinned from ear to ear. Mark gave him a curt nod and tied the sack shut again, standing up and folding his arms.

"So we've succeeded in our task?" he asked coolly.

"As soon as we make the exchange, and Paul _finally_ surrenders his information, _then_ we'll have succeeded," Shane corrected him. "Anyways, Headquarters has instructed me to inform you of the full scope of the operation, so consider this next session to be a debriefing of sorts," he said, getting right to the point.

"There's a full scope? All I thought we were doing was gathering intel for the boss," Mark joked, flicking at his dark fringe.

"That was the bare minimum you needed to know. However, you were still performing your duties when we had our negotiation with Paul, so you weren't told about what – or where – his information would be."

"Where?" he repeated blankly.

"Yes, where. According to Paul, there is a stone tablet at the peak of Sinnoh's Mt. Coronet, at the Spear Pillar ruins. It is buried under the northernmost tower, but there are special conditions that must be met for it to appear to anyone. Once we give Paul our captive, he will tell us of those conditions."

"Okay, so we've been doing all this just for some information on a piece of rock; that's what you're saying?" Mark asked, beginning to get frustrated.

"Not just _any_ piece of rock," Shane growled. "From what Headquarters has told me, that stone tablet contains an ancient legend concerning a mythological Pokémon. As you know, it's Team Galactic's s—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know what it is; we look for '_mythical_ _Pokémon to better serve the world_'," drawled Mark.

"Correct. But the Boss _himself_ has a particular interest in this legend. He believes that this legend involves him somehow," revealed Shane gruffly.

"He thinks he has a connection to a mythical Pokémon that could change the world? Sounds epic."

"Yes, well… I think that's all there is to tell for the moment," he concluded, wringing his hands. Then he snapped his fingers and looked back at Mark. "Oh, right. Headquarters has instructed me to keep you with me until we have Paul's information. After that, I'll establish contact with Headquarters, and they'll decide your next mission, along with mine."

"You mean I've got _more_ work to do?!" whined Mark, throwing his hands over his head in complaint. "Aw, man!"

"Well, how about this: you can take a quick rest now. I'll organise the exchange with Paul for tonight, and we'll carry out the last part of our mission," he offered. Mark contemplated over it for a minute, then nodded and smiled.

"Okay, I'll do that. Thanks, Boss," he said cheerfully. "But what about Emily and Alex?"

"They're no longer needed for this operation, so I'm sending them away. I think they deserve a vacation on the Orange Islands circuit, don't you think?"

"Yeah, lucky them," Mark grumbled.

"Which reminds me; on your way out, could you tell them to come up here? I need to discuss their transportation. Y'know, get everything in order," Shane said meekly. Mark nodded again and gave him a salute – the first honest salute he had given Shane since they arrived – and walked towards the spring's entrance. Shane turned and strode to the edge of the platform, apparently gazing down into the bubbling water, and as he straightened up and returned to the centre, Mark reached Emily and Alex at the edge of the cavern, just inside the tunnel.

"What did he talk to you about?" Alex demanded, rounding on him the moment he drew level with them.

"He was just filling me in on what I missed when the three of you met up with Paul that time," Mark said lazily, stretching his arms and yawning widely. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going outside to have a quick nap. Oh, and Shane wants to see both of you up there on the platform. Good luck!" he encouraged, smacking a hand each on their shoulders before he brushed past them and into the humid tunnel, quickly disappearing from sight.

"I wonder what he wants to see us about," pondered Emily aloud, scratching the back of her head as she glanced over at Alex, who seemed just as perplexed over the matter. With a non-committal noise, Alex shrugged her shoulders and started to walk towards their commanding officer, squinting into the haze. "Alex, wait up!" Emily exclaimed, hurrying forwards to keep pace with her. A minute later the two women were up on the bamboo platform, standing nervously in front of Shane and – although they didn't know it – his Kecleon, who was still hidden behind the man's trouser legs.

"Boss!" shouted Emily, springing to attention, and Alex dutifully did the same. Shane dismissed them with a wave of his hand, and clasped both hands together as he regarded them with his penetrating eyes.

"Emily, Alex, congratulations," he started with a wide grin, "you've completed your half of our assignment. As such, your services here at Ayers Island are longer required, so, if you wish, I will arrange for a private transport to escort you to the Orange Islands for a well-deserved rest," he finished, looking hopefully from one to the other as they clapped their hands together with joy and gave each other a high-five.

"That sounds great!" cheered Alex, unable to contain her excitement as she bobbed up and down on the balls of her feet as Emily's face split into a huge smile.

"Excellent. I'll organise a helicopter to come pick you up later on tonight. But I have better news," he smirked, to a pair of confused looks on the girls' faces. "A gift, in fact. Come on out," he muttered, stepping to the side. Alex and Emily turned on the spot, looking this way and that for the new arrival, but of course they could see nothing, and they grew increasingly puzzled and irritated the longer they couldn't find it.

"No, no, look down, you two," Shane sighed, hiding a chuckle. Despite their gaping looks, Emily and Alex's eyes flew down to the floor, and Emily shrieked when she saw the jagged red stripe floating in mid-air.

"Whoa! Is that… a Kecleon?!" she gasped, jumping up and down with delight. With a nod from Shane, Kecleon revealed itself to the two women, to another shriek, this time from Alex.

"Yes. And now it's _your_ Kecleon. Yours and Alex's, to share," Shane answered, and Alex nearly passed out with glee. But as she and Emily gave each other a jubilant hug to celebrate, two long, sinewy, gray tentacles snaked up from under the platform and slithered stealthily across the ground towards them. Completely oblivious to the silently moving feelers, Alex and Emily pulled away from each other and knelt down to take a closer look at their newly earned Pokémon, who waggled its long tongue to and fro.

Shane saw the tentacles, and gave a pitifully evil smirk as Emily and Alex stood up, Kecleon being cradled in Alex's slender arms. "It's good to see you're happy," he said to them, his voice barely more than a whisper. _Just one more moment…_

"We are happy, aren't we, Kecleon?" crooned Emily, leaning her head down to the Color Swap Pokémon.

"That's a relief," Shane said, but there was nothing relieved in his tone. "Especially considering that Kecleon will be the last Pokémon you two ever see."

Alex smiled and looked down at Kecleon, then her head snapped back up in confusion. She turned to see Emily, who had the faintest trace of fear on her face, and she looked back at Shane, whose eyes were mercilessly boring into her. "What did you just say?" she murmured, backing away from him.

"Goodbye, Emily. Goodbye, Alex," he said ruthlessly, his voice sharpening like a laser beam. "Tentacruel, Poison Jab!" he cried.

Alex heard a whipping sound behind her head, and she threw herself to the left – Kecleon still wrapped in her arms – just as a leathery tentacle thrashed through the air where her head had been only a split-second before. It quickly recoiled back across the platform just as the second tentacle shot forwards.

Emily wasn't as lucky. She howled with an unbearable pain as the second feeler's tip speared into the back of her neck, injecting her with a deadly toxin. Alex looked up the instant this happened, seeing Emily's bright, golden eyes flare and fade in the same moment. With a final, gurgling gasp, Alex could almost see the girl's soul escape her mouth, and Emily died, her thin body hanging limply from the tentacle that had just killed her.

"Emily! _NO_!" she screamed, casting her wild eyes at Shane, who hadn't moved an inch, even as he had issued the order and watched on emotionlessly. "_What did you do?!_"

"I'm tying up loose ends," he said, looking at Alex, almost pityingly. "The Boss wants as few people to know about our mission as possible, and you two are… _expendable_."

On cue, his Kecleon, resting safely on Alex's torso, uncurled its tail and wrapped it around her chest, binding it with an iron-clad grip. Alex gasped in pain as the coils of green began to tighten on her chest, compressing it and pushing her ribs against the rest of her organs. Her hands shot up and grabbed at the Pokémon's thick tail, pulling vainly against it, but she couldn't loosen Kecleon's crushing hold on her. She began gasping for air, fighting for every last bit of oxygen around her, and her vision slowly turned red as her brain started to die, deprived of the oxygen it needed so badly.

"Wh… _Wh_…" she panted, her face turning blue, and Shane looked down at her expiring form as though he'd seen it a thousand times before. "_Why… me…? W…h…y… n…o…w…?_"

"Consider yourself dismissed," he spat, and his piercing eyes burned like coals as Alex's red ones flickered and glazed over, and her twitching fingers finally stilled and slumped to the floor with the rest of her lifeless body. Kecleon immediately relinquished its grasp, dropping Alex lightly onto the platform just as Emily's corpse crashed to the floor, Tentacruel's tentacle tearing itself out of her neck and spurting poison from the gaping wound. Shane wasted no time in returning his two Pokémon to their PokéBalls, and after they were stowed away at his waist he looked down at the broken bodies of his female subordinates.

_What to do now…?_ he wondered, looking from Emily, to Alex, to the sack Mark had left next to them, and after several moments he reached his decision. He bent down and roughly grabbed Emily's figure and threw it onto his shoulder, before he did the same with Alex. He heaved with exertion as he made his way to the edge of the massive wooden platform, and when he reached the border he stopped and looked down. He saw a churning pool of searing water, and he knew what to do next, so he pushed his hands up and forwards, dragging on the women's outfits, and together they fell like stones into the turbid current with an almighty splash.

"Loose ends…" he muttered, dusting his hands off. "Well, one last thing to do then," he said to himself, walking back to the only other item on the platform. He grunted with effort and shouldered the sack, carrying it like a backpack, and with a vile laugh he climbed down from the platform. Shane marched briskly to the hot spring's tunnel, and three minutes later he was breathing in the clean, crisp air of the mountainside. Dabbing the beads of sweat from his brow, having just endured the intense humidity of the passageway, he turned and saw Mark sleeping peacefully on a small stretch of scrub to his left, using a rock as a pillow.

"He must _really_ have been tired, to put his head against _that_," he mused, striding over and dropping the sack next to Mark's rock-pillow. Mark snapped awake in an instant, his hand flying to his waist, and as he stood on his feet a PokéBall was already in his hand. Shane laughed at this little exhibition, and Mark rubbed at his eyes with his free hand and groaned when he realised who his company was.

"What'd you wake me up for?" he complained, squinting his eyes in the glare of the sun as he sat down on his rock and looked up at Shane. "I was having the best dream, too…"

"Well, your dreams will have to wait, I'm afraid. We've got to finish our mission," he reminded him, prodding the Poffin bag. Mark sighed, knowing that Shane was right, but then he looked around confusedly.

"Hey, where are Emily and Alex?" he asked curiously, glancing at the open end of the tunnel.

"I let them take a relaxing dip in the springs before they left for the Islands," Shane said comfortably, squatting down next to Mark. "They can stay there until their helicopter arrives, and then they can have a long vacation before they return to Headquarters."

"Oh," he grunted, slightly crestfallen. "Can I at least say goodbye to Em before she goes?" he requested.

_If you did that, I'm afraid I'd have to kill you too,_ Shane thought impishly. _Then the Boss would kill _me_…_ "Sorry, Mark. We've got to organise this exchange as soon as possible. But don't worry," he added, clapping him on the shoulder, "you'll be able to once this is all over."

"Okay," Mark replied, forcing a brief smile. _I wonder how long it'll take for this to be _'all over', he wondered, staring up at the sky. He glanced over as Shane got back to his feet, pulling his cell phone from his side pocket. Shane saw the look, and as he flipped the phone open, he waved it at him as a gesture.

"I'm contacting Paul to arrange the exchange," he explained, putting the phone to his ear. Mark nodded with a jerk of his head and looked back up at the clouds moving slowly across the sky as the sun dipped lower and lower towards the ocean.

_Let's just hope that runt makes good on his promise…_

* * *

**Trivia:**

***The Galactic women's codenames are those of romantically associated objects (Moon and Rose).**

**Quiz:**

***What is the Team Galactic credo?**


	48. On The Market

**CHAPTER 48 – ON THE MARKET**

Paul stood squarely, with his arms crossed, as he looked across at the two figures walking into view. It was a pitch-black night, the stars had disappeared from the sky, and the only source of light was from the torch he had thrown onto the ground, facing forwards, to give himself a somewhat decent look at his surroundings. He could see a mess of painted lines in the ground at his feet, streaking away at right angles to each other, and beyond them was a fifteen-foot-high wall of solid steel that cut away to row upon row of seats, stretching up even to the darkness where his island of light failed to reach. The light itself threw a stark yellow light over the faces of the two approaching figures, and Paul crossed his arms defensively as he saw the sallow face, high cheeks and dark hair of the first; the thick green hair and cold eyes of the second.

"I was beginning to wonder if you'd follow through with this," he said loudly, as they stopped thirty feet away from him and stood shoulder to shoulder.

"Our Boss still wonders if you're going to give us the right information," Mark retorted, glaring oppressively at Paul, who snorted and tossed his head back in annoyance.

"As long as I get what I asked for," he called, his lip curling into a hateful smirk. "Speaking of which…"

"We've got what you want," Shane hissed, lowering the bulky burlap sack from his shoulders and onto the synthetic surface. "Now give us what _we_ want, and then you can come over and get h—" he broke off as Paul burst into laughter.

"Do you _really_ think that I'm going to play this _your_ way?" he cackled. "I know your kind; you Galactic scheme, and cheat, and stab each other in the back as soon as the next highest offer comes along. And that's amongst your _own_ ranks. So I _don't_ apologise for being a bit more cautious towards you scumbags."

"Watch your tongue, Paul!" fired Mark, stepping forwards dangerously, but Shane threw a broad hand in front of him to stop his advances.

"Now, as I was saying," Paul went on, "we do this _my_ way. In case you haven't noticed, I've got all the advantages here; I have what your Boss wants and it's not _him_ that has what _I _want. And I also have—" he kicked the flashlight so that it faced behind him, "—reinforcements."

Mark bared his teeth and Shane cursed under his breath as he saw six intimidating and extremely powerful-looking Pokémon flanking Paul. They hadn't seen them earlier because the shine of Paul's torch blocked out the view of the dark behind it, but now as they saw the range of Pokémon he had assembled, they realised that they had little choice but to go by Paul's methods.

"Fine. We'll do what you want to do first," Shane spat, choosing prudence over pride, particularly since the Ursaring on Paul's immediate left cracked its knuckles and neck in a very threatening way, appearing to want to kill him quite badly.

"Good," hissed Paul softly, his voice like meat on an open fire, "now have your lackie—" he jerked his hand towards Mark, "—bring that sack and put it halfway between us. Then my Ursaring here—" he pointed his thumb over his back at the growling Pokémon, "—will do the rest. I think that's… _fair_…"

"Mark, do it," Shane instructed, looking sideways at him. Mark growled, infuriated that he was being bossed around by a child, but obeyed Shane's orders, and dragged the Poffin sack across the ground, clutching at the half-open neck of it, until he has halfway between Shane and Paul. He promptly dropped the sack's ties and sprinted back to stand next to his superior, just as Ursaring bounded forwards and scooped the bag up as though it were merely a kitten or puppy. In little more than a second the sack was being dumped at Paul's feet, and as Ursaring roared and resumed its place next to its fellow, Paul knelt down to examine it.

"Let's see if you got the right person," he murmured, fumbling with the coarse rope tie at the neck of the bag. After a few choice curses he managed to unhook the tie and open the sack up, revealing the person inside. Paul gave a tiny smirk and nodded his head as he closed the bag back up and got to his feet. "At least you freaks did _something_ right," he provoked, to a stream of insults from Mark, who was now being forcibly restrained by Shane. Once he had finally asserted control over his subordinate, Shane straightened the collar on his shirt and turned his eyes back to Paul.

"Okay, Paul, we've given you your little hostage," he said, in the tone that a hostage negotiator would use towards a terrorist, "now it's time for you to hold up _your_ end of the bargain."

"Fine by me," Paul shouted harshly. "Should I tell you now, or _after _you screw something else up?"

Shane registered the insult, but it didn't matter to him so much as the matter of the next step of this exchange. "You're not telling me," he said calmly, reaching down to his belt. Paul started forwards, ready to give his legion of Pokémon an attack command, but he stopped when he realised that Shane was simply grabbing the cell phone he kept at his side at all times. "You're telling my _Boss_."

Shane smirked evilly at Paul, but the expression quickly faded, and he physically took a step back as he saw the wild ferocity in Paul's eyes and face. To him, the boy looked criminally insane; at the point where he was about to commit a gruesome, pre-meditated murder. Fighting not to show his intimidation, Shane held the phone at arm's length and walked into the centre of the space. He slowly lowered the phone onto the smooth floor, turned, and walked back to rejoin Mark, who was looking on apprehensively as Paul crossed the floor quickly, stooping down to snatch up the phone.

"Press one, hash, connect," Shane instructed. "The Boss should complete the connection after five rings; no more, no less." He watched on, his nerves jangling, as Paul mashed the buttons and shoved the phone against his ear. True to Shane's word, a click sounded on the phone after five rings.

"Abaddon," growled a male voice through the speaker. "Shane, I wasn't expecting to—"

"Love to burst your bubble, _Cyrus_," Paul said, uttering the last word with such hatred that Mark gasped in astonishment; _no-one _talked to his boss like that, albeit using his true name.

"Ah. Paul. How nice to hear from you," Cyrus muttered, with a subtle hint of sarcasm. "My men have given you your captive, as they promised. Now fulfil your end of the deal, and tell me what I want to know. _How do I find that tablet?_"

"North-east of Ayers Island is a cluster of islands known as the Orange Archipelago," Paul stated, making no effort to hide his contempt. "In the centre of the Archipelago are four islands, the largest of which is known as Shamouti Island."

"Shamouti Island?" repeated Cyrus, genuinely surprised as to the relevance of that particular island. "The home of the legendary Lugia and the Beast Of The Sea?"

"No, the _other_ Shamouti Island," he hissed, rolling his eyes. "Of course it's that one! Do you know what _else_ that area is home to?"

"The three legendary bird Pokémon," Cyrus answered lazily. "They reside at Fire Island, Ice Island, and Lightning Island respectively…"

"And they are guarding three treasures that rest in sacred temples at the peak of each island," Paul said abruptly. "Those treasures are the key to unlocking the tablet."

"The _Titans' Spheres_?! Inconceivable!" he shouted, making Paul jerk the phone away from his ear. "How?!"

"You really _are_ pathetic," he spat, yelling into the receiver. "The legends are a pair! Like fire and ice, water and lightning, good and evil!"

"Whatever they are, you still haven't explained how these… _keys_… will reveal the legend found at Spear Pillar."

"I was getting to that. The three treasures have to be placed facing the three lakes of Sinnoh. The Ice Sphere must be facing Lake Acuity, the Fire Sphere to Lake Valour, and the Lightning Sphere to Lake Verity. That night, at sunset, you'll have your precious _tablet_, at the f—"

"—foot of the northernmost pillar, yes," sighed Cyrus. "I see… this means that… Hmph, very well. Give this phone back to Shane, now."

"Fuck you. I'm not your slave; you don't order me around!" roared Paul, ending the connection. He threw the phone onto the solid floor and stamped his shoe down onto it, crushing it into a thousand tiny pieces. Shane started forwards, shouting profanely at him, but a thick green tendril shot out from behind the boy and fastened itself around Shane's neck, halting his charge and brutally bringing him to his knees. Paul stared down his nose at the struggling Galactic, tittering mockingly as he walked over to him.

"You should know better than to beat me at my own game, Grunt," he hissed with a sneer. "Torterra, let this vermin go," he said, looking behind him. Shane choked with relief as the air flew back into his lungs, and the vine that had wrapped around his neck flew backwards and retreated into Paul's vast, green, turtle-like Pokémon.

"You son of a bitch!" Mark gasped, running forwards to help Shane to his feet. Paul took the insult in his stride and turned around to face his throng of Pokémon, scouting for one in particular. His eyes narrowed, and he nodded at the one on the far right. It was half the size of the Ursaring standing next to it, and it had a crown of bright red feathers atop its head, like an Indian chief's headdress. There was a oval-shaped yellow stone in the centre of its forehead, and on either side of the stone was a fierce red eye. Its skinny arms ended in wicked three-fingered claws, which glinted ominously in the weak torchlight. The Pokémon bared its teeth evilly, showing two rows of razor-sharp fangs.

"Weavile, keep an eye on those two in case they try something funny," he whispered, knowing that Mark and Shane wouldn't be able to hear; the former was pre-occupied with helping Shane, and the latter was still struggling with his breathing. Weavile snickered and trained its eyes on the two, its deadly claws flexing at its sides.

"You've—got what you—want," said Shane hoarsely, his hand gently rubbing his neck, where a nasty red welt was forming. "Now—get out of here—and take your—prisoner—with you."

"Don't mind if I do," Paul snapped, motioning towards Ursaring, who pounced forwards and snatched the Poffin sack off of the ground, throwing it onto its shoulder with a loud thud. Keeping his Pokémon out of their PokéBalls, he and the six of them about-faced and started to walk away, just as Shane's other cell phone buzzed and gave a high-pitched ring. Paul stopped walking for just a moment, then shook his head and continued on his way.

_I still have no idea why they put this exchange in a stadium_, he thought angrily, watching his Weavile – perched on Torterra's back – as it kept to its order of watching the two Galactics. _A stadium is public enough, but the World's Peak?!_ he added, looking around at the endlessly high stands stretching out of sight. _They should call themselves Team _Moronic…

"Hello?" said Shane, answering the phone. He was confused, not because Paul had listened to his words, but because no-one should have access to this particular phone. Only three people were given the number; two of them were dead – by his hands, no less – and the last one was standing right beside him, his hand gripping under Shane's arm to steady him. The thought disturbed him, so he promptly shook Mark's concern aside, along with his hand.

"This is Abaddon. Carry out your orders. Kill Paul. Now."

"Understood, sir," Shane muttered, and the line went dead. "Mark, summon your Pokémon. We've been given a direct order to eliminate Paul," he informed Mark, snatching all six of his PokéBalls from his belt. Mark's mouth fell open in shock, but he quickly recovered and he, too, took all of his PokéBalls into his hands. Shane saw that Paul and his band of Pokémon were nearly at the stadium's exit, and so he instantly threw his PokéBalls forwards as Mark did the same. Tentacruel launched itself forwards, snapping its cruel, hooked beak and waving its many feelers through the air. Kecleon jumped out of its ball, instantly disappearing into the night sky; even its trademark red zigzag was hard to spot in the imposing darkness.

Shane's third Pokémon was colossal; there was no other word for it. It towered above its Trainer, reaching at least thirty feet into the sky, a dull-grey serpent with a craggy head that seemed to be made of tempered steel. Its tiny red eyes flared as it bared its terrible fangs and the next of Shane's Pokémon burst forth. It was small – extremely small compared to Steelix – and feline in appearance, with fur that matched the pitch-black surrounding it. In fact, all it appeared to be was a random assortment of yellow rings, glowing eerily in the half-light, and a pair of almond-shaped eyes.

The fifth of Shane's Pokémon gave a soft hissing roar as it pranced onto the ground, striking a vermillion paw on the floor. It was a massive lion of a Pokémon, with a mane of creamy yellow fur, and large black stripes that adorned its back and limbs. Finally, the final Pokémon released itself from Shane's PokéBall, crashing onto the ground with a rustling thud. It looked like an enormous creature made of snow, except that its extremities and tail were coloured a pale, mossy green. A snow-white fringe of hair covered its mouth, and its purple eyes stared out from under a pair of horns atop its head.

"_Wiii! Weavile wii!_" hissed Weavile, jumping from Torterra's back and onto the ground, extending its vicious claws. Paul understood the signal, and barked an order at his Pokémon to turn around and prepare to battle. He'd known that it would have come down to this in the end; he'd known that Cyrus would have tried to eliminate him. He'd known too much, it seemed.

"Umbreon, use Mean Look! Seal them in!" Shane commanded. His Umbreon nodded and fixed its gleaming, red eyes on Paul and his Pokémon. Once the flare in its eyes had faded, Paul knew that there was no escape; Umbreon's attack had just prevented his Pokémons' chances of escape.

"Ursaring, drop it and get in front of me!" he ordered. Ursaring roared and tossed its burden onto the ground, and Paul rushed to stand next to it as Ursaring jumped in front of him to protect its master, his other five Pokémon flanking him loyally. He looked out from behind his Pokémon just in time to see Mark hurl six of his own PokéBalls into the air with a cry. His Machoke popped out and flexed its broad muscles eagerly as its team-mates appeared one by one.

The first of these team-mates was a large grey-and-white bird, with a jagged grey line of feathers across its chest and a sharp curl atop its head, which ended in a flash of red plumage. The Pokémon gave an angry squawk and took to the air, eyeing off the Honchkrow on the other side of the stadium, as a large, blue, walrus-like Pokémon burst onto the field beside it, roaring from between its enormous tusks.

Mark's fourth Pokémon was vastly different to the other three. It was massive; not nearly as large as Shane's Steelix, but it was easily the second largest Pokémon present. It looked like something out of a child's nightmare, with two enormous horns protruding from its flat forehead. Blocks of protective red armour covered the top of its head, its shoulders, and its waist, and its arms looked like spears, with sharp ends jutting out behind the elbow. Its clawed hands each had a large, round hole in the centre of the palms, and it fired a blast of air from each as it banged a club-like tail on the ground and gave a roar like a chainsaw.

"_Haoooooow_!" howled the next Pokémon as it sprang onto the field. It, too, was a fiendish-looking Pokémon, with great horns that curved like sickles, a whip-like tail that ended in a devil's arrow, and what looked to be bones across the length of its back and on its ankles. It breathed a jet of intense fire from its blood-red jaws and howled again as Mark's last Pokémon, an enormous bug of a creature with an even larger mushroom on its back, scuttled into view.

Shane and Mark's twelve Pokémon lined up in formation, and fourteen pairs of eyes glared down the seven on the other side, every last one itching for the battle that was about to begin.

"Umbreon, Shadow Ball!" shouted Shane. Umbreon screeched and fired a blob of dark energy across the field, spinning towards Paul's Magmortar with ferocious speed.

"Hyper Beam, Ursaring!" Paul bellowed, and Ursaring leapt in front of Magmortar and blasted a jet of orange light from its jaws, illuminating the path it seared through the air. The two attacks cannoned into each other with a massive explosion, and the flash of light threw dancing shadows across the Trainers' unmoving, determined faces, but as soon as the flash occurred it was over, and Ursaring's Hyper Beam tore through its foe's attack and smashed into Umbreon, launching it high into the air. Ursaring beat its chest triumphantly at having drawn the first blood, and it gave a raging battle cry as it charged forwards and recklessly threw its fist into Staraptor's beak.

And the battle began. Mark and Shane ordered their Pokémon forwards, strategically, making sure that there was always two of theirs fighting one of Paul's so as to gain the upper hand. This tactic would have worked against any ordinary Trainer, but Paul's training methods had brought out the full potential of his Pokémon, and so they refused to be subdued despite the odds, fighting on with all the rage in their hearts against their opponents.

Within a matter of moments a Pokémon had already fallen; Paul's Electivire jumped high into the air and landed on Mark's Staraptor, bringing both of them crashing into the ground. Staraptor tore at Electivire with its beak, but the Thunderbolt Pokémon crushed it against the hard floor with its fist, and wrapped its cord-like tails around its opponent's neck. With a savage hiss it shot a current of deadly electricity from the red tips and shot the energy into Staraptor's head, knocking it unconscious. Its other opponent, Shane's Abomasnow, fired a blast of red-brown energy at Electivire, which knocked it off its fallen comrade, but the yellow Pokémon sprang to its feet almost instantly and launched itself at Abomasnow, pummelling the Ice-type Pokémon with its brutal fists.

A gargantuan shadow passed over the feuding Pokémon's heads as Steelix was sent flying by a bone-splitting Focus Punch by Magmortar, who immediately turned its attention to Mark's Rhyperior. The Drill Pokémon banged its mighty fists against the ground, splintering the earth, and it sucked an enormous boulder out from under the ground, attaching itself to Rhyperior's arm. With a roar like thunder, Rhyperior discharged the boulder at Magmortar, who fired a blue stream of fire at the rock. The heat of the blast brought Electivire to its knees, and Abomasnow fainted with exhaustion as Magmortar's attack melted the rock into a sizzling pile.

"Two down," sneered Paul. "Weavile, keep your eyes peeled on that Kecleon! Make sure it doesn't come close!" he shouted to his Pokémon, standing three feet away. He was using Weavile, with its keen eyesight, as a bodyguard to ensure that Shane's chameleon Pokémon didn't sneak up and dispatch him or his hostage; it would have to get past his guardian. Weavile smirked malignantly and narrowed its eyes expectantly as it saw a faint red line pounding towards its Trainer, as he had expected. But suddenly, a pair of blue fists brought themselves down over Weavile's head, crushing its skull against its neck, and the Sharp Claw Pokémon spun into darkness and fell to the ground.

Machoke growled victoriously as it surveyed its conquest, before turning and leaping onto Electivire, who was about to fire a Thunderbolt at Shane's Tentacruel. Electivire's twin tails whipped up and threw the Pokémon off its back, and it fired its electric attack at Tentacruel, who just as fiercely conjured a Light Screen to deflect the oncoming assault. Machoke punched the ground with its fist and dove towards Electivire, outraged at the Pokémon's arrogance, and took it out with a driving Rolling Kick. Electivire toppled backwards, landing on its back, and Rhyperior's tail – the rough size of a beach ball – glowed white and flew down, smashing its face into the ground and making a huge crater in the field.

"Two down, Paul!" shouted Shane.

"Damnit!" Paul cursed, as Rhyperior's tail lifted off the ground and revealed his crushed Electivire. "Honchkrow, take out Machoke with a Drill Peck!" he ordered, so focused on his own Pokémon that he momentarily forgot about Shane's Kecleon, who was slowly advancing towards him. A serpentine red tongue shot out of nowhere, and before Paul had time to blink, it had lashed around his neck. He roared with anger and pain as the bristly rope tightened, biting into the skin of his neck, and his cries of pain got the attention of Torterra. The Continent Pokémon stiffly turned its head to face its Trainer, and its eyes flashed with rage as it saw the Pokémon attacking its master. With an ear-splitting roar that made Shane and Mark cover their ears and duck their heads, Torterra uncontrollably glowed green, and a second later it fired its Frenzy Plant attack.

A gigantic brown vine, covered in razor-sharp thorns, burst from the ground, millimetres from striking its own team-mate, Ursaring, as the bear Pokémon hurled Mark's Arcanine through the air. The second thicket that erupted from the ground speared into the open space right in front of Paul; rather, it would have been open space were Kecleon's tongue not in the way. The blade-like tip of the vine sheared through the Pokémon's tongue, cutting it cleanly in two. Kecleon gave a strangled, agonised scream as disgusting yellow blood gushed from the wound. Paul gasped and wheezed, throwing the severed tip of Kecleon's tongue away from him, where it smacked into the ground. Kecleon tottered around drunkenly for a brief moment before it pitched backwards and fell to the floor with a soft thud.

"Thank you, Torterra," he said gratefully, shakily getting to his feet. Quickly looking around, he saw that no more of his Pokémon had been knocked out, even after Torterra's haywire assault; his Honchkrow was wheeling and circling around Steelix's head like an irritating fly whilst Magmortar blasted it with searing jets of fire, and Ursaring was furiously wrestling Arcanine into the ground, keeping a firm hand over the Pokémon's jaws to stop it from biting or spewing flames. Apart from the unmoving figures of Kecleon, Staraptor, and Abomasnow, Paul could see that Torterra's Frenzy Plant had struck both Walrein and Rhyperior down – both their bodies were covered with wicked scratches and bloodied cuts – and as he watched, he saw Ursaring land a crushing blow across Arcanine's muzzle, and the Legendary Pokémon's body slumped and moved no more. His lips curled into a sneer, but it was short-lived, for Mark's Machoke leapt towards him with its fists raised.

"So you want a go, eh?!" he shouted aggressively. But to his surprise, Machoke shifted its penetrating gaze from him to a spot slightly to his left, and with a bolt of understanding Paul realised why. "Oh, no you don't! Honchkrow, Drill Peck on Machoke, and _finish it off this time_!" he screamed at his Pokémon, who turned its head and dove down at terrifying speed. Honchkrow cawed, shooting down towards Machoke like a comet, and it struck the Superpower Pokémon in the back of the neck. Machoke grunted in pain and fell forwards from the attack, its blunt face smacking into the firm ground, and Paul thanklessly ordered Honchkrow back to the battle.

A long, thin tentacle shot high into the air, wrapping itself around Honchkrow's clawed foot as it flew back towards Shane's Steelix. Honchkrow crowed in shock and looked down to see Tentacruel latching onto it with even more feelers, their squirming, seething mass covering it quickly, ruthlessly, mercilessly. With a lightning-fast flick, Tentacruel threw Honchkrow sideways through the air, the bird Pokémon unable to control its flight.

A set of fangs, crackling with thunderous energy, reared up from the sky in front of Honchkrow, and the next moment it was between the jaws of Steelix, caught in its Thunder Fang attack. The force of the attack – powerful enough to rival a Raichu's Thunderbolt – paralysed Honchkrow from beak to tail, and as Steelix released its crushing grip, it dropped at the speed of gravity, sending up a cloud of dust as it collided with the ground and fell unconscious. Paul roared, mostly with disbelief at his Honchkrow being tossed like a rag doll, but also because he was beginning to run out of Pokémon. He was down to his last three, whilst Mark and Shane combined still had a formidable team of five.

"Ursaring, use Close Combat on Umbreon and take it out! It's them or us!" he bellowed. Ursaring charged forwards, raking its claws on the ground, and with a roar it swung its fist into Umbreon's underbelly, knocking it into the air. The Pokémon hissed in pain, but Ursaring jumped up and smashed its other fist into Umbreon's head, knocking it back into the ground just as quickly as it had been sent up. Umbreon struggled weakly to its feet, its right hind leg shaking uncontrollably, and its defiance sent Ursaring into a frenzy. It beat its chest and pounced forwards, grabbing Umbreon by its ears, and with three pulverising blows it smashed its prey into the ground, kicked it high into the air, and with a sickening sound that cracked the Pokémon's skull, Ursaring brought its fists together and clobbered Umbreon across the head in mid-air, sending it plummeting into the earth with a bang.

"Magmortar, blast that Parasect with Fire Spin!" Paul shouted, trying to maintain the barrage with as much momentum as he could get. Magmortar hissed softly and jumped into the air, landing five feet in front of the Mushroom Pokémon. Parasect fired a Spore attack, the waving sheet of yellow particles moving towards it, but Magmortar fired two jets of flame from its arms, and a third jet from its mouth. The blasts combined into one enormous, spiralling column of fire, and it swallowed Parasect's attack whole, incinerating the spores, before the Fire Spin engulfed Parasect itself, sizzling the Pokémon to within an inch of its life.

Parasect gave a tortured squeal and fainted on the spot, and finally Magmortar ceased its onslaught, turning to face the Steelix it had previously been engaged against. But before it could launch itself at its foe, a set of blood-red jaws clamped down on its yellow arm, tearing at the flesh underneath. Magmortar cried out in pain, and as it turned its head it saw Mark's final Pokémon, Houndoom, who was even now biting down harder on its foe's arm. Magmortar instinctively blasted Houndoom with a stream of fire, but the attack did nothing to the fellow Fire-type; in fact, the attack seemed to make Houndoom even stronger, for its eyes flared with burning fury.

"Torterra, use Hyper Beam on Tentacruel! Ursaring, get Houndoom off Magmortar, now!" Paul shouted agitatedly. Whilst Torterra readied its attack, Ursaring bellowed and jumped towards the two fire Pokémon, its claws pulsing with black energy, and with one swift motion it rent a claw across Houndoom's side, knocking the wind out of the Dark Pokémon's lungs. Magmortar hissed with relief as it felt the snakelike fangs leave the inside of its arm, and as Houndoom winced and stepped backwards, it extended its own claws and turned to face the Pokémon with a smile on its lipless mouth.

At the same moment, Torterra roared and fired its Hyper Beam directly at Tentacruel, the orange spear of light thundering across the arena. Tentacruel clicked its hooked beak and summoned another Light Screen to block the attack, but the power of the Hyper Beam was far too much for the flimsy wall. With the sound of shattering glass, Torterra's attack smashed through Tentacruel's barrier and slammed into the small red jewel at the centre of its forehead. The force of the blast sent Tentacruel flying through the air, its flight brutally stopped by the sheer boundary wall at the stadium's edge, and Tentacruel was unconscious before it hit the ground.

"Now the tables have turned," Paul roared, looking at the Pokémon still left standing on the field. "I still have half of my Pokémon left, and out of your pathetic dozen you're down to your last two. I'll give you one chance to get out of here with your skins intact, or else I'll do to you two what you were no doubt told to do to me," he threatened, fixing them both with an icy stare. He held his gaze until, at last, Shane and Mark gave each other a frightened look and slumped their shoulders, knowing at last that they truly were defeated. With an infuriated scream for failing this final hurdle, Shane thrust his PokéBalls forward and recalled his six Pokémon – four fainted, one seriously injured, and one still towering over the field – and Mark did the same a moment later, returning his fallen Pokémon and his Houndoom to their PokéBalls.

"Smart move," hissed Paul. "Now get out of here before I change my mind." The Galactics didn't need to be told a second time, and they took to their heels and ran out of the stadium, shouting curses and insults over their shoulders at him on their way out. He waited until he could no longer see their backs, making sure that they really had left, before he recalled his three fainted Pokémon to their balls and placed them on his waist. Signalling to Ursaring, he returned Magmortar to its PokéBall and walked over to join it and Torterra, who were flanking the dark brown bag on the stadium floor.

"I should have known that they'd try and pull this," he muttered, more to himself than his Pokémon, as he knelt down and fumbled with the sack's tie. "But now that they're out of the way… I can _finally_ get my revenge." He drew the tie open and loosened the neck of the bag, but the shape inside it twitched and woke up suddenly. With a cry Paul fell backwards as the person inside struggled to get free from its prison, and with another signal from Paul, Ursaring gripped the sack with its clawed hands and held the thrashing figure still.

"Let me go! What do you think you're doing?!" shrieked the person. The moon came out from behind the dark clouds overhead and threw a flash of light over the person's face, filled with fear, and Paul bared his teeth savagely.

"Me?" he asked silkily. The person's eyes shot wide open with shock at the familiar voice, still hidden in the shadows.

"Paul…?"

"That's right, it's me. Now I wouldn't struggle against Ursaring if I were you; he tends to get agitated easily," he added dangerously, his dark eyes staring at his hostage's face, framed by a sheet of navy-blue hair.

"What do you want with me?!" cried the blue-haired captive, shaking with sobs.

"I want my revenge, and you're the perfect person to help me have that revenge," Paul said, his voice barely above a whisper, but filled with anger and hatred. "On Ari."

* * *

Ari awoke with a start, jerking upright and smacking his head against the underside of the rubbish dumpster's lid with a loud clang. He shouted in pain, not only for the impact, but because of the aching spot on the back of his head where he'd been so easily incapacitated. He looked around, trying to get his bearings, but all he could see was black; the wiry-haired man and the blue-haired woman must have locked him inside. Fighting the growing sense of panic in his mind, he felt around his hips for the PokéBalls on his belt, and he exhaled in relief as his fingers brushed against the familiarly round objects. He hurriedly counted them, and his heart swelled when he found that all six were still there; they obviously hadn't tried to steal them from him.

_But if they weren't after my Pokémon, why did they corner me and knock me out?_ said a voice in his head. Quickly dismissing this thought as paranoia, he took the first PokéBall on the left and enlarged it, pointing it away from himself. "Galadriel," he whispered, and in a blinding flash of light that illuminated the entire inside of his cage, he felt a soft thud on the uneven, rancid ground as his Gallade came out of the ball.

"_Lade_!" he chimed loyally.

"Galadriel, use Psycho Cut to break us out of this shi—place," he hissed, bracing himself against the cold plastic wall. Gallade nodded – although Ari could barely see anything in the gloom – and struck the wall with one of its blade-like arms. There was a hideous grinding noise as Gallade's blade sawed through the hard shell, and a moment later a circle of plastic fell away from the side of the dumpster, falling onto the concrete outside with a bang.

"Good work, buddy," he whispered proudly, blindly patting his Pokémon's horned head. "Now get out of here; I'll be right behind you." With another nod, Gallade squeezed its thin body through the hole in the wall, crawling onto the narrow street beyond the dumpster. Ari blindly felt for the edges of the hole – it was the dead of night, and the light outside was no better than the total dark inside – and once he put his hands on the roughly cut edges, he forced his head through the hole, closely followed by the rest of his body. He overbalanced and fell face-first onto the hard cement with a muffled cry of '_Ow…_' before he lifted his head off the ground. He could see Gallade's dark outline standing over him in the dim street, and he was gratefully pulled to his feet by the Blade Pokémon.

"Thanks, Galadriel. Sorry to bother you," Ari muttered, and with a flash of red he returned Gallade to its PokéBall. Stowing Gallade's PokéBall on his belt, he reached for the ball on the far right this time, and in a flash of white light he summoned his second Pokémon. "Horazon!" he shouted, and Dusknoir flew out of the ball with a hoarse cry. "Use a Will-O-Wisp to give us some light around here. I can't see my hand in front of my face, it's that dark." Dusknoir boomed obediently and conjured a single, ghostly blue flame in front of its body, and using its large hands to keep it aloft, the flame expanded in the air, throwing dancing shadows across the street.

"_Duuuu…_" screeched Dusknoir, pointing at a spot down the street, seemingly hidden in the darkness.

"What is it, Horazon?" Ari asked, looking confusedly from his Pokémon to the dark stretch in front of them. Dusknoir boomed again and began to float down the street, its Will-O-Wisp throwing an eerie light over the road, and Ari ran forwards to keep up, still puzzled by his Pokémon's behaviour. But a minute later his suspicions were answered, for Dusknoir's blue flame suddenly flared and split into six, each one flying to a different spot and flooding the ground in front of him in pale blue light.

The sight of it sent a shiver down Ari's spine, even though he had seen Dusknoir use this technique innumerable times before; he couldn't help but feel that he was walking into a crime scene, and the wispy flames were UV-lights overhead. But the strange light wasn't what suddenly made Ari shout out and run forwards, falling to his knees and reaching for the ground. It was the tiny object that had been thrown into sharp relief by Dusknoir's Will-O-Wisp; a small white hat with a pink PokéBall design on the front.

"Dawn!" he cried, tenderly lifting the hat from the ground. _What…? How…? …Wait! Those two that knocked me out! They weren't after me or my Pokémon; they were after Dawn! But why?! What would they want with her?!_ His thoughts spiralled inwards, and each answer only led to more troubling questions. Only when Dusknoir sensed its Trainer's distress, and extinguished the light, did Ari snap out of his anxiety and jerk his head upwards towards his Pokémon.

"Horazon, return," he said quietly, snatching Dusknoir's PokéBall from his waist. Dusknoir disappeared in a haze of red light, and as Ari tucked the ball into his belt, he stowed Dawn's hat inside the inside pocket of his jacket, symbolically keeping it close to his heart. He started to run down the road, but halfway towards the next intersection he stopped short, weighing his options.

_Okay, I can't go running into this,_ he thought bitterly, his mind struggling with his emotions. _There are two fully grown criminals out there with Dawn, and if I try and take them on, I might be putting her in even more danger than she might be in now. But… I can't just leave her! I've got to find Ash and Brock; they might know something. Maybe they know if that guy has a grudge against her… just maybe…_ He made up his mind; with a great effort, as though every nerve in his body was telling him to do otherwise, he took a third PokéBall from his belt and threw it onto the ground, where it burst open in a blaze of light.

"_Garrr_!" growled Ari's Garchomp as it flew out of the PokéBall and touched down on the concrete in front of him.

"Dullahan, take me to Ash's hotel, and step on it," Ari ordered. Garchomp blinked, confused at the ruthless tone in its master's voice, but it chose not to delve any further into it, and it dutifully lowered its neck towards Ari, who hastily climbed on. With a soft roar Garchomp spread its claw-tipped wings wide and shot into the sky, rocketing through the air towards the hotels to the north-west.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Shane had the following Pokémon: Tentacruel, Kecleon, Steelix, Umbreon, Arcanine and Abomasnow.**

***Mark's Pokémon were: Machoke, Staraptor, Walrein, Rhyperior, Houndoom and Parasect. Notably, his Vileplume is absent from the line-up, meaning that it was switched out for another Pokémon beforehand, most likely Parasect.**

***Torterra recorded the most **_**KOs**_** during the all-in battle, with four: Kecleon, Walrein, Rhyperior and Tentacruel. **

**Quiz:**

***How many Pokémon are mentioned **_**directly by name**_** throughout this chapter?**


	49. The Unown, The Dark, The Past

**CHAPTER 49 – THE UNOWN, THE DARK, THE PAST**

Ash was struggling to keep himself awake from the confines of his soft, warm, comfortable seat on the living-room lounge. The television – only five feet away – blared on dully, the news reporters and puff pieces recounting the events of the day and identifying the hundred and twenty-eight Trainers that had advanced to the fourth round. As far as Ash was concerned, he was one of those Trainers, and that was all that mattered to him. His mind, by sheer luck, caught on to the news at the moment that the anchorman declared that Anabel had won through as well, and he made a drowsy mental note to congratulate her when he saw her again; she'd called it a night half an hour ago and returned to her room for some well-deserved rest.

"Hey. Ash. Ash!" said a loud voice to his left. Ash slowly turned his head towards the person who had spoken, and he saw Tracey standing feet away from him, his expression as earnest as ever, but a little concerned.

"Hey, Trace. What's up?" he mumbled groggily, stumbling to his feet.

"Professor Oak and I are about to head back to the lab in Pallet Town," Tracey announced, grinning sheepishly. "The airship leaves at dawn, and I've got to finish packing my things, so this is pretty much my last chance to say goodbye before I go."

"Huh? Oh… right, 'course…" he grunted, nodding stupidly. "Can I ask you a favour?" he asked, all signs of weariness suddenly vanishing from his face as he looked at his dark-haired friend.

"Absolutely, just name it!" he said cheerily.

"When you get back to the lab, find the shelves that hold my PokéBalls, and look for the second one from the back. Take it with you, and go to the road north of Pallet Town. Track down the flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto that live in the trees there. Find the flock's leader, and show it the PokéBall. It'll understand. When you're done, take it back to the lab and let me know, okay?" Ash instructed, making sure that he was being clear enough for Tracey, who nodded understandingly.

"Will do. Empty PokéBall, grass outside Pallet, leader of the flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto," he recited, nodding and smiling.

"Excellent. Thanks a bunch, Trace," Ash said, giving Tracey a warm handshake. "A safe voyage back to Vermillion City, and a quick return to Pallet Town, eh?"

"That'd be wonderful," he chuckled, turning to the door. "Best of luck in the Championships. I'll be cheering you on all the way!" he encouraged, and with that he opened the door and left, shutting it quietly behind him with a final cry of, "See you around, Ash!"

"See you later, Trace," he murmured, falling back onto the lounge.

Ash quickly sank back into his stupor; his head carelessly lolled forwards as he gave an enormous yawn that looked like it could have dislocated his jaw. He was so sleepy that it didn't even register to him over the next few minutes, on the television, that Ari, Leoric, Paul, and Gary had also made it through to the fourth round. Ash could feel himself slipping slowly into sleep, so he wearily moved Pikachu onto the cushion next to him and allowed his head to fall onto the lounge's arm. Within moments he was sound asleep, but he could see the room in front of him as clearly as if he was still awake; even clearer now, because his eyes had been blurred with tiredness.

He was dreaming again.

"Now what?" he thought, his eyes moving about the room. There was Pikachu, propped silently against the cushion and the lounge's back, his tiny chest moving in and out. As he looked around to the left, he could see Brock sprawled hopelessly over an armchair, and Leoric sitting on the one next to that. His blonde-brown hair was messed up on one side from having his head pushed against the chair, but he'd apparently woken himself up since then. He was waiting for Ari to come back with Dawn; he knew that Ari was one of those perfect gentlemen, so he'd walk Dawn back here, and after that Leoric could get his room key back from him.

"What's taking them so long?" he said aloud, before looking around and realising that he was the only one still awake. "Ha, figures…" He shook his head and leant it back against his chair and closed his eyes.

"Leoric? Hey, Leoric!" Ash shouted, but his voice did nothing to stir the boy. "Oh, I see what's going on… I'm dreaming again," he realised, standing to his feet and stretching. "Alright, Darkrai, we might as well skip the formalities and the weird doors-after-doors thing this time. Just come on out and we'll talk about that _warning_ you were supposed to give me," he said to the walls. But after a minute of silent reply, he grew impatient.

"Come on, this isn't funny! I've had enough to deal with lately without you stiffing me!" he shouted, punching the wall with his fist. His hand smashed through the wall as though it was nothing more than paper, and Ash staggered backwards in surprise, staring incredulously at his hand, as the entire wall crumbled and fell to the ground noiselessly. He snapped his head around but, of course, his friends and Pikachu were still all soundly asleep – or ignorant – and so he turned to face the black hole where the wall had stood, only to find that a small, pulsating blue flame was hovering in the centre of the gap.

"You want to play hide-and-seek, Darkrai? Alright, I'll play," he shrugged, stepping into the void, towards the flame. "Least it's only a dream…" he assured himself, but he couldn't help but feel unnerved as the blue wisp flew around his body like a firefly, throwing wild and dancing light across his vision. With an inaudible gasp, Ash saw that the space beyond the wall wasn't blank emptiness, but a strange hallway.

Strange… and horribly familiar.

Ash shivered at the thought of it, but somehow – from somewhere – he knew this place. He instinctively moved to the left, running his hand over a smooth stretch of bronze-coloured bricks, and he recoiled when he felt a mass of raised grooves on the surface. Swinging around, the blue flame orbiting across Ash's body illuminated a large assortment of markings, reaching eight feet high, on the stones, which he instantly remembered to be…

"Hieroglyphs," he muttered, inching towards them. They were perfectly aligned, running about four feet into the darkness to his right. He craned his neck closer to view them more clearly, but the flame was moving too quickly to cast a solid light on them. More out of frustration than of level thinking, his hand shot out and grabbed the flame, moving it towards the wall. The hieroglyphs shone an oily black in the light; their Unown-shaped figures looked alive, ready to jump forth from the wall.

Ash shuddered as it hit him; this wall was exactly like those in the halls of the Ruins Of Alph, north-east of Greenfield in the Johto region. There, a girl called Molly Hale had released the Unown and unknowingly caused havoc on the nearby countryside, and Ash himself had been forced to duel against the phantom Entei that they had created. Forcing the memories of that place out of his mind, Ash focused his mind on the verse in front of him.

"_**When two broke free from the Original One, a third rebelled, and so was torn away and cast aside.  
The renegade was thrown into a world above the world, yet a world below the world.  
Whilst the two brought time and space into being, the renegade gave birth to reality.  
This angered the two, who could not conjure such power on their own, but their anger made them unable to see the renegade's true form.  
Because of this, both turned their eyes to the other, who each perceived to be the renegade.  
And so, fuelled by their eternal hate, the one of time and the one of space wage unceasing war against each other,  
Never resting, never pausing, as they fight for dominance over their nemesis.**_**"**

"A world above the world, yet a world below the world…" Ash recited, his brow furrowed in the light of the flame in his hand. "The renegade gave birth to reality… the one of time and the one of space… well they _have_ to be Dialga and Palkia. So does that make the renegade Giratina?" he asked himself, but as he said the last word, the flame in his hand suddenly died, throwing him into total darkness.

"Damnit, Darkrai, come on out!" he roared, spinning around in the crushing darkness, fighting the panic in his heart. This was no ordinary dream; he knew that much already. What was worrying him now was how he was going to get himself out of it, and to his relief a blue orb appeared inches from his face, and a towering crest of white hair dissolved out of the black from above the orb. "About time," Ash grunted, as Darkrai's hazy outline came fully into view.

"_Hello, Ash,_" boomed the Pokémon, fixing his stare with its piercingly blue eye. "_I apologise for dragging you here, but it became necessary._"

"_Necessary_?" Ash repeated, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "What became necessary?"

"_Do you remember the last time I visited your dreams, Ash?_" Darkrai asked, before moving on without an answer. "_I told you that I had been summoned to warn you, did I not_?"

"Yeah, that was right after you came out of Cyrus," Ash recalled, but he was beginning to grow wary of Darkrai's tone; it was patronising, and he didn't like it in the slightest. "But you failed to tell me what that warning actually was, _did you not_?" he mocked.

"_Touché, Ash,_" chuckled the Pitch-Black Pokémon. "_But this time there will be no more interruptions by loved ones. No, this time you will hear my warning. But first, I must show you some things to help you understand. Take my hand,_" it said, and Ash felt a ripple pass across his arm as Darkrai reached forwards.

"Where are we going?" he asked apprehensively, but he clasped Darkrai's clawed hand nonetheless. He could feel himself spiralling down, further into the forbidding darkness, and he looked over at Darkrai, who gazed on impassively.

"_I am taking you to the world of memories and dreams,_" it answered calmly. "_Into the past of Ari DeVarro_."

"You know Ari?!" Ash exclaimed, his eyes widening. Darkrai nodded – Ash could only tell by the spire of white hair bobbing back and forth – and looked upwards, towards the spot where he had read the verse of hieroglyphs, and remained in silence from that point on, refusing to divulge more on the matter. "Fine," he murmured, looking back at the darkness in front of him.

As he watched, a soft light began to fade through the black, and within moments there was sunlight streaming down on his face, blinding his eyes as they adjusted to the harsh change. Shading them with his hands, Ash looked down to see that he was floating above a rather unexpected sight; he was hovering over Goldenrod City's Radio Tower. And even more unexpected was that there were three figures standing atop the tower. Ash glanced behind him, and with a nod from Darkrai he moved forwards, effortlessly, through the air towards them.

"What the…?" he gasped. Two of the figures on the roof were arguing heatedly over something, and his heart skipped beat when he saw a round-brimmed hat, brown-green lined with orange, perched on the back of the taller one's head. As he came closer, Ash saw that the figure was undoubtedly Ari – the sweeping brown hair, the clear hazel-coloured eyes – but what struck him oddly was that Ari seemed to be ruthlessly arguing with another boy. Ash had never seen him so angry, not even when he had so brazenly intruded on his relationship with Dawn, and that was something that genuinely scared him. Just then, a particularly loud piece of conversation floated towards him, and he hurried down to hear more.

"—not! You've trespassed on my hospitality long enough, but this is a step too far!" Ari roared, advancing on the boy.

"_Your_ hospitality?! It wasn't _your_ hospitality that let me come along!"

"The hell it wasn't! I was ready to take you down in Union Cave, and I would have been more than happy to never have seen you again, but no! You had to tag along, and bring back the bad blood from last year!" Ari bellowed, and Ash's heart gave another lurch as he realised who the boy was.

"Well you didn't speak up about it, so how was I supposed to know?!" Paul spat, at least four years younger than the present-day Paul. He was a child of no more than ten, but Ash could see the raw emotion in him that was still present today. "And you should consider yourself lucky, anyways," he added fiercely. "If I hadn't come along, we might never have gotten out of Azalea Town! I don't think you would've lasted against Team Rocket for very long. You didn't last long against me," he hissed, his lip curling into the familiar sneer.

Ari exploded with an incredible rage and leapt forwards, grabbing Paul by the collar of his shirt and pushing him backwards. Ash threw himself back in fear of the boy; for someone so small, he had animosity to rival Paul at his very worst. But he knew that not even Paul would do what Ari did next. His face contorted with hollow anger, Ari forced Paul backwards, towards the guard-rail at the tower's edge, and with a mighty thrust he lifted Paul up against the rail and pushed him back, so that his head, shoulders, and the top half of his body were over the edge of the tower. At that moment, the only thing between Paul and the streets of Goldenrod City were five hundred and forty-six feet of thin air and Ari's grip on his shirt.

Ash shouted out fearfully, even though he knew he wouldn't be heard, for Paul's safety. But there was something else that frightened Ash, possibly more than the thought of Ari being a murderer; Ari's anger reminded him of someone. Someone terrible; someone evil. It was there in the wild, fervent expression of his face, the way his eyes were bulging maniacally, but Ash couldn't pinpoint just who it was. He racked his brains to think of who it could be, but suddenly a shrill voice burst through his thoughts, shredding them to pieces.

"Ari, no! Don't hurt Paul, please!"

Ari, who looked as though he would like nothing better than to relinquish his hold on Paul, turned his head towards the shrieking voice. Paul, too, turned away from his predicament to see who had shouted, and Ash followed their gazes. They led to the third figure that he had seen on the tower roof, but he had been so preoccupied with Ari and Paul that he hadn't bothered to notice who it was close-up.

"Pull him up!" squealed the female voice. "Do it now! If he falls, you'll be following him down, to save him or join him." Ari growled deeply, his eyes still full of hatred, but when he blinked the emotion had disappeared instantly, and he timidly nodded and pulled Paul back to safety. Paul stumbled and fell to the ground, and he instantly picked himself up, brutishly pushing away Ari's hand to help him to his feet.

"I could have gotten out of that fine myself," he muttered darkly at the girl.

"Well, this way you get out of it alive," she fired back coolly.

_That must be Tina, _Ash thought to himself, looking down at her. She wasn't a tall girl – she was only as high as Paul's cheekbones – but she had flowing blonde-brown hair that curled down past her shoulders, and gracefully framed her soft face; her bright cheeks, her small nose, and her clear gold-coloured eyes. She was wearing a light blue blouse under a breezy white jacket, and a knee-length skirt that swirled around her slim legs in the wind. At a rough guess, Ash put her at around Paul's age – if not a few months younger – and he noted the six PokéBalls on her waist that identified her as a Trainer, just like the two boys in front of her.

"So that's Tina?" he muttered, turning back around to face Darkrai.

"_Yes, Tina Girard. A tragedy, what befell her in the end, but that is not the reason I am showing you this little segment of history_," it replied, and as usual it surveyed Ash with its penetrating stare. "_Take note of that girl, Ash; what she did during her life has healed some, but scarred others. There were those then that did anything to get rid of her, and there are those now that would do anything to have her back._"

"Whoa, slow down there," Ash interrupted, looking back down at the small girl. "You're telling me that that—kid—" he shouted for lack of a better word, "—is somehow important?"

"_Indeed. She is pivotal._"

"Even in death?"

"_Especially in death,_" Darkrai said chillingly. Ash fell silent, brooding in his own thoughts for what seemed to him to be a long time, before he finally spoke up again.

"Does she have to do with that _warning_ you said you had?"

"_Yes, and to have you fully understand, I must show you another fragment of the past,_" Darkrai replied, slowly flying towards him. A dark, clawed hand closed over the top of Ash's head, and he found himself spinning once more through darkness.

* * *

The wind whipped at Ari's face, pinched against the darkness, as he sped through the sky on Garchomp's back. The speed of his flight threatened to throw the hat from his head, but he clapped a hand down to keep it on, whilst gripping his Pokémon's scaly back with the other. He could see the massive squares of yellow-white light that told him of the nearing hotels and skyscrapers, and he shifted his weight forward to get Garchomp's attention.

"Faster, Dullahan! Do whatever you can to get to the hotel ASAP; I trust your judgement!" he shouted, tucking his hat into his jacket, in the opposite side to Dawn's.

"_Gar-Garchomp_!" roared Garchomp, and Ari tensed himself down against its back as it accelerated into the night.

"Not _too_ fast!" he yelled, sensing that Garchomp was about to reach the speed of sound; he didn't want his Pokémon to create a sonic-boom that could potentially tear through the buildings below, and he relaxed a fraction when he felt Garchomp slow down slightly, even though they were still flying at incredible speeds. Garchomp shot forwards like a bullet, dipping its left wing as it swung between two towers, and the next moment it flew up steeply to avoid splintering itself on the frame of the hotel in front.

"_Chomp_!" hissed the Mach Pokémon, running a deft claw across the bare edge of the building as they soared up the side. Within half a second they were above the hotel's roof, and it banked to the left in reply to the moving weight of its Trainer. One terrifying burst of speed later, Garchomp flung its weight backwards, and Ari smacked the side of his head against its neck, shouting in pain as it lowered itself onto the roof of the hotel beneath it. Once Ari rolled off its back and onto the concrete floor, Garchomp cracked its jaw habitually and looked obediently down as its Trainer pulled out its PokéBall and called it back to the device in a flash of red light.

"Excellent flying, Dullahan," he said proudly, stowing the ball in his waist. He paced towards the service door and flung it open, running down the flights of stairs until he came across the sign pointing to Ash's floor. Impatiently he kicked the door open and sprinted down the hall, skidding around the corner, not stopping until he nearly overshot Ash's room door. Pausing at last to catch his breath, he rapped his knuckles on the polished door, and when no-one answered immediately, he began to pound his fists against the wood, shouting, "Open up! Let me in! Ash, this is urgent—!"

The door swung smoothly open, and Ari stopping launching his fists at the door long enough to see Leoric standing in the doorway, and from the look of it, he wasn't too pleased to see the person standing in the hall.

"Would you stop making such a racket?!" he said, squinting in the light. "Give me the room key; I've been waiting here for hours for you to come back and—" he paused and sniffed the air, "—what's that smell?! Did you take a nap in a dumpster or something?" he hissed with a smirk, but it quickly faded, to be replaced by a look of frightened bewilderment, when he saw the hateful scowl on Ari's face.

"Shut up, Leo. Here's your stupid key—" he slammed the thin piece of plastic into the carpeted floor at Leoric's feet, "—now go back to the hotel." He walked briskly past Leoric, who was looking at Ari as though he was infected with a terrible disease, and into the lounge room. Leoric blinked foolishly and looked down at the card on the ground, before turning back to face his long-time friend.

"What's wrong, Ari?" he asked sincerely. "You look like crap." Ari either didn't hear him or didn't care, because he kept silent, and Leoric's short fuse blew, like it so often did when people kept things from him. "Is it another one of those secrets that you can't tell your best friend? Did another old girlfriend die?" he provoked, the sarcastic edge in his voice sharpening like a knife.

"Too far, Leo," Ari hissed, his voice a deathly whisper. "Tina was never my girlfriend, and you have no right to talk about her that way."

"The hell I don't! Why didn't you ever tell me? Tell me why! Why were you hiding it?!"

"I wasn't _hiding_ it!" he said in a pained groan. "It was just… too hard to say." He turned and looked Leoric dead in the eyes, and the latter could visibly see the emotion in them. "Do you remember when you and I first met each other, that day in the Dragon's Den shrine?"

"How could I forget…?" Leoric laughed, putting his hands on his head.

"Well I'm surprised that you still _do_, after the way you got clobbered by those monks," Ari joked. "But I never told you why I was there, did I?"

Leoric thought a moment, then shook his head blankly. "Nah, you never did. But whatever it was, it got you a Gible, so it can't have been that bad, could it?"

"You really _are_ an idiot, aren't you?" Ari fired, smacking him in the back of the head. "Dullahan was a commemorative gift for me; it symbolised Tina."

"Oh, so you got that Gible because—ohhhh…" he sighed, groaning as he realised the truth. "Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for. But that wasn't why I came here; I need to talk to Ash about something important."

"Right, well I'm sure it's nothing I need to hear about," he said dismissively. "I need to relax. Hmm… maybe I should go see M—_Max_," he corrected, noticing that Ari was looking suspiciously at him. "About some, uh, strategies for, umm, the next leg of the Championships," he invented. "Yeah… umm… well… ciao!" He turned and bolted, scooping the card off the ground in his haste and running at full speed down the hallway.

"What a loser," Ari mused, cracking with silent laughter. But then he suddenly remembered why he was here, and he whipped his head around to look for Ash and Brock. There they were, asleep on the armchair and lounge, and he decided to approach Brock first, kneeling down and prodding him in the arm. "Brock… Brock, wake up, man…" he muttered, shaking him lightly by the shoulders, but the dark-skinned boy didn't stir; he was soundly asleep. Choosing to cut his losses, he moved over towards Ash, who looked to be in an even deeper sleep. "Ash… Ash… wake up!"

* * *

**Trivia:**

***A phrase found on one of the Arceus plates mirrors part of the Unown verse: "—two broke free from the Original One—".**

**Quiz:**

***In the Pokémon movie "Spell Of The Unown", which phantom Pokémon does Molly Hale use against Brock's Onix?**


	50. Memory Box

**CHAPTER 50 – MEMORY BOX**

"Ash… Ash… wake up!"

Ash heard Ari's voice calling out to him from the enveloping darkness around him, but to him it sounded no clearer than a howl of wind, or a rustle of leaves, and so he paid no heed to it. He assumed that it was all part of Darkrai's plan, and it was just something to enhance the experience, but it made him shiver despite his upbeat thoughts. He wondered what the Pokémon beside him could possibly be showing him; he couldn't begin to think what might have happened in Ari's past. However, he certainly knew of two major events in the boy's lifetime, and he wished never to see them with his own eyes, because the mere thought made his skin crawl and the hairs on his neck stand on end.

"What are you going to show me?" he asked, fronting up to Darkrai at last.

"_Something that happened whilst Ari, Paul, and Tina were still travelling together. It was four years ago, at a place known as Olivine City, in the Johto region's north-west. I shall say no more; you will see it soon enough,_" it said mysteriously.

At those words, the world around them began to lighten, and indeed, Ash could see the Olivine Lighthouse to their right, a towering pillar of marble that dominated the skyline. Soon, all of the sprawling harbour city was in view; the S.S Aqua docked at the pier, and Olivine Gym standing to the north – with Jasmine, the Gym Leader, walking out of the main doors as he looked. He could even see beyond the houses to the north-west, to the vast stretch of forest that he knew to contain the town of Arborville, a place where he'd met the time-travelling Pokémon Celebi and had to defend it from an evil villain called Vicious. But with a nudge from Darkrai, he looked down, and directly below them was a sprawling seaside market, much like the one at Slateport City in Hoenn.

"Are we going shopping, then?" Ash chuckled, as he and Darkrai sank lower towards the ground. "So where are they?" he asked, looking over at the Pokémon, who raised a dark hand and pointed down the road in front of them. Ash followed the line, and he quickly found them; a purple-haired boy, a blonde-haired girl, and a brown-haired boy with his signature round-brimmed hat. He stood perfectly still as they walked towards him, for he could see that there was something wrong with the picture, but, like before, he couldn't quite place it.

"What am I—?" he started, but when he turned to see Darkrai, he found that the Pokémon had disappeared into thin air.

"_Follow the three…_" came a whisper-quiet voice, catching at his ears from the sea breeze. Ash snorted, but he had no better ideas, so he took the suggestion and turned back to face the three Trainers walking towards him. But before he could focus himself, he saw that Tina was about to crash into him, so he stuck his hands in front of himself to stop her. Tina passed right through his arms, and walked straight through Ash himself as though he was simply smoke and air, coming out the other side an instant later. Ash turned incredulously to gaze at the back of her, but then he remembered that this was nothing more than a distant memory from long ago.

"—come on, Ari, what _are_ we doing here?" Paul drawled, his hands on his head as they walked. "I'd much rather be challenging Jasmine than lounging around here at this drab place."

"I'm not totally sure what we're doing here myself," said Ari, the surprise in his voice genuine. "I just feel… _drawn_ here, for some reason."

"Any idea where we're being drawn _to_?" inquired Tina, her hands at the straps of her backpack.

"None, but I'm sure that…" Ari said, but Ash couldn't hear any more as they walked further and further down the road. Taking Darkrai's advice, he hastened down the street after them, knowing that they couldn't see or hear him, and when he caught level with them, he could hear more of their conversation.

"—think the two of you are ready to take on Jasmine?" Ari was asking, looking over at the two younger Trainers. Paul grunted arrogantly, but Tina considered the question seriously, frowning as she thought.

"Jasmine uses Steel-types, right?" she asked, her mouth twitching analytically when Ari nodded in reply. "So my best bet would be Leo, seeing as he's a Fire-type…"

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Paul interjected, and Ash nearly tripped over his feet in shock when he saw that Paul was smiling; a genuine, kind-hearted, beaming smile. "You and Arcanine share a close bond; he's your first Pokémon, after all."

"Thanks, Paul," Tina said warmly, her eyes twinkling at him. "Okay, I'll use Leo against Jasmine. What about you?" she asked him, and Paul shrugged indifferently.

"Doesn't really matter who I use, she's going down anyways," he answered arrogantly. "But I can't go wrong with Torterra or Magby," he added quickly at a fiery glance from the small girl.

_Leo?! Tina had an Arcanine called 'Leo'?!_ Ash thought, his head reeling as he quickened his pace to keep up with them. _What next?_ His question was answered a split second later, because suddenly Ari ground to a halt, throwing his hands out to stop the two children on either side of him. Ignoring their cries and complaints, he slowly revolved on the spot and walked, as if pulled by some unknown force, to the merchant stall to his immediate left.

A wizened old lady, with wispy grey hair and a toothless smile, greeted him at the counter, waving an arm across the range of items for sale. As Ash ran over, he saw that it was filled with age-old souvenirs and relics: on the left were a collection of Charms made from ancient Pokémon bones, and on the right were rocks and glittering shards that had been collected from landmark locations all over the world.

But what drew his attention the most was a lone wooden box in the middle of the counter. It was perfectly square, about two feet across, and made of immaculately polished rosewood. It was a beautifully crafted box on its own, but Ash sensed that there was something even more precious _inside_ it. A loud gust of wind blew past him, making his clothes flap about, but he didn't take much notice of it, and he leaned forwards to hear more about the box.

"—in that box," Ari was muttering to his friends. Paul shook his head and looked dubiously at him, his cold eyes calculating as ever.

"You haven't got a clue what you're talking about."

"I know, but still… whatever it is that's in there… I feel like it's important…"

"Well, it can't hurt to have a look, can it?" Tina piped up, craning her neck to get a word in, before turning to face the old lady with a smile. "Excuse me, but can you show us what's inside that box?"

The woman gave another toothless grin and answered the question, but her words were lost in a blasting gale of wind that stung at Ash's eyes and nearly dislodged his hat form his head. He squinted his eyes against the wind, but all of a sudden a white flash streaked across his vision, and a red-hot shape struck him forcefully in the cheek, knocking him backwards. He clutched at his cheek in shock and pain, before he looked over at Tina, who seemed to have heard the woman perfectly, because she was beaming as she turned and gave a knowing smirk at the two boys on her right. The three of them leaned forwards in anticipation and crowded around the box as the old lady's withered hands reached forwards towards the box. She opened the latch at the front and swung the lid upwards, showing the three young Trainers the contents of the rosewood case.

"Wow…" gasped Ari, as a brilliant white light shone from the inside of the box.

"They're beautiful…" whispered Tina, her eyes sparkling.

"Yeah…" murmured Paul, who seemed lost for words.

_What is it?!_ thought Ash desperately, fighting against the gale-strong wind to get a view of the contents of the rosewood box, but the three young Trainers in front of him were blocking his view; all he could see was the shining light showing from the cracks between their heads. Just as the wind gained in strength and threatened to knock him off his feet, Ari's head bobbed down as he reached for his wallet, and Ash caught a fleeting glimpse of three oddly-shaped, symmetrical pendants hanging from chain necklaces, their links as fine as silk. But as he forced his head forwards to see the pendants themselves, the world around him was plunged into icy darkness.

"What the—?!" he shouted, blindly reaching with his hands into the dark. He realised that his eyes were closed, so he wrenched them open into another blinding white light, making him squint short-sightedly. As he threw his hands in front of his eyes to protect them, his elbow brushed against fabric, and he turned his head to the right, away from the light. Ash's eyes slowly grew accustomed to the light, and he began to make out walls, a roof, and a hulking figure standing over him, and as it moved it cast a dark shadow across his body.

"Who… _are_… you?" he mumbled thickly, as a wave of tiredness suddenly swept through him. The figure above him gave a booming laugh and stepped backwards, and as Ash looked closer he could see that the figure was Brock. "Brock…? What—? Wait, what did you slap me in the face for?!" he shouted indignantly, remembering the flash of pain across his cheek, and he impulsively raised a hand to the newly formed red mark on the side of his face.

"Sorry, but you were pretty out of it, and it seemed like the only way to wake you up," he said apologetically, extending a hand. "But it worked, right?" he chuckled, as he helped Ash off the lounge and onto his feet. Ash grunted impartially, not wanting to admit it, but also annoyed that he'd been interrupted during his visit inside Ari's memory. His annoyance quickly evaporated into fear, however, when he looked around and saw Ari himself standing several feet away, his face flushed and his eyes wild.

"You alright, Ari? You look like you just saw a ghost," he said sheepishly.

"No, not a ghost. But by the same token, I'm not alright…" he muttered, pulling his round-brimmed hat out of his jacket pocket and jamming it back onto his head.

"Why, what's the matter?" Brock asked concernedly, looking around. "And hang on," he added, his head turning this way and that, "where's Dawn? Wasn't she with you? Where'd she run off to?" Ari's face drained of colour as Brock continued with his questions, and Ash raised a grim hand to silence his friend.

"Ari," he whispered, realising the reason for the boy's discomfort, "what's happened to Dawn?"

"I—I don't know!" he burst out, his face pale white as he reached into his jacket. "We were walking back to my place after your match—we went down this side street—then these two adults stopped us—and I got hit from behind by something—" he took his hat off and turned around, showing Ash and Brock the nasty lump on the back of his head, "—but when I came to—I was in this dumpster—Galadriel carved a way out—and I found _this_ lying in the middle of the street," he finished, and he pulled Dawn's white hat out from his pocket and showed it to them.

"Dawn's hat!" Ash exclaimed, snatching it from Ari's grasp. "But if you found this—" he shook the hat through the air, "on its own, then…" he muttered, his hand shaking, "then something's happened to her!"

"I know. I think she was kidnapped," Ari said, stepping forwards despite the shocked gasps from Ash and Brock. "I think it was the guy from your match with Kaiden. Y'know, the wiry-haired man with the camera who was taking pictures of you? We saw the footage on the stadium replay during your interview with Derek, remember?"

"Yeah, but how can you—?" Brock began.

"Because he was one of the adults that cornered us in the street before I was knocked out," Ari fired back, not waiting for him to finish his sentence. "I saw him with my own eyes."

"Then what the heck are we waiting around here for?!" Ash shouted, striding over to the lounge and picking up Pikachu, who was feebly stirring upon hearing the raised voices in the room. He made for the door, but Brock swiftly stepped in front of him, efficiently barring his path. "Brock, get out of the way; we need to find Dawn now!" he said loudly, his dark brown eyes glinting fiercely.

"You don't think I don't know that?!" retorted Brock, just as fiercely as he crossed his arms. "Of course we need to find her! But we won't be doing anyone – especially Dawn – any good if we barge in without a plan. We could get her in even worse trouble than she might be in now."

"That was my thinking in coming here and telling you," Ari agreed, sitting down on the armchair closest to the door and tapping his foot rapidly on the carpet-covered floorboards. Ash shook with anger, refusing to believe that he would have to stay here, when every moment wasted could be costing Dawn, but then a voice spoke in his head.

_Ari and Brock are right,_ said Cyrus-Ash calmly. _You can't let your anger get the better of you. Look at Ari; he is obviously suffering beyond belief, and with good reason. He is Dawn's partner, and she was kidnapped from under his nose. He has every right to charge in recklessly to save her, but he chooses the wise option; he chooses to plan things through, in order to give Dawn the best chance of rescue. You should do the same._

_Great, even my _mind_ is against me!_ Ash thought, his jaw trembling. _Fine, we'll do it this way,_ he decided, turning stiffly away from Brock and throwing himself back down onto the lounge. The impact sent Pikachu bolting upright, now fully awake, and it looked around, puzzled, at the three Trainers staring grimly at the floor.

"So now what?!" Ash snapped, looking up at Brock, who slowly uncrossed his arms and sat cross-legged on the ground in front of the door, just in the off-chance that Ash tried to make a hasty exit.

"Well, do you know who that wiry-haired guy is?" he asked Ari, who shook his head hopelessly and buried his head in his hands. But just as suddenly, his head shot up, and he jumped to his feet, making Ash start in surprise, and Pikachu yelped in confused shock.

"_Pii pika pikapi chupika kachu pikaa?!_" _Can someone _please_ tell me what's going on?!_

"Dawn's missing," Ash explained quickly, to a horrified gasp from his Pokémon, whose tiny hands flew to its mouth.

"We should go and see Derek and Jeanne!" Ari shouted, heading for the door.

"What for? I don't think broadcasting news of a kidnapping would do Dawn's chances any good!" Ash said aggressively, getting to his feet.

"No, not a broadcast! That'd be stupid! We should go and ask them to go over the footage at your match! It might give us a clue as to who that guy is, or what he might have against Dawn!" he explained hurriedly. Brock looked sceptically at him for a short moment, but then grunted and nodded as Ari helped him to his feet, which made Ash howl with disbelief.

"Are you serious?! You're going to go to a news studio – in the dead of night, of all hours – to try and look for some insignificant _clue_ that _might_ help us to find Dawn?!"

"You got a better idea?!" roared Ari, walking over and standing face-to-face with Ash, his hazel eyes staring into Ash's. "Because if you do, I'd sure love to hear it! If you don't, I suggest we go with this, because it's sure as hell better than doing _nothing_!" he shouted in Ash's face, his face twitching uncontrollably with the same anger that Ash had seen in him when he had come close to throwing Paul off the Goldenrod Radio Tower.

"Fine, we'll go to the stupid studio," Ash growled, using what little height advantage he had to try and stare Ari down. "But I'm still having my Pokémon scout the area for _any_ signs that Dawn might be around, deal?!"

"Deal," Ari hissed, before he turned and strode to the door. Brock hastily stepped out of his way, and he wrenched the door open and walked into the hallway and turned to the left, making for the elevator.

"I'll have Crobat look for her as well, Ash," Brock offered, pulling a PokéBall from his waist. "You should send out Noctowl; its eyes are going to be well-suited to the dark."

"Good idea," he said, reaching for his belt. "It's pretty lucky that I was considering using Noctowl in my match against Reena, wouldn't you agree?" he jested, grabbing his Pokémon's ball.

"Very lucky," Brock said seriously, as he headed out the door. "Come on, let's go. We might be in for a long night," he added grimly as he rounded the corner and disappeared from sight.

_A long night indeed,_ Ash agreed, making sure that Pikachu was securely on his shoulder, before he ran out into the hallway and slammed the door shut behind him, sprinting around the corner to catch up with Brock and Ari.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Last chapter, the third Pokémon movie is referenced. In **_**this**_** chapter, the **_**fourth**_** movie is referenced – Celebi's lake in Pokémon 4Ever.**

***Vicious is mentioned for the second time in this story.**

**Quiz:**

***Which Gym Leader did Ash's Noctowl defeat single-handedly?**


	51. Running Out

**CHAPTER 51 – RUNNING OUT**

"Uh, hello?" Leoric called out, rapping his knuckles on the hotel room door. "Anyone still up?" he shouted, continuing his knocking. After close to a minute, he heard a click on the other side of the wood, and the door swung smoothly open into a gloomy, dark lounge room, and standing in the centre of the doorway was a tall, muscular figure with a gray-black singlet over his chest.

"Whaddaya want?" he asked groggily, wiping at his filmy eyes with a broad hand. "You have any idea how late it is?"

"Come on, Noll, since when have you ever been one to turn in early?" Leoric joked, brushing past him and walking into the room. He tripped over the coffee table in his haste with a bang, and he howled with pain and clutched at his shin as he toppled onto the ground with another loud bang. "Damnit!"

"Watch where ya goin'!" he slurred, quietly closing the door, before clearing his throat with a soft growl. "Anabel and Brandon are sound asleep, and I don't want _either_ of them waking up in a grumpy mood to find that I'm the one who let the ruckus in."

"Fine, fine, but you need to be more careful with where you stick the furniture," Leoric muttered, flicking on a nearby lamp, which cast a soft yellow light on the spacious room. Noland walked over to the fridge, opened the door, and retrieved two thin bottles from inside, before kicking it shut and sitting down on the large futon next to the lamp. Snapping open the cap, he passed the first bottle over to Leoric, who accepted it graciously, then proceeded to open his own bottle and take a deep swig.

"Ah, nothing beats a late-night beer, don't you reckon?" Noland said heartily, holding the bottleneck between his fingers. Leoric didn't give an answer, so he turned around to face him, and he was surprised to see that the boy hadn't touched his drink; usually Leoric was more than willing to have a midnight drink with him. "What's on your mind, Lil' El?"

"Don't call me that, Noll; I hate that name," Leoric murmured, staring down into the amber-coloured liquid in his bottle. "Can I ask you something?" he asked earnestly, his voice rising a little.

"Okay…" Noland said warily, already suspicious. "What's got you so bugged you're not gonna touch that beer, eh?"

"What, you want it?"

"Just ask the _real_ question you came knocking on my door at—" he turned his head to check the clock on the kitchen wall, "—quarter past eleven at night for."

"Well…" Leoric began brokenly, fidgeting with his drink. "You see… it's about… this… girl—" he broke off suddenly as Noland burst into a roar of laughter and smacked his hand against Leoric's back.

"I never thought I'd hear the day when you'd say those words!" he chuckled, mockingly wiping an invisible tear from the corner of his eye. "Who'd've thought that '_the great bachelor, Leoric Reiger_' – as you call yourself – would be asking for help with girls?! Oh man, where did I leave my video camera?" he added, laughing as he spun his head this way and that. But he stopped when Leoric slammed the beer bottle down on the coffee table and stood to his feet, muttering indignantly. "Oh, don't be such a baby. I was just having some fun!"

"Yeah, well, I knew this would be a waste of time anyways," Leoric countered, shaking his head and making for the door. "It's not like you've ever made a serious attempt to help me out before…"

"Ouch, that hurts, Leo. I know I haven't—well, you know," Noland said, shame-faced. "Come on, sit back down, have a drink. Tell me what's wrong, eh?" he suggested, jerking his head towards the empty seat next to him. Leoric eye him off dubiously, wondering if he was about to step into another one of Noland's satirical traps, before he took the offer for what it was and threw himself back down on the cushioned seat, snatching the bottle back from its place on the table.

"That wasn't so hard, was it now?" Noland teased, leaning back into the soft back of the lounge, and taking another sip of beer. "Well, go on. Tell me about this girl, and what the deal with her is, yeah?"

* * *

Paul stood up from his work and looked down pitilessly at Dawn. He'd just bound her arms and legs to a rickety metal chair, and now he used his Weavile's sharp claws to cut off the leftover rope, throwing the frayed length into a dark corner before he recalled the Pokémon to its PokéBall. She had struggled valiantly at first in resistance, but after a few menacing threats he had coerced her into a quaking silence, and even now she was still trembling with immense fear as her shadowed eyes stared haughtily up at him.

"Now all we do… is wait," he said softly, moving into another corner of the dimly-lit room, leaning against the high steel wall and crossing his arms. He closed his eyes tiredly, worn out by the long day that had just gone by, but just then he heard a scraping sound from the spot where he knew Dawn to be, and so in irritation he opened his left eye and saw her hopping towards him, the chair weighing her down terribly and making her progress slow and draining.

"You're—not going to—get away—with this—!" she hissed, talking in between the banging sounds that the chair made as it smacked against the cold floor. "Ash—and Brock—and Leoric—and Ari—will come—and rescue me—!"

"That's exactly what I want to happen, you foolish girl," Paul spat, pushing himself off the wall and striding towards her struggling figure. He struck his foot against the back leg of the chair and thrust his palm forwards into Dawn's shoulder, sending her toppling over to the side. She hit the ground with a loud thud and cried out as the force of the impact jarred her arm, sending a flare of pain through her neck.

"Why?!" she gasped, her chest heaving.

"Because without him here to see it, my revenge will mean nothing," he said simply, jerking his head towards his Torterra, who occupied a third corner of the room all by itself. A thick green vine sprang out from the tree on its back, and with an effortless flick it righted Dawn's chair, lifting it into the air and banging it back down onto the floor, which made Dawn cry out in pain again.

"And what might this revenge _be_?!" Dawn shouted, her eyes hidden behind the mess of blue hair that had been thrown across her face.

"Something that Ari has had coming for a long time. I think you know what it is, though…" Paul muttered, and although Dawn couldn't see him, the tone of his voice was almost daring her to take the leap, and say it aloud. But she didn't have a clue what he was talking about; knowing Paul's history with Ari, there were probably a thousand things that Paul might have wanted vengeance for, for something Ari could have done – or said – against him.

_But maybe…_ she thought wildly, _it's not something Ari did to Paul at all!_ And as the thought occurred to her, so did an answer. And with that answer came a bone-chilling wave of dread.

"You want revenge for what happened to Tina…" she whispered, pure terror in her voice. She felt a rough hand on her shoulder, and the next moment Paul brushed the hair out from in front of her eyes. She knew what she would see if she looked at his face, so she lowered her eyes to her lap, terrified of the boy standing over her.

"No."

The single word made Dawn's heart jump with shock, and her mouth fell open in surprise, but she concealed it in a wracking cough. Paul's hand – the one not clamping down on her shoulder – grabbed her chin and forced her head up towards his face, so she screwed her eyes shut so as not to see him. The hand on her shoulder tightened painfully, as a warning, and Dawn reluctantly opened her eyes and stared full into Paul's.

"Not just for Tina. For my mother as well," he growled. His voice was like the colossal rumbling of thunder just as the rainstorm passed overhead and unleashed its full force upon the tiny houses below, and it made Dawn sick with fear.

"Y-Your m-mother?" she trembled, whimpering. Paul wrenched his hand to the side, dragging her head with it, and to her intense relief he let go of her and turned his back, lost in his emotions as they swirled inside of him.

"Six years ago," he murmured, "I was a happy little boy, living with my mother and brother. You've met Reggie; I was like him. I had a Turtwig, even back then, that I cared for very much, and I still have that Pokémon to this day. He's standing right there, in fact," he added, moving his head to look at the Torterra standing proudly in the corner of the room. "Torterra is the only true companion that I have, because he is the only one of my Pokémon that knew me before my mother was killed."

"Killed…?"

"That's right, killed," he snapped, clenching his fists. He turned around and knelt back down, so that his head was level with Dawn's, and he flashed an almost ironic sneer. "And do you know _who_ killed her? I'll tell you; it was Ari's father. He shot her, once, right in front of me, and left her to die in the woods south-east of Veilstone City. From that day, I lost a part of myself. Oh, I know what I've become," he added, in reply to the amazed look that Dawn was giving him. "It was something that I had to do. I knew that I had to be tough – ruthless – if I wanted to survive, and not meet the same end that my mother did."

"But…" Dawn started, but Paul wasn't finished yet, and he smacked her across the cheek to shut her up.

"It wasn't safe for Reggie and I anymore. We both knew it. We fled the Sinnoh region for a year, to lose any trace that we might be followed, and we travelled to Johto. We'd heard word that Team Rocket was on the rise in the region, and that meant that we would be safe. When we came to Ecruteak City, Ari's mother took us in for a week, so we could rest and restock our supplies. I had no idea of the relation between Ari and his father, until only a day before we were due to leave."

"The day you tortured Ari…" she whispered, the truth hitting her like a tidal wave.

"I found a picture frame inside his room. It had his mother – Roselyn – standing next to his father, and even though the photo was a decade old, I could see the resemblance between him and the man who'd killed my mother. It hit me, then, that Ari was his son, and I came this close—" he held his thumb and finger a hair's breadth apart, "—from ordering Torterra to demolish the DeVarro house, and wipe those two from the face of the earth. But I knew that suspicions would be raised – my actions might have put myself and Reggie in danger – and so I took my Pokémon and headed into the mountains near Mt. Mortar, ready to take my anger out on the first Pokémon I saw in the wilderness."

"And you saw Morty's Duskull, and so you sent out your Elekid to torture it first," Dawn said, her voice becoming faint. "Ari followed you, so you saw your chance to finally have your revenge… but you _got_ your revenge, back then!" she shouted, starting to struggle against her bonds. "So why did you kidnap me—?!"

"_You_," Paul seethed, "are my revenge for what Ari let happen to Tina. He let her die in the Ice Path, so now…" he tapped his Weavile's PokéBall threateningly, "_I_ am going to let _you_ die, right in this room."

Dawn yelped in fright and thrashed vainly against the rope tying her to the chair, trying desperately to escape away from Paul as quickly as possible. She overbalanced and fell onto the floor, sobbing despondently as Paul snorted with contempt at her futile efforts. "Pl-Pl-Please…" she gasped, tears rolling down her cheeks, "don't… please… please don't… no… don't…"

"Oh, stop crying! It's pathetic. Besides, you don't have to worry about dying just yet," he added sinisterly. "At least, not until Ari comes through that door," he pointed at a large, painted steel door in the corner of Dawn's sideways vision, set in the centre of the far wall. "But until then… we wait…" And with that, he resumed his position leaning on the back wall, closing his eyes and ears to his prisoner's dejected fit of crying and pleading as the minutes slowly ticked away.

* * *

"Noctowl, come on out!" bellowed Ash.

"You too, Crobat!" Brock roared.

"Horazon! We need you, now!" screeched Ari.

Three PokéBalls arced high into the air and fell onto the hard street outside, bursting open in a flash of searing white light. Ash's Noctowl, a large owl-like Pokémon, flew upwards, scattering a coat of twinkling yellow particles as it left the PokéBall. It had differently coloured feathers to normal Noctowl; its wings were a dull shade of red in contrast to the standard chocolate-brown, and the horned mask that covered its eyes was a richer yellow than what it would usually be. Ash had caught this rare Noctowl during his travels in the Johto region, and he was very proud to own such a specimen.

Brock's Crobat, a huge purple bat with four sleek, plane-like wings, sped out of its own PokéBall in turn, flicking its wings like knives as it flitted about in a circle, its speed making it near impossible to spot in the darkness. Thankfully, Brock's senses were keener than most, and he kept his slanted eyes trained on his Pokémon's progress seamlessly, darting this way and that as they followed Crobat's lightning-quick flight, just as it shot past Ari's Dusknoir, who had materialised out of its PokéBall and was now conjuring a ring of ghostly blue flames to orbit its robust body.

"We'll follow your lead, Ash," Brock said, still tracking Crobat. "It's your idea, so you can take charge," he added, to which Ari nodded and stepped forwards.

"Your lead," he repeated calmly. Ash gave him his ever-determined look – with Pikachu imitating him in expression – and nodded slowly, turning to face the three Pokémon in front of him, and each one stopped what they were doing and dutifully waited in silence for his orders.

"Okay, listen up," he said assertively. "We need to cover a lot of ground in not much time, so the three of you are each going to cover a separate part of this island. Noctowl," he said, turning to face his Owl Pokémon, "take the west; fly low over the buildings and see inside them; look for Dawn. If you see her, you're to fly straight to the studio and find me. That applies to all of you," he added, his eyes sweeping over all three of them, who nodded obediently. Noctowl crowed and spread its wings wide, soaring into the night sky, which quickly swallowed it up.

Ash watched the glittering feathers disappear before he turned his attention to Crobat. "Crobat, I know you're not my Pokémon," he admitted, "but that means nothing at the moment. I want you to take the mountains to the north; you'll be able to cover the rough terrain much quicker than Noctowl or Dusknoir can, and you're more used to the landscape as well. Now get going," he commanded, and to his relief Crobat unquestioningly flicked its wings again and rocketed into the air, heading into the darkness to his right.

"Dusknoir," he said, turning to the Gripper Pokémon, its silhouette dancing around in the shifting blue light, "you take the stadiums on the east. There's always an off-chance that whoever has Dawn hid her in a utility room or something, so that's your task. Get to it, double-time!" Dusknoir boomed, gave Ari a knowing nod, and moved away with surprising speed for such a large Pokémon, tearing down the street and rounding the corner in the blink of an eye.

"Okay, now let's go find that studio," Brock suggested, stowing Crobat's PokéBall back on his waist, and Ash spun around on the spot and nodded, returning Noctowl's PokéBall to his belt and running down the darkened street, with Pikachu in tow. "Come on, Ari," Brock called out, and Ari didn't need to wait for an invitation. He turned stiffly, and he exchanged a brief, worried look with Brock, before sprinting down the road behind Ash.

"So where's the studio, Ari?" Ash shouted, picking up his pace even more.

"Third street on the left, then second on the right, then straight for four blocks," Ari yelled back, swinging his arms across his body as he put on a spurt of speed to keep up with Ash. Brock effortlessly caught up with them, his tanned legs pumping in rhythm as he ran level with Ash, who was slightly in front. He turned his spiky-haired head very slightly towards the two younger boys on his left, a slight frown on his face as they passed the first intersection.

"What I don't get," he yelled, "is why someone would kidnap Dawn_ –_ _Dawn – _of all people! You and I have made much worse enemies over the years, Ash; I don't know why they went for her and not for us? I mean, who has a grudge against _Dawn_?!"

"Haven't got a clue," Ash replied, keeping his eyes set on the roads ahead of him. "Well, there's always Team Galactic; they're never happy to see us around, especially not after we tried to fight them off at Celestic Town that time. But apart from that, I'm not sure that there's any—!" he added, but he groaned aloud and stopped short, almost tripping over his own momentum, and accidentally throwing Pikachu off his shoulder and onto the ground, as he suddenly remembered something; something that had only been said to him a few days ago.

"_I'll be happy to take that brat off your hands_."

Brock and Ari sped past Ash, and were twenty feet ahead of him before they realised that something was amiss. Their heads snapped around, and when they saw that Ash was no longer with them, they skidded to a stop and whirled around to see him standing stock-still, a look of blanched shock etched onto his shadowy face. He remained that way even as Pikachu ruefully hopped back onto its Trainer's jacket, and Brock reacted first, sprinting back towards his old friend, whilst Ari hesitated, wanting to continue the dash towards the studio.

Brock snuck a glance over his shoulder and called out to him, "You go ahead! Tell them we're coming, and try and get that footage as soon as you can! _Go_!" he roared, and Ari turned and ran ahead down the street, making the left turn just as Brock made it back to Ash. "Ash, what is it?!" he asked, shaking him by the shoulders.

"Paul. It's Paul. He's the one who has Dawn," Ash growled, his hands forming fists. "That day we saw Ari's match against that Dewey Blanch Trainer, after you took the groceries back to the hotel, Dawn and I ran into Paul," he recounted. "He said he'd be happy to '_take that brat_' off my hands. I thought he was talking about Pikachu, but he meant Dawn. He wanted payback for her hitting him on the bridge on the day we came here."

"_Payback_?" Brock repeated, furrowing his brow worriedly. "I hardly think that kidnapping someone is a suitable payback for getting slapped in the face, don't you think? A bit extreme…" he muttered, trailing off into his own thoughts.

"Alright, you've got a point there," Ash conceded, his face still stony, "but suppose it's not about that. Maybe it's about something _else_, something we don't know about," he suggested. "Ari said that two _adults_ cornered him, and a third one knocked him out from behind."

"That only means that Paul _might_ have been the third person, the one who KO'd Ari. And even if he's not," Brock argued, sensing the reasoning behind Ash's chain of thought, "if we can track down this dark-haired man, we can coerce him into telling us what happened to Dawn; he'd have had to have been there when she was taken."

"Point two to you, Brock," Ash mused, straightening up and letting the cold expression fall from his face. "Well, come on, we need to hurry over there. I'm still not comfortable with the idea of this footage, and I don't want to waste any more time on it that we have to," he added stubbornly, taking a step backwards before he launched himself forwards, sprinting down the road after Ari. Brock smirked and gave a grunt of a laugh before he turned and ran in pursuit of Ash, speeding around the left-hand corner, and with each second they were drawing closer to the television studio that might provide the vital answers they needed.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Despite Leoric saying in Chapter 22 that he hadn't drunk alcohol for a year, he has had two beers in two consecutive nights.**

**Quiz:**

***What landmarks are located south-east of Veilstone City?**


	52. Time And Patience

**CHAPTER 52 – TIME AND PATIENCE**

Leoric stood up from the lounge and made his way to leave Noland's hotel room, dropping his now empty bottle in the rubbish bin in the kitchen as he went. Noland, on the other hand, was sitting with his hands on his knees, leaning forward as he creased his brow and thought about the advice he'd just given the young Trainer. He turned his head to see Leoric straighten up, and he stood up as the fair-haired boy headed for the door. In a gesture of gentlemanly kindness, he turned the handle and swung the door open for him, and Leoric grunted gratefully and stepped into the brightly-lit hallway outside.

"So yeah," Noland said, somewhat awkwardly, as he stood in the doorway, "just do what I told you and you'll do fine. Take it from me, it snags the ladies every time," he added with a cheeky grin.

"Which is why you're single, Noll," replied Leoric smartly, smirking, but then his expression changed to one of gratitude. "But thanks anyways."

"No thanks needed," he said, waving it away, "but you have to tell me how it goes, alright?" Leoric laughed and gave a half-wink, which Noland took to be a 'yes'. "Well, go on, get to it!" Noland encouraged, brushing his hands forward in the air as if trying to shoo him away.

"Come on, it's – what… eleven-thirty? – at night, and somehow I don't think she'd still be up. I'll do it tomorrow," he said dismissively, turning towards the stretch of carpeted floor on his right. "See you later, Noll."

"Lil' El," Noland smirked, which earned him a punch in the arm from Leoric, who shook his head jokingly and grinned along to the ridiculous nickname. He put his hand on the side of the door and swung it shut, closing it with a soft click and leaving Leoric out alone in the hallway. "Suppose I'd better get some shut-eye," he yawned, turning to walk down the hallway, but he stopped short when he saw Anabel leaning on the wall, her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed maliciously.

_Oh boy_, he gulped, his eyes darting around for a possible means of escape. He glanced across the room, and out of the corner of his vision he saw the empty bottle standing on the coffee table. To his dismay, Anabel saw it too, and she slowly paced over and picked it up, holding it at throwing height as she advanced on him. Even though he was easily a foot taller than her, the look on Anabel's face was more than enough to scare Noland into retreat, and he backed away into the kitchen as she continued to glare furiously at him.

"Look, I'm sorry, but it was Leoric who made that racket outside—trying to get in," he spluttered, feeling the hard edge of the kitchen bench-top against his backside. "So if you're going to throw that at anyone—" he looked fearfully at the glass missile in her hand, "—then you should hurl it at Leo, not me!"

"What were you thinking, giving him advice like that?!" she asked haughtily, flinging the bottle into the bin in the corner with such might that it shattered against the plastic bag on the inside. Noland shrugged his hands blankly, then did a double-take as her question registered in his brain.

"I don't—wait… what?" he asked, lowering his hands. "My advice?"

"You heard me," Anabel hissed, throwing her hand into the thin air in front of his face. He swung his head backwards to avoid the fake slap, but ended up hitting his head on the low-cut window between the kitchen and the lounge room with a crack. "Leo doesn't know _squat_ about girls, and you tell him to be some kind of _player_?!" she said, keeping up the attack, as Noland straightened up and rubbed his aching head. "What kind of advice is that to a sixteen-year-old guy?!"

"Hey, it's his fault for coming to me in the first place! He knows I'm no—gentleman!" he countered, thinking of an appropriate term.

"So you'd rather he went to someone like Ash? Or Ari? Or _Gary Oak_?!"

"_No_! He should've asked a girl! Although I'm not sure _you_ would've been a big help," he added cheekily, but regretted it a moment later, because Anabel gave him a swift kick in the shin. "_Ow_, sorry!" he howled, hobbling on the spot.

"You _should_ be sorry," Anabel fired, her hands on her hips. "If Leo starts acting like that, then both of those girls are going to get their hearts broken. So you're going to go out there, right now, and tell Leoric what _he_ should do, not what _you_ would've done."

"He'd have been long gone by now," Noland complained. "Okay, okay," he added when Anabel gave him another nasty look, "I'll talk to him first thing tomorrow morning. There's no chance of him doing anything stupid this late at night; both those girls are gonna be asleep anyways. Now if you'll excuse me," he said firmly, returning her fierce stares, "I'm going to bed, or else that beer is going to start messing with my head. Hey, that rhymes!" he said jocularly, before sprinting off down the hallway and into his bedroom. "G'night!"

"Idiot," Anabel muttered to herself, before yawning and covering her mouth with her hand. She looked around wearily and yawned again before deciding to return to her bed, and she switched off the lamp that Leoric had turned on, then headed down the hallway for some more sleep.

Unbeknownst to her, just outside the room, Leoric lifted his ear away from the door, a sober look on his face despite the alcohol he'd just drunk. He'd heard every word of Noland's conversation with Anabel, and it had done little to calm his nerves about what he'd been told to do.

_Oh, play the game, Leoric, that'll do real well for you!_ he thought angrily, remembering Noland's words. _Thanks for nothing!_ He curled his hand into a fist and launched it towards the wall, but he stopped it an inch short and took a deep breath before he rested it lightly on the hard-board. _I need to stop getting so worked up…_ he admitted to himself, his breath becoming heavy as his heart raced in his chest. He dropped his head and considered what he really should do about Misty and May, but a wave of fatigue hit him full-on instead.

"I need to take a nap," he muttered, reaching into his back pocket for the room key that Ari had thrown onto the floor earlier. As his hand dug deeper into his pants, the tip of his finger brushed against something unexpected – a scrap of paper, not the hard plastic of the card. _What's this?_ he wondered, catching the slip between two fingers and digging it out. It was a blue water-coloured piece of paper that had been torn out of a notebook, from what he could tell, roughly the size of his palm, and there was a few neat, slanting words scribbled hastily on the other side. He turned it over and read the message in the light of the hallway, which read:

_Leo—_

_Meet me at the hot springs at midnight tonight. Tell no-one you're going – I want you alone._

—_Misty xx_

Leoric re-read the letter three times, wondering how Misty could have possibly placed it in his pocket without attracting his attention. But a second laughter he grunted a laugh as his mind flashed back to that morning, when he'd met her by the maple tree in Wilson Street after his Tag Team match with Ari. She'd bent down to tie her shoe, but he realised now that she'd written this note instead, and she'd intentionally tripped over when she walked over to him the second time. He could even imagine her slipping the note in his back pocket when she put her arms around his waist as he pulled her to her feet.

"Full marks for effort, Misty, but not the most original idea," he joked, turning the note back over in his hand. An odd shape flashed across the paper in the light, and so he moved it this way and that to catch the light again. The shape flashed up again, and he held the note still to see an imprint in the shape of a pair of lips in the centre of the tiny page, shaded with what looked like red chapstick.

"My, my…" he murmured, laughing again as a thought came into his mind. _I told you that you were a kiss-ass, and you just _had_ to make it literal._ He glanced down at his watch, and saw that the time was twenty minutes to midnight. _Plenty of time_, he thought cockily, starting to walk towards the elevator. _I'll just have Apache fly me there; it shouldn't take more than five minutes by air._ Brimming with arrogant confidence, he pressed the button on the wall and waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive.

* * *

Ash and Brock took a sharp turn at the intersection, their feet thudding hard against the cold cobblestones as they came nearer to the television studio. They were still a block and a half away, but in Brock's mind they had made quick time in getting there, although Ash was thinking otherwise; he thought that this entire ordeal was just a wild goose-chase, and he was thankful that he had Noctowl and the other Pokémon patrolling the streets in search of Dawn as a backup.

"Relax, Ash, we'll have our answers soon," Brock yelled, as though reading his mind. "And if not, it's a good thing you suggested we use our Pokémon."

"About time I got credit," Ash shouted back, but he gave his friend a smile as he gave another burst of speed and raced along the dark road ahead of him. Brock panted with exhaustion as he fought to keep up with Ash's amazing energy, and in less than a minute the studio came into the latter's view. It was a towering building, distinguished by the unmistakeable array of satellite dishes perched at all angles on the broad roof, and there was a huge plasma-screen display installed on the front side, at about the sixth or seventh floor by Ash's guess. It strongly reminded him of the Jubilife City TV Station in Sinnoh, although this studio was far more imposing and impressive.

"Come on," Brock said promptly, indicating the glass double-doors at the entrance. Ash nodded, and together they swung the great doors open and walked inside. A blast of heated air, brought on by the indoor air-conditioning system, hit them full in the face, and the bright, coloured lights inside made their eyes swim. Shading them with their hands, Ash looked around and heard a commotion coming from the set of elevators at the far end of the lobby.

"What's going on over there?" Ash called out to the receptionist, sitting behind the counter. The man, well-dressed and in his late teens, turned to the source of the sound and gave the doors a look that was similar to what a cleaner would give to a rather nasty stain.

"A rather rude young man barged into this building not five minutes ago, demanding that he speak with our news-anchors, concerning some kind of matter regarding a man who he had seen during a Pokémon battle," he said, his accent high-British and pompous. "He ignored my requests to leave and made for the elevators, so I called security. I daresay that they've just apprehended him now," he added with a flicker of a sneer. Ash saw the smirk, and took a leering step towards him.

"Hey, Ari's a friend of ours, and this is urgent, so forgive us for not wanting to wait around!" he said loudly, shaking off Brock's restraining arm. "We need to talk to Derek and Jeanne _right now_!"

"Oh, so you're with this _Ari_ miscreant, are you?" the receptionist asked in a drawling voice. "Well I'd suggest you take my advice and leave, unless you want to be forcibly removed, along with him, by security," he threatened, reaching for the telephone, but all of a sudden the elevator doors at the end of the room were blasted from the wall, clattering onto the floor and skidding thirty feet along the smooth marble tiling. "What in the world is going on over there?!" he shouted, dropping the phone in surprise and rushing out from behind the counter.

_Oh no, please don't be Ari…_ Ash thought, with an apprehensive look on his face as Brock's head slumped and was covered by his hand. He whipped around and groaned when he saw Ari in the elevator, dusting himself off as the two security guards either side of him fell to the floor, having just been put to sleep by his Gallade's Hypnosis attack. As he and Brock ran forwards behind the male clerk, Ari snapped his head around and hastily returned his Pokémon to its PokéBall.

"Sorry about your door," he said sheepishly to the wild-faced receptionist. "Galadriel went a bit nuts when he saw me being held down."

"Do you have _any _idea what you've done?!" he snarled, just as a platoon of uniformed guards appeared from outside. "Security, remove these three criminals now!" he barked.

"You don't understand! We're not the criminals!" Ash protested, as he was surrounded by four of the burly men. Two of them grabbed his arms, and as he kicked out against the other two, they each grabbed a leg and dragged him through the air, and from the shouting cries on either side of him, he could guess that Brock and Ari were being man-handled in a similar way. "No, wait, we can explain—!"

"You can explain yourselves to the police," growled the clerk coldly, opening the doors for the guards. "You destroyed studio property and assaulted two guards, so somehow I don't think that they'll be too for—"

"Mathis! What's going on down here?" boomed a man's voice, coming from the second elevator at the end of the lobby.

"N-Nothing, Mr. Cohen," stuttered the receptionist known as Mathis. "We've just apprehended three criminals who tried to force their way into the building. Security was just about to escort them to the police station now."

"Let me see them," commanded Mr. Cohen, and Ash could hear footsteps as he came closer to them. He felt himself being swung around by the guards holding him, and the two grabbing his shins let him go, showing his face to the man. "Ash? Ash Ketchum?! Good lord, what are you doing here?"

Ash's head jerked upwards, and he gasped in shock when he saw himself staring at Derek, still dressed in his reporter's suit and tie, with a puzzled look on his face. "Derek! Am I glad to see you!" he shouted in relief, wincing with pain as the remaining two guards tightened their already painful grip on his arms. "Look, we need your help!" he pleaded, and Derek slowly nodded and signalled to the guards, who instantly released their hold on Ash. He stumbled forwards, then looked around to see that Ari and Brock were still being restrained by all four of their holders.

"Mathis, I happened to have met Mr. Ketchum on several occasions," Derek said in a low voice to the quivering clerk, "and I am of the impression that he is not the kind of person to be committing the acts you are accusing him of. Not without extreme provocation."

"W-Well… in all honesty, sir, it was only _this_ boy who caused the damage," Mathis mumbled timidly, pointing a shaking finger at Ari, who glared at him from behind the guards. "He stormed the elevator, and when he was met with security, he, well, _look_—" he waved his hand back down the way Derek had come, indicating the blown-off doors and the incapacitated guards still lying in the elevator.

"I see… guards, release—who is your friend, Ash—?" Derek asked.

"Brock."

"—release Brock now." The guards complied and set Brock down on the tiled floor, where he dusted his arms and gave them a reproachful stare before giving Ash a relieved thumbs-up, which Ash returned. Derek gave Ash a quick smile and walked sternly over to Ari, who was still struggling vainly against his restrainers. "Now as for you—you're Ari DeVarro, aren't you?" he asked, surprised, when he caught the first clear glimpse of Ari's face.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Hmph. I see… Security, release Ari and leave us be," he ordered, reaching for his cell phone. "I apologise for wasting your time."

"But, Mr. Cohen, these—"

"I said leave!" Derek said fiercely, his hand over the phone's speaker. "Jeanne, you might want to come down here. Bring a camera crew; we might have a new story," he spoke into the phone, watching as the sixteen guards grumbled mutinously, marching out of the doors and into the night.

"Please, no cameras!" Ash interjected, rushing forwards. "We need your help with something."

Derek looked away from the blasted doors on the ground and turned to face him. "What with?"

"One of our friends – Dawn – was kidnapped this afternoon," Brock chimed in, stepping into his vision. "We've got a suspect already, and we need to use your match footage to find who it is."

"Kidnapped?!" he yelped, hanging up the phone and lowering it to his pocket. "Oh my. Well, I can certainly see the need for your friend's—" he nodded at Ari, who had his arms crossed defensively, "—urgency in trying to gain access to our footage."

"Look, I'm sorry for what happened," Ari said apologetically. "My Gallade went berserk, blew the doors open, and put those guards to sleep."

"Well, no-one was injured, so I suppose that we can overlook it just for this moment," Derek reasoned, flashing a charming smile at the boys, who exchanged relieved looks with each other. "Ah, that must be Jeanne," he muttered, for the undamaged elevator slid open to reveal his co-anchor flattening down her dress, and three cameramen and technicians – complete with equipment – as they spilled out into the lobby.

"—look at that! Quick, Marco, get a nice shot of those gouges! And—oh my, what happened to the guards?! Don't forget to get a close-up of them—" Jeanne was instructing her crew, who were frantically ducking, squatting, and weaving around to get the best video footage of the damage to the building.

"Jeanne, get over here, now!" Derek yelled. Jeanne snapped her head around and hurried over, her goon-like crew bumbling in her wake. "Jeanne, you've already met Ash, and this is Brock and Ari," he introduced, pointing to each one in turn.

"Ari…" Jeanne muttered, her eyes narrowing as she searched his face. "Right…" She gave him a half-suspicious look, to which he shook his head a fraction to either side, before she turned back to Derek. "What is it?" she asked.

"Ash needs to use our video archives," he explained. "What was it in particular you were looking for?" he asked him.

"The, uh, footage from my match with Kaiden Hayes. In the second round," he added quickly, remembering that he'd had to battle Kaiden on two occasions.

"Before or after you were knocked unconscious?" Jeanne inquired, twirling a finger around her hair.

"_When_ I was. Derek, you remember when you showed the video of me passing out at my interview?"

"Yes," he replied, wondering what Ash's point was. "You want me to pull that footage up _again_? What on earth for?"

"Just do it; you'll see later," Ari cut in, tapping his foot impatiently. Derek turned his head to look at Ari, his brow creased, before he turned back to Ash and gave him a questioning look. Ash nodded gravely, and so he clapped his hands together and nodded back with a tiny smile on his face.

"Okay. Marco, Jesse, Cameron—" he looked over at the camera crew, "you three stay here and tend to the guards. Make sure that they're all right when they wake up," he instructed, raising his voice over their futile complaints. "Jeanne, come with us to the archives."

"Right," Jeanne agreed, nodding towards the three men still carrying their equipment. "You heard the man, now drop those cameras and help those guards!" she snapped. The frightened men dropped their equipment as one and scampered over to the elevator to attend to the sleeping guards. She walked towards the elevator still in service, then turned on the spot to look at the four males staring after her. "Well, come on! Rule number one of news: time and patience are two things we never have!" she yelled.

"Coming up right behind you!" Derek answered, running forwards, and Ash, Brock, and Ari quickly followed suit, sprinting down the wide lobby and bunching into the elevator.

"Which way is the archive?" Brock asked conversationally. Derek leaned across Ash and pressed the button at the bottom of the panel, marked 'BX'.

"Down, of course," he replied, as the doors slid shut, and the elevator shook to life.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Mathis is a name I picked out whilst reading Sebastian Faulk's "007 – Devil May Care" novel, where René Mathis is one of the characters.**

***Derek's surname is taken from comedian and actor Sacha Baron Cohen (a.k.a Borat).**

**Quiz:**

***What is the lowest level that a Gallade can learn Hypnosis **_**purely**_** by levelling up?**


	53. Beneath The Stars And Water

**CHAPTER 53 – BENEATH THE STARS AND WATER**

In the sky over the mountains to the north of Ayers Island, a sleek, winged creature wheeled towards the rocky ground, roaring joyfully as the wind ferociously whipped about its red-and-blue head and coursed under its long tail. It touched down lightly on the side of a craggy hill, stomping a clawed foot on the grass beneath it, and a lone figure slipped from its back and pulled a PokéBall from the belt at its waist.

"Good work, Apache," Leoric whispered, recalling Salamence in a flash of red light. As he clicked the PokéBall in place on his belt, he took a small torch from his back pocket – he'd retrieved it from his backpack as he'd been riding on his Pokémon – and flicked it on, casting a bright beam of yellow-white light across the countryside in front of him. The light shone into a dark recess in the side of the mountain on his left, and he grinned proudly as he walked over to the tunnel entrance.

Very_ good work, Apache,_ he thought to himself, amazed by the accuracy of his Salamence's touchdown, even in the pitch-black night. He felt the warm gust of air greet him as he stepped into the dark hole, and he quickened his pace the further he went into the tunnel, his only guide the tiny circle of light that his torch was providing. Leoric raised his free arm into the light and checked his watch. _One minute past midnight… excellent, I always like being fashionably late,_ he thought wryly, smiling to himself. He wiped a hand across his brow to rid himself of the sheen of sweat that was forming in the steamy air, and he was – as always – glad to emerge into the giant bowl that was the hot spring. But what surprised him was what was waiting inside.

Misty was standing in the centre of the enormous bamboo platform standing in the middle of the spring, her slender body illuminated in the night by a soft spotlight of dancing rainbow light, that was – as Leoric managed to tear his eyes away and upwards – being focused onto her by her Starmie, its ten arms slowly spinning clockwise and anti-clockwise in a gentle rhythm. She was wearing a two-piece swimsuit that, in Leoric's honest opinion, left very little to the imagination; there was so little fabric covering her that the designers hadn't even bothered with a pattern – it was essentially a strip of cloth around her chest with holes for her head and arms, and another strip of cloth around her hips.

Leoric gawked at her, accidentally dropping his torch as he stared, and as it hit the ground with a crack, the glass bulb shattered open and the torch died. Now the only light that Leoric could see was the one bathing Misty, and he absent-mindedly unhooked his arms from his backpack and let it, too, fall to the ground with a resounding thud. The noise drew Misty's attention, and she turned around to spot the source, but she could see nothing; everything around her was as dark as could be.

"I know you're there, Leo," she called out teasingly. "Staryu, give him some light," she shouted, and the next second Leoric was blinded as a shaft of light struck him in the face from above. He hurriedly shielded his eyes with his hand and saw her Staryu spinning directly over his head, casting a beam of soft pink light onto him from the gem in its centre, but the light soon shifted into a pure white colour as Leoric began to move forwards, towards the other lit figure in the spring.

"Well I must admit, Misty," he said, stumbling his way onto the platform at last, "you do think these things through."

Misty blushed noticeably in the light, and beamed at him as he laughed and put his hands on his hips, still standing at the stage's edge. "Only the best," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "I trust you read my little _note_?"

"Of course I did, otherwise I'd never have known you'd be here!" Leoric smiled, taking a step forwards as he reached a hand into his back pocket. "Once again, no effort spared on your part," he told her, drawing the slip of paper out and holding it up to the light, "but you proved my point about you."

"And what part might _that_ be?" Misty asked quizzically, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at him.

"That you're a kiss-ass," he sniggered, showing her the kiss-mark. "What else would you call your lip-print in my back pocket?" he asked rhetorically, and Misty dropped her arms and laughed along.

"Touché, but like I said before, a girl can't help herself," she retorted, still grinning widely at him as she moved towards him. "Especially not with _hot_ _property_ such as yourself," she added suggestively with a wink.

"Oh, so now I'm _property_, am I?" Leoric asked in an indignant voice, playing along. "I'm just a possession to you, am I?!"

Misty's eyes widened into a mortified look and her hand flew to her mouth as she realised what she'd said. "No, I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that—_oh no_, I've done it now…" she blubbered, hanging her head with shame. She heard Leoric roar with laughter, and she snapped her head up to see him smacking his hand against his hip and pointing a finger at her as he came close to falling over with mischievous glee.

"You are a prankster's dream, you really are," he chuckled, blinking stupidly, but he instantly stopped when he saw the furious expression on Misty's face; even the orange tuft of hair on her head, tied to the side, seemed to quiver with rage. "But that's not to say that—well, how about we call it even?" he suggested weakly, taking a cautionary step back toward the edge of the platform. To his enormous relief, Misty ceased her advance and considered the offer, before nodding brightly and flashing her infectious smile at him again.

"I think we've done enough spluttering and blundering for one date, don't you think?" she asked.

"_Date_, you say? Yeah, I'd say we've made big enough fools out of ourselves for the time being," he joked, looking around at the dark spring. "Well, what would you suggest we do in place of _talking_?"

"Oh, I don't know," she whispered, making a show of trying to think of something. "Well, seeing as how this _is_ a hot spring, how about we make use of that, hmm?" she offered, and Leoric didn't miss the glint in her eye as she looked him up and down.

"Well, since you're already undressing me with your eyes, I don't see why not," he sighed, with another sneer at Misty, who gave him a purely innocent look. "Give me a minute to go grab my bag. I don't want to leave it so far away, considering it has most of my supplies in there. Oh, but wait—!" he added, slapping himself in the forehead, "I haven't got a pair of trunks to wear! I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to give the bathing idea a miss, unless you're fine with me being nu—on second thought, I'll just wear _these_ pants," he added hastily, not wanting to give Misty any reason to think he would actually consider fully stripping off in front of her.

"Well, hurry up," Misty pouted, before walking to the edge of the stage, so that she was level with him. "I want to _enjoy_ the water," she whispered, biting her lip and looking longingly at him. Leoric gave her a reassuring nod, and watched her as she made her way down the rough ground towards the larger hot springs at the rear. "Staryu, let's give him some privacy," she added, and the light surrounding Leoric was extinguished.

"Come on, how am I supposed to find my way back to my bag in this?!" Leoric shouted, already lifting his shirt off his chest. There was a moment of silence, followed by a sharp whizzing noise, and Staryu flooded the space around him with light again, giving him a way to navigate around the uneven ground on the trip back to the spring's rim. "Thanks!" he said loudly, jumping down off the platform and moving at speed towards the spot where he knew his backpack to be. He threaded his fingerless gloves from his hands and, once he found his bag in the dark, threw them into his middle pocket, along with his shirt, room card, PokéBalls, and the various other things he kept inside his pant-pockets. Making sure that there was nothing he'd forgotten, he turned and moved towards the outer edge of the spring towards Misty, who was, by the sound of it, already inside one of the bubbling baths.

"What's taking you so long?" he heard her ask, splashing about in the hot water, and he quickened his pace as he clambered over the rough rocks and mossy ground. All too soon, he could see Misty lounging around in the steaming water, with her Starmie hovering above, and he tripped over his own feet and slid face-first down the slippery slope, stopping three feet from the edge of the water.

"Graceful," Misty joked, giggling as Leoric got to his feet, coughing and spitting dirt out of his mouth as he wiped the grime off his face. Leoric gave her a sardonic smirk and looked up to see Staryu still shining the beam of light down onto him. Misty gave him the same look that Dawn had given Ari when he'd been retrieving his hat earlier that day, although in this case Leoric was even more well-built than his friend. Her sea-green eyes probed over his torso, before quickly looking away when he lowered his head to look at her again. "Aren't you going to come in?" she teased, crooking her finger and beckoning to him.

"I guess I can take a little dip," he chuckled, using his hands to steady himself as he lowered his trouser-covered legs into the churning water. He gave a pleasured groan as he slipped his head below the surface, the hot current washing all the slime and grass from his face, before he bobbed his head back into the open air and shook it vigorously from side to side, his blonde-brown hair flicking about. He trod water for a moment, then tentatively lowered his bare feet towards the ground, touching a hard, leathery something that he took to be the smooth rock at the bottom, and he allowed himself to relax, waving his hands through the water around him.

"Feeling better, are you?" Misty asked, swimming closer. Leoric half-closed his eyes and gave her a lazy nod, grinning from ear to ear. "Well that's good to know," she whispered, edging further towards him.

"You have no idea how badly I needed this," he moaned. "It's been an _extremely_ long and testing day…"

"Well how about I help out some more?" she suggested silkily, treading water a few feet in front of him.

"That depends," Leoric countered softly, letting his arms fall to his sides.

"On what?"

"On what you had in mind," he murmured, flashing a smile at Misty, which made her blush furiously.

"I hadn't actually thought of anything off the top of my head," she admitted, inching towards him again. "But maybe I… no, never mind," she said, shaking her head and inevitably piquing Leoric's interest.

"No, come on, what was it that you were just thinking?" he ventured, another grin on his face.

"Maybe I should wipe that goofy smirk off your face," she answered hotly, playfully jabbing him in the stomach with her finger.

"It's gonna take a lot more than a poke in the guts to wipe _this_ smile away," he retorted, snatching at her hand underwater with his own, but Misty had wanted that all along, and she threaded her fingers into his. "Oh, and don't try hitting me with your other hand, because it's not going to work either," he warned, grinning wider than before.

"We'll see about that," she challenged, and her free arm shot forwards in the water, aiming for his stomach again, but Leoric had seen it coming, and his other hand fastened itself around her wrist.

"Told you it wouldn't work," he boasted, moving her arm upwards, back towards her body. He loosened his grip for a split-second, and Misty's arm snaked out and now it was her hand closed around his wrist, and she moved it towards his waist, a strange look in her eye.

"In that case, it'd be pretty stupid to try and use force, wouldn't it?" she asked, her voice light and shallow.

"Yeah, pretty stupid," Leoric joked, still grinning stupidly.

"So I might have to use something more _subtle_," she whispered, leaning forwards.

Leoric felt something tap his sodden trouser leg, and he shot a covert glance into the bubbling water just as the steam cleared to see Misty resting her foot on top of his. Snapping his gaze back to her, he saw that her face was less than a foot away from his, and her expression was unfocused as her head edged towards his. Misty stared at Leoric's lips and half-closed her green eyes, moving the last few inches forwards in anticipation of the kiss. But as her lips came within a hair of Leoric's, she put more of her weight on the foot standing on Leoric, and the ground beneath his feet shifted and gave, making him stumble away from her unexpectedly. Misty overbalanced and fell onto him, pushing him underwater and sinking him to the bottom of the small spring.

"Leo! Oh, I'm sorry, it was an accident!" she gasped, her hands scrabbling under the surface for his arms. She felt his toned wrists amongst the turbulent water, and with a superhuman effort she pulled him out and into the open air, gasping and expelling water from his mouth. "Are you alright?" she asked worriedly, but Leoric simply nodded and turned to stare into the unclear water to his right.

"There's something down there," he muttered darkly, narrowing his eyes. Despite Misty's anxious and sceptical look, he took a deep breath and dived underwater, pushing his hands through the water blindly.

"Staryu, Starmie, give Leo some light," she whispered, looking up towards her floating Pokémon, who obliged and reflected focused beams of light onto the patch of water that Leoric was submerged under. "Leo, what's down there?" she shouted at the water, waiting for a reply.

Leoric had thrown his hands over his eyes when Misty's Pokémon had flooded the space around him with light, but as his eyes became used to the uncomfortable temperature, they saw a large, misshapen blob at the bottom of the spring, right in front of him. He choked back the air in his lungs when he saw a bright blue wave of fibres shimmering at the top of the mass, and he quickly fought his way back above the water, turning wildly on the spot to face Misty, who was backing away from him fearfully.

"I take back what I said," he panted, glancing at the way she was shaking despite the warmth. "There's not some_thing_ down there… there's some_one_ down there."

Misty laughed at his words, thinking that it must be some kind of twisted joke, until she saw that his face was set, and his emerald eyes were cold as stones. Her hand flew to her mouth in horror, her eyes frantically darting between him and the water at his chest. "You mean—someone… _dead_—?!" she quavered, and Leoric nodded grimly before he dove back down into the water. Misty's heart rate doubled and she began to hyper-ventilate with each passing moment, then she jumped in fright when she heard Leoric give a muffled scream, and a moment later his head broke the surface, a scared and suspicious expression on his face.

"What?! _What_?!" she squealed, backing further away.

"There are _two _people down there. Both girls…" he said darkly, his chest heaving as he brought one of the bodies to the surface. Misty screamed and came close to fainting when she saw the lifeless sheet of bubblegum-blue hair hanging over the dead girl's face, and the slender legs falling limply into the water, as Leoric held her in his arms. With a low growl he moved her body onto the rocky earth at the edge of the spring, her arms slapping against the warm ground, before he took another deep breath and sank below the water to retrieve the other corpse.

_Oh-my-god-oh-my-god-oh-my-god-oh-my-god,_ Misty thought, overwhelmed by the appearance of the dead girl. _Why did this happen?! And during my _date_, of all times?!_ "Leo!" she shrieked, as Leoric rose above the water with the second girl hanging from him arms, just as limply as the first. She was a curvy girl, with a mess of fiery red hair, but her eyes were rolled back into her head, and as Leoric thumped her down next to the other girl, Misty could hear a swish of water that told her that her lungs had been filled with water. She was horrified by the sight of the two girls lying motionlessly on the rock, but she staggered forwards when Leoric bent down over their figures and began rummaging through their pockets.

"What are you doing?!" she howled, wading through the water towards him.

"Looking for ID. It might tell us who these poor women are," he sighed, and he pulled a tiny plastic badge out from the blue-haired girl's pants pocket. "Starmie, help me out here," he shouted up to the purple Pokémon, who shone its light down on the badge, in the shape of a bright yellow 'G'. "_10631 – Emily Harper_," he read from the back of the metal, frowning heavily. "This _G_ means that she's part of a criminal organisation known as Team Galactic," he explained, handing the badge to Misty.

"Team _Galactic_? Is that anything like Team _Rocket_?" she asked frightfully, holding the badge in her shaking hand.

"Yeah, they're the Sinnoh equivalent, but Team Galactic is a much larger organisation than the Rockets. I never thought they'd have spread this far, though… usually they limit themselves to Sinnoh; they wouldn't normally be here, so close to the Orange Islands and Kanto…" he trailed off, absent-mindedly turning away from Misty to look at Emily's body. "We need to call the cops," he said, suddenly changing topic and swinging around to face Misty, a grave look on his face.

"But—" she began, imploringly, but Leoric held up a hand to silence her, and turned Emily's body onto its side, where there was a large slit-like hole in the back of her neck.

"Stay here," he ordered, stepping out of the spring and climbing the rocks. "I'm getting my things. Apache can fly all four of us to the police station within ten minutes." He looked around and saw that Misty was on the verge of tears, so he slid back down the slope and put his arms on her hips caringly, looking regretfully into her blurry eyes. "I'm sorry that this ruined our date," he said gently, "but I _promise_ that I'll make it up to you sometime soon, okay?" He tapped her lightly on the nose with a finger and wrapped his arm around her, before he gave her a light kiss on the cheek. Misty threw her arms around his back, clutching him tightly for a moment or two, before he slipped from her grasp and made his way towards the edge of the cavern.

Misty closed her eyes and let all the emotion of the past few minutes throw themselves onto her. She felt cheated, because she'd literally been a split-second away from kissing Leoric before the two girls had been discovered, but in the face of everything, it was a minor nuisance. The major problem, now, was the question as to what these two women – members of Team Galactic, she remembered, looking down at the wet badge still clasped in her hand – were doing lying at the bottom of a hot spring. A rushing noise above her head made her look to the sky, and with a crash of wing-beats, Leoric and his Salamence touched down on the uneven ground.

"Misty, feel free to climb onto Apache. I won't take long," he instructed, leaping down with a length of rope in his hands. He coiled the rope around Salamence's mid-section, and with a wave of nausea Misty understood what he was going to do.

"Oh no, you're not…" she murmured, turning green.

"Not much choice, I'm afraid," Leoric replied remorsefully, tapping a PokéBall at his waist. "Tyrael, I need your strength for just a quick minute," he muttered distractedly, as his Tyranitar boomed and thudded into the muggy air, stamping a foot on the mossy ground. "Hoist Emily and—" he checked the badge pinned to the red-haired girl's chest, "Alex onto Apache's underside. Apache, hover about… six feet up so Tyrael can get them on securely," he commanded.

_Wow… Leoric sure can be ruthless and calculating when he needs to be_, Misty thought, impressed but also afraid of the cold determination in the boy's bright green eyes, and as she looked at his strained face, his Pokémon completed their tasks efficiently, and within moments the two girls' bodies were fastened to Salamence, and Leoric was already climbing aboard the Dragon Pokémon and returning Tyranitar in a bright flash of light.

"St-Staryu, Starmie, ret-turn!" she stammered, pulling two PokéBalls from the top half of her swimsuit and training them on the two spinning Pokémon in the air. Both star Pokémon disappeared back into their balls in a flash of red, and their absence plunged the entire hot spring into an eerie darkness. She heard Leoric mutter something, but his words were lost in the bubble of the water nearby, and she put a tentative foot forwards in the darkness towards his voice.

A ball of orange light formed in the middle of the pitch-black, and Misty shielded her eyes from the harshness of it for a few moments, allowing her eyes to adjust. From behind the orange ball she could see a set of fang-lined, blood-red jaws, and Salamence's sharp face, twitching as it held the pent-up Hyper Beam in front of its head to illuminate the area. She looked beyond the Pokémon's head and saw Leoric standing on its back, his face covered in dancing shadows and vermillion light.

"Misty, is that all you brought with you?" he asked, pointing a hand towards the swimsuit she was wearing. She nodded timidly, and so he reached into his backpack and extracted a long trench coat from its depths, jumping down and throwing it around her shivering body. "Here, this'll help keep you warm. It's really chilly up in the sky, so you're going to need it. If you're still feeling cold, just push yourself closer to Apache or me, alright?" he offered kindly, with a warm smile, and she returned the look gratefully as he led her to Salamence.

Misty hesitated as they drew closer to the large Pokémon – she was terrified of the two bodies strapped to its belly – and Leoric nearly stumbled trying to keep her going forwards. He noticed her reluctance and stood between her and the two girls, reaching for her chin with his hand. "Just don't look at them, okay? They can't hurt you. Keep your eyes on me. Focus on my eyes, Misty. Focus," he murmured, his voice soothing her fears. She nodded courageously and gazed into his emerald eyes, those deep green wells of his, as he cautiously stepped backwards, his eyes never leaving hers, and a soft thump in front of her told them both that Leoric had reached Salamence.

"Keep looking at me," he whispered, grabbing her waist with his hands. Effortlessly he lifted her into the air, swinging her around so that her stare was still focused on him, and placed her lightly on his Pokémon's back. In one swift motion he jumped onto Salamence, and Misty lurched forwards and linked her arms around him, her head against his back as she held on tightly, like a frightened girl to her father. He put a hand on Misty's arm, whispering a few gentle words of assurance to her, before he slapped the back of his steed's great blue neck. "Apache, let's go! Hyaah!" he roared, and Salamence spread its canopy-like wings wide and launched itself into the air, hurtling out of the vast dome and across the sky, headed south for the police station.

* * *

**Quiz:**

***Upon evolving to Starmie, Staryu gains how much height (in feet) and weight (in pounds)?**


	54. Hunting The Hunter

**CHAPTER 54 – HUNTING THE HUNTER**

The elevator shuddered to a halt as it reached the floor marked 'BX', and a small chiming beep came from the display at the top as the two letters flashed up as a formation of red dots, and the twin doors slid away, revealing the space in front to the five people standing inside. BX was an enormous storage area; there were innumerable rows of shelves that stretched along the cold stone floor for as far as the eye could see, and even more after that. The shelves themselves rose at least twenty feet into the air, clashing with the black tiled roof, from which hung a massive number of hot light bulbs on spindly wires, swaying in the air-conditioning that sent chills across Ash, who was the person closest to the door. The light of the bulbs shone over the items that were stored on these shelves; stack upon stack of reels of video-tape, audio cassettes, and computer discs, and the sheer volume made the eyes of the three boys at the front water.

"The cassettes are the commentary—" Derek began explaining, once he, Ash, Brock, Ari and Jeanne had left the elevator, "and the reels and discs contain the video footage of every single Pokémon battle that this station has ever recorded, since the inception of the World Pokémon Championships, eight years ago. Any recording can, which strict permissions, be pulled up from this archive to be studied, and when you consider the sheer magnitude of the tournament, and the calibre of the matches carried out, there are literally _millions_ of hours of footage that you can look over. If you had the time and the obsessive nature, of course," he added cheekily, as they made their way down the left-hand aisle of the enormous room.

"That's a lot of Pokémon…" Ash murmured, turning his head this way and that to stare at all the reels of tape, stacked to ridiculous heights on the shelves. "Just imagine what you could learn by studying these tapes…!"

"Well, we _do_ lend them out sometimes to the Trainer's Schools in the various regions, for educational purposes, of course," Jeanne chimed, her high-heeled shoes tapping against the ground as she walked. "Your little request certainly is the _oddest_ one we've had," she added with a giggle.

"I _do_ live for odd," he joked, his eyes still roaming the high ceiling. A nudge at his elbow made him look back down towards his companions, and he saw Derek approaching a large computer terminal, hidden to the side between two of the towering shelves. "What's that?" he asked, moving towards the others, who were crowding around Derek as he typed a few commands onto the keyboard.

"This is the database for all the files that we have stored down here," he explained, still typing furiously. "Us old hands here at the station—" he pointed between himself and Jeanne, "—call it the Battledex, after Professor Oak's Pokédexes. But it got a bit irritating having to say Battledex over and over, so we just abbreviated it—"

"—to _BX_," Jeanne finished brightly, tapping a hand on the side of the large terminal. "Hence the name on the elevator."

"That's pretty cool," Brock chuckled, impressed by the technology and catchy name. "So do you have a search engine on here that lets you narrow things down, or—?"

"We just type in the Trainer's name, and it brings up every match they've participated in while on this island," Derek answered, swinging the large monitor around to face them. "Or I could ask it to look for all the grand final matches, and – bam! – you'll get yourself seven of the most breath-taking matches you'll ever have seen!" he went on excitedly, pressing the _Enter_ key and bringing up a list of five entries.

"Those are my matches, aren't they?" Ash inquired, leaning in for a closer look. As he thought, all five entries included his name, either on the left on the right, and the names of his opponents alongside. "There—" he pointed at the middle entry, labelled '_Ash Ketchum vs. Kaiden Hayes – 2__nd__ Round_', "bring up the video."

"Alright, uploading the feed now," Derek complied, bringing up a window on the huge screen. "Let's hope this works," he murmured, striking the _Enter_ key again, and the window blared to life, showing the same three views of the battle that Ash had seen during his post-match interview. "Sideline, action, or aerial?" he asked, looking around at Ash.

"Action," Ari answered, putting a hand on the back of Derek's chair. With another typed command, the window focused in on the centre view, and Derek fast-forwarded the video to the point where Snorlax had been sent out against Kaiden's Vigoroth.

"Hope no-one here's still squeamish…" Derek laughed, as the replay flitted past the moment where Ash had been pummelled by Vigoroth's Rock Smash. "This should be just about… where we want to be—!" he lurched forwards and mashed a key, pausing the footage just as Ash saw himself being carried out of the stadium. But Brock and Leoric were only halfway towards the stands, and the wiry-haired man with the camera was nowhere to be seen.

"Take it about twenty seconds further along," Brock suggested hesitantly. Derek nodded and dragged his mouse along the desk, slowly shifting the footage forwards, and everyone's heads craned forwards as the three figures on-screen reached the edge of the stadium. "Stop—!" Brock exclaimed, pointing at the top half of the screen, and Derek's hand jerked away from the mouse as though he'd been electrocuted.

"There he is!" Ari shouted, following the line of Brock's arm, which was aimed right at the dark-haired man in the front row, the lower half of his face obscured by the old-fashioned camera he was holding, which – in the freeze-frame – was flashing white as it rapidly took a picture of the people below. "And see?! He's taking pictures of Dawn!" he said loudly, drawing a straight line with his finger between the man and Dawn, who was three or four steps behind Brock, Ash and Leoric.

"Yeah, he is…" Ash admitted darkly, his eyes narrowing on the man's sallow face. But before he could say anything more, Jeanne broke the silence.

"Derek, isolate that man's face and transfer the image to my phone," she requested, tapping her co-anchor on the shoulder, before retrieving her cell phone from her pocket. Derek complied; zooming the image so that all he could see was the man's head, he used his mouse to crop the image, and then brought up a second window, filled with numbers and instructions.

"—Jenny? This is Jeanne, from Trainer Spotlight," Jeanne was saying into the phone's speaker, her back turned to the boys. "I'm sorry to be calling you this late, but it's quite urgent. I'm reporting a kidnapping – a young girl by the name of—"

"—Dawn—!" Ash shouted.

"—Dawn, who's been missing since this afternoon. We also have a witness who was in Dawn's company, who was incapacitated just before the kidnapping. He claims he saw a wiry-haired man, wearing distinctive dark sunglasses, who cornered both himself and Dawn at Lexon Street, just before he was knocked unconscious from behind."

"Do you have any proof of this alleged crime?" asked Officer Jenny from the other end of the line, her voice sharp and crackly through the receiver.

"The giant bruise on my head is proof enough!" Ari roared from behind Jeanne, snatching the phone out of her hands. "My name's Ari DeVarro, and I'm the witness who got KO'd. This dark-haired guy and a thin blue-haired woman cornered the two of us in the street, and all I got was a look at their faces before something took me out from behind. When I came to, I was locked inside a dumpster, and I had to use my Gallade to—"

"—I think you should come down to the station and give me a report on this incident," Jenny interrupted matter-of-factly, cutting across Ari, who fell silent immediately. "But before that, please hand the phone back to Jeanne." Ari's free hand twitched halfway towards curling into a fist, but then he grunted and held the phone at arm's length to Jeanne, who graciously accepted it and held it up to her ear.

"Sorry about that, but these boys are getting quite worried about their friend," she said, scratching the back of her head.

"Hey, the station's been pretty frantic itself," Jenny chuckled sadly. "Some kid and his girlfriend just flew in – not even a minute ago! – on a Salamence with two corpses strapped to its belly. Something about a double-homicide at the Anjiosi Hot Springs… But anyways, do you have a picture of this dark-haired man that you could send over?" she asked, focusing back to the matter at hand.

"Uh, I should have one in about fifteen seconds, if Derek's done his work right," she said snappily, staring fiercely at the back of Derek's hair-gel-covered head.

"I heard that…" muttered Derek, still typing on the keyboard, "and it should be on your phone right about… now—!" he pressed the _Enter_ key again, and Jeanne's cell phone beeped in reply. "The guy's picture is in your gallery. Just send it on over to the police, and you're done," he instructed with a wry smile as he swung around on his chair.

"You heard that, Officer?" Jeanne asked, and Jenny gave an affirmative reply on the line. "Okay, I'm sending it over…" she muttered, pressing buttons here and there on the keypad, and the phone gave another beep as the image was successfully transferred. "You got it?"

"It's printing out now," Jenny answered. "Okay, I'll send this out to the dock-workers at the harbour, and the pilots on the helipads and airstrip. Once they spot him, they can notify me here at the station, and they'll postpone their departure long enough for questioning. I suggest that you, Derek, and your friends come down to the station and formalise everything,: she added seriously.

"Will do," Jeanne said brightly, hanging up the phone. Tucking it back into her pocket, she turned around to see Derek closing the windows and putting the computer on stand-by, and the three Trainers eyeing her off with worry. "We need to go to the station. Officer Jenny's putting out a notice to all transportation off this island; if he tries and leaves, they'll know about it and bring him in for questioning."

"That's great!" Ari cheered, punching the air. "A nice waste of time, right?" he asked Ash, who scowled and dug his hands into his pockets, and Pikachu bared its teeth warningly as its cheeks crackled with electricity.

"I'll admit that I wasn't expecting this much help," he challenged, "but I'm still glad that Noctowl, Crobat and Dusknoir are out there looking for Dawn. We know how brutal Paul is—"

"—but we don't know that Paul is even the one we're meant to be going after," Brock reasoned, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder, before he looked over at Jeanne. "You said we needed to get to the police station. How far away is it, and what's the quickest way we can get there?" he asked.

Jeanne hissed inwardly and put a hand to her chin. "It's twenty minutes away by foot," she said bracingly. "Unless you've got a quicker way of getting there?" she ventured wildly. Ash and Brock exchanged despondent looks before shaking their heads at the question.

"The only Pokémon we had that could fly, we already sent them to scout the island for Dawn," Ash mumbled, hanging his head. "My Noctowl and Brock's Crobat. Ari has a Garchomp, but I don't think it can take all of us over there, can it?" he asked Ari, who grimaced and shook his head.

"Dullahan can only take two people at a time," he said sourly, his brow creased. "He's lightning-quick, but even so, it'd take nearly ten minutes to get us all over there."

"Ten minutes is still pretty quick!" Derek cut in, his voice encouraging. "It's not like this stranger is going to turn up at the airstrip this very second!"

"Would you be thinking the same way if it was _Jeanne_ who was missing?" Ash asked fiercely, and Derek blinked stupidly before slumping his shoulders in defeat. "Ari, does your Gallade know Teleport?" he said, turning to face Ari, who stared open-mouthed at him, then slapped his forehead in anger at not having thought of it himself.

"Of course, Teleport!" he sighed, snatching his Pokémon's PokéBall from his belt. "He could just warp us over there in the blink of an eye! But—" he growled with anger as he realised something, "he'd have to know where he was teleporting _to_, you see, otherwise he could end up in the middle of a wall…" he mumbled, the ball still clutched in his hand.

"Then how about your Garchomp?" Derek suggested, stepping forwards. "Just have it fly _you_ over, and have Gallade Teleport back here to take us all there. It shouldn't take more than a minute or two, knowing how quickly Garchomp can fly," he said confidently, motioning towards the others, who all nodded vehemently. Ari hurriedly summoned his Pokémon, who gracefully stepped onto the cold floor, and gave Gallade a quick view of its surroundings, before he returned him to his PokéBall. He then swapped his Gallade's ball for his Garchomp's and, with a final nod to them all, he turned and sprinted towards the elevator at full pace, ramming his palm against the button marked '_G_'.

"So what, we just wait until Gallade comes back?" Ash asked impatiently, watching as the doors slid shut. Pikachu patted his ear in an effort to calm him down, but he was too worked up to notice, and he paced around on the spot, knotting his hands together to try and burn off his excess energy. He felt a firm hand on his shoulder, and at first he ignored it kept moving, but it swung him around to show Brock, trying to keep him still.

"Ash, you need to stop worrying so openly about this," he said sternly, maintaining his grip on Ash's jacket. "There isn't anything more we can do for Dawn at the moment, so we've got no choice but to wait. Hey," he added, as Ash opened his mouth to reply, "it's not just _you_ that's worried about her safety, remember that. We're all concerned; you, me, Ari, even Derek and Jeanne, right—?" he looked over at the two reporters, subliminally pleading for them to agree with him so as to calm Ash down.

"Of course we're worried," Jeanne said harshly, as if offended by the question, but her face softened and she walked over to join them. "If there's one thing being a reporter has told me, it's that you need to be involved in what you do, but never to let it affect your judgement," she said wisely, and Ash took a deep breath and lowered himself onto the ground. Pikachu hopped onto his lap, brushing its head against his jacket, and he contented himself with stroking his Pokémon's head.

Ash waited and waited as the seconds seemed to drag on like minutes, and it felt like an hour had passed when, only two minutes later, there was a dark flicker in the cold, empty space in front of him. Holding Pikachu in his hands, he leapt to his feet just as Ari's Gallade materialised out of thin air, holding his sword-like arms at his sides and striding towards them. _That was quick,_ he thought to himself, as the Blade Pokémon drew level with the four of them.

"_Whom shall I be escorting first_?" said a smooth, deep voice from inside Ash's head, and he flinched, before he realised that the Pokémon was communicating with him telepathically. Glancing around at his companions, the looks on their faces told him that they had all heard Gallade's voice as well.

"Jeanne's going first," Brock said, gently pushing her forwards. "She told Officer Jenny about our situation, so she can let her know that the rest of us are coming," he added.

"_My master has already informed Ms. Jenny of your impending arrival,_" boomed Gallade, but Jeanne nobly stepped forwards nonetheless, confident but at the same time at a loss as to how the Pokémon would Teleport her to the police station, and Gallade sensed her hesitation. "_Jeanne, is it? Stand in front of me, facing away, and lean in towards me. I'll do the rest,_" he instructed charmingly, and Jeanne did as she was told, standing with her back to him and leaning into the Pokémon's thin frame. She gave a small start of fright as Gallade's arms swung around toward her, but they rested lightly against her, simply holding her in place safely.

"_On three…_" Gallade said quietly, and Jeanne began counting in her head along with him. "_One… two… three…!_" There was a shuttering noise, like the click of a camera taking a picture, and the next moment, both Gallade and his guest flickered and disappeared, leaving only a swirl of air behind. Once the wind had died down, there was a third flicker, and Gallade re-appeared, standing in the same spot at which he had left with Jeanne. This time it was Derek's turn, and he walked forwards and turned around, copying Jeanne's movements exactly. Gallade's arms swung forwards and encased him in turn, and with another shuttering sound, the pair disappeared into thin air.

"I'll go last," Ash said to Brock, who nodded and moved forwards, as Gallade dissolved back out of the air for the third time. He watched gloomily as he and Brock vanished, and waited edgily for his turn to come. A second later, with the familiar flicker in the air, Gallade appeared and walked towards him steadily, but before Ash could move, the Pokémon held out an arm to bar his way.

"_I can only take one at a time_," he said emotionlessly, his clear, red eyes swivelling between Ash and Pikachu, who was climbing onto Ash's shoulder. "_You or your Pikachu must wait behind while I Teleport the other to the station._"

Ash's jaw twitched in anger at this; he wasn't fond of the idea of Pikachu having to be moved a long distance without him being there. But he realised that now wasn't the time to be getting defensive, so he reluctantly lifted Pikachu and held it out to Gallade. Despite Pikachu's sombre stare at him, Ash held his Pokémon further away, shading his face from view, and the Blade Pokémon took Pikachu in one arm and held it firmly against his narrow chest. Gallade closed his eyes, and a moment later he dissipated into the air, along with Pikachu and its forlorn expression at Ash.

"Come on…" Ash growled, circling on the spot like a Murkrow. He threw his hands above his head in frustration and impatience, and he brought them back down across his body, just as a sound behind told him that Gallade had Teleported back for the final time. "Let's go, quickly," he hissed, moving into position in front of the Pokémon, his back resting uncomfortably against the blunt red horn protruding from its chest.

"_On three…_" said Gallade, crossing his arms in front of Ash.

"_One…_"

Ash saw the world around him start to darken.

"—_two…_"

He could feel himself beginning to spin.

"—_three…!_"

There was a flicker of white light spinning across Ash's vision, and a split-second later he felt a rush of wind against his face as a flash of white blinded him. His feet left the floor, and when they hit solid ground again his knees buckled, sending him crashing onto the rough carpet below. Blindly trying to pick himself up from the ground, he felt around for something to hold onto until his vision cleared, but suddenly a pair of hands grabbed him under the arms and wrenched him to his feet.

"Brock? Is that you?" he shouted, blinking rapidly to get his sight back, but just then a small shape bounded up onto his shoulder. "Hey, Pikachu!" he said cheerfully, reaching up and patting a hand against his Pokémon's head.

"Blind as a Zubat, eh?" chuckled Ari, letting go of Ash's arm. "Don't worry about it; Derek and Jeanne were even worse than you were," he said, and as his vision returned, Ash could see him pointing to the two reporters huddled on the ground a few feet away, still reaching their hands through the air like a pair of pathetic zombies. Ash cracked with laughter when he saw them, before looking around to find himself in the main room of the police station. But then he looked down and saw that Brock was lying spread-eagled on the ground, with an odd expression his face that Ash knew all too well.

"Oh no…" he sighed, kneeling down next to his paralysed friend.

"I don't rightly know what happened to him…" Ari said anxiously, bending down to sit next to Ash. "He actually recovered from the Teleport remarkably quickly. But then Officer Jenny walked up to us, and he started babbling like he'd gone crazy from it all… And all of a sudden, he just—crashed to the floor," he finished, throwing his hands up into the air.

"Well, it happens to him _all the time_," Ash joked, looking over at Ari, who was staring incredulously back at him. A movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he saw Brock's Croagunk waddling down the hall, its red cheeks puffing in and out rhythmically. "Ari, meet Croagunk," he said, pointing over Ari's shoulder at the Pokémon.

"Croagunk—?"

"_Croa croa croa…_" growled Croagunk, shuffling over to stand next to its Trainer, just as Brock snapped out of his condition and sprang lithely to his feet, shaking his head wildly.

"Thanks for that, Croagunk," he said darkly, recalling Croagunk to its PokéBall. "Croagunk has a habit of using Poison Jab on me whenever I start to make a – well, a _fool_ – of myself in front of the ladies," he explained sheepishly.

"Right…" Ari muttered wryly, giving Brock a conniving look before he stood up and walked over to Derek and Jeanne, who were only now regaining their sight. Just then, a blue-haired woman in a police uniform marched towards Ash – undoubtedly Officer Jenny, part of the family of identical policewomen found working for the law everywhere in the world.

"Officer Jenny!" Ash said loudly, getting to his feet, and casting a brief glance towards Brock, who mercifully seemed to have gotten over his infatuation with her. "Has anyone found anything out about that man?"

"No, I'm afraid they haven't," Jenny informed him, a troubled expression on her face.

"W-What's wrong?" Ash asked nervously, noticing the look.

"Oh, there's just been a big… fuss here at the station lately," she answered agitatedly, rubbing her forehead with a gloved hand. "Two kids rode here on this Salamence and dumped two bodies on our doorstep."

"_Bodies?!_" shouted Ash, making everybody turn around and look. "Sorry… bodies?" he whispered, once they had returned to their regular duties. There was a crash of wood from behind Jenny, and she and Ash whipped around to see Derek and Jeanne running towards them, notepads and pens in their hands. "What's up?" he asked.

"This _Salamence_…" Derek began, looking fiercely at Jenny, "how large would you say it was?"

The question caught Jenny off-guard, and she blinked as she considered it, casting her mind back to when she had seen the Pokémon. "I'd say… seven, eight feet?" she guessed, shrugging her hands.

"What about the people on it?" Jeanne pressed, whilst Derek scribbled notes on his paper. "Could you describe them for us?"

"I could do more than that," Jenny chuckled mildly, turning on the spot. "I could show you who they are; they're still here. We had to keep them in the building, for investigative reasons. You don't just drop a corpse at the police station and walk away from it all."

"That would be lovely," Derek grinned, stowing his notes into his suit pocket. "Lead the way, please."

"Okay, follow me," Jenny said firmly, walking down the hall to the left. Derek and Jeanne hurried behind, and with a jerk of the head Ash, Brock, and Ari followed close behind, curious as to this new event.

_Besides,_ Ash thought grimly, _there's not much else to do until someone gets a hold of that dark-haired man, and that might take a while…_ "Jenny, do you know who the man in that photo is?" he asked, as they walked down a flight of stairs at the end of the hallway.

"I'm afraid not…" she said grimly, taking the stairs two at a time, and she remained silent from then on, not stopping until she reached a metal door in the centre of a second hallway in the basement, marked '_Interrogation_'. "Excuse me, but you'll have to wait outside," she muttered politely, opening the door a fraction.

"Oh. Okay then," replied Ash, craning his neck to try and see who was inside.

"You can use the viewing room next door," she suggested, pointing to a second door just along from Interrogation. But as she moved into the room, the door opened a crack wider, and Ash saw a distinctive flash of orange hair, with most of it tied off to one side. He started forwards, sticking his foot in the jamb of the door, and he shouted with shock when he saw Misty's face, looking impassively ahead of her.

"Misty! What are you doing here?!" he yelled, barging past Officer Jenny and walking over to her. Misty jumped into the air and her head whipped around to see him, her eyes wide with surprise at the sight of Ash, and Pikachu looking worriedly at her from his perch on Ash's shoulder.

"Ash! Wh—I could ask you the same question!" she said breathlessly. As Derek and Jeanne pushed their way through the door, she realised that they were all staring at her attire; she was still only wearing the two-piece swimsuit, and the trench coat Leoric had given her, so she wrapped the coat around her body even tighter as she sat back down in her rickety metal chair.

"Uh… why are you dressed like that?" Ash asked awkwardly, still staring at her. Misty blushed furiously from ear to ear, but maintained a cold silence, preferring not to answer that question and possibly lead to even more questions afterwards. "Come on, what'd you get up to?" he pushed, but Misty was spared further embarrassment when Brock and Ari made it inside the room, which was by now starting to cramp up, particularly for the fair-haired boy sitting on the other end of the table with his arms crossed.

"Leo?!" Ari shouted, noticing Leoric before anyone else. "So _you're_ the one who flew in on the Salamence?! Geez, we heard that you dragged a pair of bodies along with you! Is it true?!" he asked wildly, making Leoric grunt with sarcastic laughter.

"Well, I can see that _interrogation_ certainly lives up to its name," he said coolly, uncrossing his arms and scowling at his friend. "It's good to see you too," he hissed, and Ari blinked.

"Now's not exactly the time to be exchanging pleasantries, in case you hadn't noticed," he fired, noting the tone of Leoric's voice. "What on earth happened to leave you with—?" His eyes flitted downwards for a fraction of a second, towards the table that Leoric was so intently making an effort to stare at, and he saw a scatter of photographs thrown haphazardly across the surface. "What are they?"

"They're pictures of the girls we found," Misty whispered hoarsely, her face pinched together tightly.

"You _found_ them?" Jenny asked bossily, slamming her hands down on the table, which made Misty recoil in fright. "_Where_ did you find them?"

"At the Anjiosi Hot Springs, like we told you!" spat Leoric, leaning forwards. "Misty and I were on a date, and—"

"Hold the phones…!" Ari interrupted, swinging around to face him. "A _date_? _You_, on a _date_?!" he repeated, looking close to laughter, but he restrained himself at the murderous glare that Leoric struck him with before continuing on.

"—yes, a _date_, and—" he looked covertly at Misty, who closed her eyes, mortified, "I decided to take a little dip in one of the springs. I—tripped over something when I walked in, and when I went underwater to look, I found these two lying at the bottom," he explained, pointing at two full-colour photographs, one of a curvy red-haired woman, the other of a thin woman with bright-blue hair.

"That's terrible…" Brock murmured, putting a comforting hand on Misty's shoulder, while Derek and Jeanne hurriedly wrote every word of the conversation down, not wanting to miss a syllable of it. Ash frowned and looked sympathetically at the orange-haired girl, trying to imagine what it must have felt like to have a good evening ruined by such a revelation. But as he tried to think of something soothing to say, Ari gave a profane exclamation and snatched up one of the colour photos that Leoric had pointed at.

"This is her!" he shouted, flipping the photo around to show everyone the crest of dead blue hair and lifeless eyes. "Th-This is the woman I saw in the street; the one who cornered me!"

"You got cornered by a _Galactic_?! _When_?!" yelled Leoric, his chair crashing to the floor as he jumped to his feet, despite the horrified whispers that rang throughout the room. "What?" he asked, spinning wildly about to look at Ash, Brock, Derek and Jeanne, whose expressions made him think he'd just said something very horrible.

"This woman's a Galactic?" Ash asked, pointing a shaking finger at the photo still in Ari's hands.

"Leoric found badges on them," Misty whimpered, still huddled in Leoric's coat, as Ari tossed the picture back onto the table. "Two yellow G's, with their names on them."

"You know what this means," Brock muttered to Ash, lifting his hand off Misty's shoulder, "it means that the man that cornered Ari and Dawn must be a Galactic, too."

Officer Jenny heard Brock's words, and instantly raced outside the room, her walkie-talkie already in her hand before she slammed the door shut. Seven pairs of eyes stared at the blank rectangle of metal before they swivelled back around to stare at the other people standing – or in Misty's case, sitting – in the room. There was an awkward and heavy silence for several moments as each one processed the events of the past few hours, before someone finally spoke up.

"Where the heck _is_ Dawn, anyways?" Leoric asked, smacking his hands onto the table again. Ari buried his tired face in his hands and gave a muffled groan as he turned the other way. "What's _his_ problem?" he inquired, jerking his thumb at Ari.

"Dawn's gone missing," Ash informed him sullenly, to shocked and angry cries from Leoric and Misty, who hadn't heard a word of it before now. "We found a lead as to who it might have been; Ari—" he nodded towards the boy, still facing away from them all, "saw that blue-haired woman, and a dark-haired man, that cornered them in a street when they split apart from us after my match with Reena."

"But now it seems that one of them has got their just desserts," Ari moaned, resting his head on the one-way glass hanging on one of the walls.

"Why didn't you stop them, Ari? Your Pokémon could _easily_ have defended the both of you!" Leoric challenged, throwing himself back into his chair.

"I got knocked out from behind before I could call anyone out," he answered, pointing at a bloody patch of hair hidden under his hat. "There was a third person who—"

"—is probably the other woman you found at the spring," Brock finished grimly, understanding Ari's chain of thought. "Which means that Team Galactic is definitely responsible for kidnapping Dawn…"

"But why would they do such a thing?" Misty asked, rising unsteadily to her feet, still shaken by her ordeal. Ash opened his mouth to say something, but Brock gave him a stern look and shook his head, silencing him. Misty saw the brief exchange between the two, however, and her temper flared, advancing on the two of them with fire in her eyes. "What?! You're hiding something, so tell me what it is! I'm in _no_ mood to be lied to!" she added warningly.

"Ash has this crazy idea that _Paul_ is behind it, not the Galactics," Brock whispered to her, shifting to the side as Ash shot him a dark look. "But I keep telling him that—" he added, but just then the door to Interrogation burst open, and Officer Jenny walked back inside, her face flushed and her walkie-talkie still in her hand; it looked like she had sprinted through the station and down the stairs to get back down here.

"We—found him," she panted, her other hand still holding onto the door handle as she struggled to regain her breath. "At a—helipad on the—island's main harbour—! I told the—pilot to—postpone the—flight for—half an hour—but I couldn't—buy any more time—than that—!" Her face began to turn a slight shade of blue, which gruesomely matched her hair and outfit, and Derek and Jeanne dropped their pads and pens and rushed over to her, telling her to wait until she had her breath back before she said any more. Leoric jumped out of his seat and offered it to the officer, and she gratefully took it, her hair flopping over her face as she sank down onto it.

"Thank you…" she gasped, taking several deep breaths as the red patches on her cheeks began to fade. "I just dispatched… a squad of officers to meet them there… but it'll take fifteen – maybe twenty – minutes for them to get there… we'll just have to hope they head him off in time…"

"We can't take that chance," Ash said, clenching his fists, and Pikachu nodded its head in fierce agreement. "We need to get there as quickly as we can."

"_We_?!" Leoric asked dubiously. "Look, being selfless here for just a moment, I think Misty's been through a lot in the past hour, so I really should stay here and—"

"Derek and I can look after her while you four are gone," Jeanne offered, putting a caring arm around Misty. "It's the least we could do."

"It's fine, Leo, really…" mumbled Misty, casting her eyes down to the floor.

"Are you sure?" Leoric asked concernedly, putting a hand on her arm. She nodded timidly, and he moved his hand away and turned back to Ash, Ari and Brock. "Okay, so what do you need me to do?"

"We need you to fly yourself and Ash to the dock on Apache," Ari instructed, motioning towards Ash, on his left. "Brock and I can take Dullahan. I'm sure you'll prefer a Garchomp to a Yanmega, eh, Brock?" he chuckled, to which Brock gave an exasperated nod, subconsciously rubbing a hand against the inside of his thigh. "I've gotta warn you though; Dullahan's a bit worn out from his battle earlier today, so we might be in for a bit of a bumpy ride…"

"Still beats riding Leoric's Vizier," Brock laughed. "No offence," he added quickly to Leoric, who shrugged and ran a hand through his hair.

"None taken. But enough idle chit-chat," he snapped, snatching his Salamence's PokéBall and dashing towards the door, "let's go catch this Galactic nutcase, yeah?!"

"Best seven words I've heard all night," Ash said savagely, grinning at Pikachu, whose cheeks sparked expectantly. "Let's teach him who he's messing with!" he shouted, sprinting through the open door and down the hallway, with Leoric running right behind him. Back in the interrogation room, Ari gave an inward smile and looked back to Brock, and they both laughed at their friends' eagerness and impatience. Ari gave Derek, Jeanne, Jenny and Misty a courteous smile and a wan nod, before he turned to Brock and gestured to the door.

"Shall we?" he sighed, walking out into the brightly lit passage and grabbing a PokéBall from his waist.

"After you," Brock grunted.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Gallade's need to know where it is teleporting is similar to X-Men II, where Kurt needs to know his location before teleporting. Also, Kurt says a similar line to Ari, saying that if he doesn't know where he's going, he "could end up in the middle of a wall".**

***Although their Pokédex entry states that Salamence are 4'11", Leoric's Salamence is at least two feet taller. On a side note, in the anime, Hunter J's Salamence is – assuming that J is six feet tall – at least **_**ten **_**feet tall.**

**Quiz:**

***Which distinguishing feature on each Officer Jenny's uniform discerns the location of their precinct?**


	55. Track And Foiled

**CHAPTER 55 – TRACK AND FOILED**

Five minutes before Ash climbed onto Leoric's Salamence and flew from the Ayers Island Police Station, a large crowd of people were sluggishly moving in a line towards an even larger ship. From the sky, it would have looked like an extremely colourful caterpillar wriggling towards a lamp, with all the blaring lamps and spotlights lighting the inside of the boat, which was named the S.S Whirl. All the S.S ships, barring one, were christened with aquatic names, and the Whirl was the fourth major leisure liner to be commissioned, its predecessors being the Anne, Aqua, and Tidal. It was the size of a small mansion, with an enormous swimming pool set on deck, but the time of night made doubly sure that no-one was using it. In fact, the only person visibly on deck was a tall, craggy-looking figure in a navy coat, and wearing a traditional sea captain's hat, and he shouted from the railing towards the people boarding his liner.

"The S.S Whirl departs for South Mandarin Island in fifteen minutes, so please ensure that you have your tickets and luggage at hand! There's nothing our crew hate more than having to deal with a grumpy customer who left their toothbrush at a harbour miles behind them!"

The sea captain's gruff voice echoed out across the docks, reaching to the hundred or so passengers still clambering onto the deck of the magnificent vessel. The gloomy men, women and children trudged up the gangway, extremely tired and fussy about having to stay up until a half past midnight just to get on their cruise. But amongst all the dour faces, there were two that could have guided the other ships towards the island – such was the brightness in their expressions – as they huddled behind a stack of shipping crates next to the Whirl.

"I suppose this is goodbye for now, Shane," Mark sighed, turning around to face his superior. "This'll be the last chance I get to call you by your first name," he added with a laugh, "because when I see you again, you'll be _Galactic Commander Mercury_!"

"I can barely imagine it myself…" Shane grinned sheepishly, looking warmly at his colleague. "But I have little doubt that we'll cross paths sometime in the future. After all, how hard could it be to steal three fruit-sized pieces of glass from a defenceless cluster of islands?"

"I don't know, sir," Mark reasoned, his face pinching in concern. "Did you hear about the Shamouti catastrophe nearly four years ago? That terrible storm, the enormous space station that fell from the sky, the appearance of a—" he whipped his head from side to side to check that no-one was paying attention to them, "—a _Lugia_?!"

"That was just a rumour!" Shane chuckled, waving his hand in front of his face dismissively. "Besides, _Lugia_ have been confirmed at the Whirl Islands in Johto."

"I'm still not…" Mark rumbled, but he trailed off and flashed on a smile. "I think it's time for me to board my flight, anyways, so there's no need for me to try and sway your resolve, is there, _Commander_?"

"You can always call me Shane," he said brotherly, "or Honcho. Personally, being a Commander still frightens me just a tad," he sniggered. "You did have your Pokémon healed, right?"

"Of course," Mark answered, tapping the six PokéBalls lined up along his belt. "All ready for the trip back home."

"Excellent," Shane muttered, half-turning to leave before glancing back at his colleague. "Good luck on your trip back to Headquarters, and I'll look forward to your company then," he said in an authoritative voice, snapping to a salute, which Mark returned at once.

"Until next we meet… _Shane_," he said admiringly, before turning on the spot and striding towards a sleek, black helicopter at the far side of the docks, its tail wing stamped with a golden G.

_And now begins the journey alone,_ Shane thought, watching Mark approach the pilot waiting next to the chopper. _Well, no point waiting here on this dull island any longer… I've got treasures to snatch! _He grinned and slapped a hand against his thigh, and with that he picked up a tiny suitcase with his spare belongings inside and marched towards the Whirl, the Team Galactic mantra playing inside his mind. _Everything belongs to Team Galactic… Look beyond the world—space will become Team Galactic's… well, those spheres will be Team Galactic's at the very least. I'll make sure of that._

The helicopter pilot stood resolutely with his headgear under his arm as he watched the dark-haired man approach. His grey eyes narrowed as they saw the distinctive features of his guest come into the light of the harbour; this was the man that had just appeared on his helicopter's video transmission. Nine minutes ago, he – along with every other faculty of transportation – had been contacted by the local police, and instructed to postpone their rounds if they came in contact with a dark-haired man with high cheekbones and a sallow face.

Being on the Galactic payroll himself, the pilot would normally have ignored such a warning, knowing that Mark was indeed part of their organisation, but not thirty seconds ago the warning had been updated to a federal order. If Mark approached _any_ means of leaving the island, the transport operators were instructed – and obliged – to keep him from leaving, using their Pokémon to restrain him by force if necessary. Despite being a well-respected member of Team Galactic since its creation sixteen years ago, the pilot knew better than to try and smuggle a wanted fugitive.

"Hunter," stated Mark, showing the pilot his identifying papers, "Trainer Code SINO-51052. Team Galactic – Special Operations Unit."

"Okay, Mr… _Hunter_," muttered the pilot. "Let me just confirm your details with flight command." He turned and climbed into the pilot's seat of his helicopter, reaching for the hand-held radio clipped to the display. Adjusting the dial to the exclusive police frequency, he pressed the connect button and held the radio to his mouth. "POL-STAT, this is Captain Zachary Jacobs, piloting the GAL-H326, please respond, over."

"GAL-H326, this is POL-STAT. Please state your situation, over," said Officer Jenny's voice on the transmission line.

"POL-STAT, I have a confirmed sighting of the suspect on whom you imposed travel restrictions at… zero-zero-one-seven hours. Dark, wiry hair, high cheeks, sallow face; a perfect match for your description and subsequent photo, over."

"Confirmed, GAL-H326. Keep the target in your sights at all times, and _do_ _not_ – I repeat _do_ _not_ – allow him to leave this island's jurisdiction. A squad of officers will be arriving shortly, over."

_Don't let him leave the island… easier said than done,_ grimaced Jacobs, exiting his helicopter and turning back to Mark. "I'm sorry Mr. Hunter, but there seems to be a slight problem. According to the Hoenn Weather Institute, there is a magnetic disturbance in the atmosphere, headed straight for this island. I'm afraid that the flight will have to be postponed for, uh, twenty-five minutes, until the skies are safe for my navigational equipment," he said sombrely, telling a lie that he had told a hundred times before, and he swallowed nervously as Mark's brow furrowed.

"Fine," he said firmly, snatching back his Trainer's License. "But the moment we're cleared to fly, you're taking me back to Veilstone, got it?"

* * *

A large winged shadow shot over a smouldering warehouse on the island's south-west, speeding silently along in the night as its piercing eyes scanned the buildings below. Its sensitive eyes caught every movement on the ground, such as the scurrying of a Rattata through a garbage can, and Noctowl clicked its beak hungrily at the sight of a possible meal, but it focused its attention back on the task Ash had given it.

"_Nuuuc…_" crowed Noctowl, wheeling to the left towards a larger cluster of sheds and abandoned buildings hugging the coastline. The first of these sheds contained - from what it could see – a dozen burly Machoke sleeping against a mess of boxes littered on the ground, which was of the least interest to Noctowl; much less than that Rattata was, at any rate. Noctowl skimmed over the other twenty or so buildings that were grouped around the first shed, and while the occasional one was dotted with homeless people falling to sleep, or small families of Pokémon nestled together to stay warm, for the most part they were deserted, and the Owl Pokémon quickly moved on. A tiny movement in the shed to the left, standing at the very back, caught Noctowl's attention, and it swung its wings down to glide across, perching on the strip of corrugated iron at the top of the building. Tilting its horned head ninety degrees to the right, Noctowl lowered its ears to the roof and swivelled its huge eyes to look inside.

An enormous, sprawling figure, with what appeared to be a tree on top of it, occupied a large portion of one of the corners, snapping its hooked beak and shifting about restlessly. As Noctowl wondered what on earth it could be, its gaze shifted to something even more strange: a small human-like shape bound to a rickety metal chair, and by the look of the cascading blue hair over the person's face, it was a girl, too. Spying even closer, Noctowl saw the five PokéBalls arranged on the girl's belt, and it realised that this girl was being held against her will. Its eyes flashed and probed the room, and it quickly found the captor, an average-sized boy standing in the opposite corner to the tree-monster, his arms crossed and his body facing towards the girl.

"_Nuuuc…?_" chirped Noctowl, flapping its wings uncomfortably as it shifted its clawed feet on its iron perch. The faintest trace of words echoed through the metal and reached Noctowl's ears, but most of it was only registered as white noise to the Pokémon. Just as Noctowl went to clean a wing with its beak, it heard a single, tiny word. _Ash_. That single word made Noctowl squawk with surprise, and it nearly drove its beak through the feathers on its wing. Suddenly, the Pokémon realised that _this _place was what its Trainer had summoned it for; to find this girl and report back to him.

"_Nuuuc-towl!_" screeched Noctowl, flapping its wings and soaring into the air to fly back to the hotel, ready to tell Ash of its findings. Swooping down lower over the landscape to increase its flight speed, Noctowl careened above the low-lying buildings as it constantly picked up speed from the updraft of the night air. It passed over the police station, which was in the path to the hotels, and it was nearly knocked out of the sky as a huge, indigo-coloured, bullet-like shape rocketed up from the ground below, followed closely by an even larger red-and-blue object that almost clipped Noctowl's face. The Owl Pokémon glared eerily at the two shapes, chirping angrily as they turned and flew south-west, back the way it had come. It was furious that these two Pokémon had nearly sent it sprawling, but its keen eyes widened; there was no mistaking the figure hunched on the back of the dark blue Pokémon, nor the smaller yellow Pokémon hunched on his.

"_Nuuc! Nuuc! Noctowl!_" hooted Noctowl, but Ash and Pikachu were speeding away faster than it could possibly hope to keep up. The two enormous Pokémon were at travelling at least five times the speed Noctowl could peak at, but on the other hand Noctowl had to tell Ash of the girl in the shed, and so it clucked and flicked its crimson wings wide, shooting across the landscape in pursuit of its Trainer.

* * *

"Ari!" Ash yelled, elbowing the boy sitting closely in front of him. "Are you sure this is safe?!"

"Sure I'm sure!" came his shouted reply, half-lost to the roaring wind searing across their faces, as Garchomp growled and picked up speed, jetting across the landscape that changed in the blink of an eye. "The only thing that wasn't safe was almost hitting that stray bird when we took off!" he chortled, his eyes screwed shut against the mess of hair that was attacking them in the face of the buffeting wind.

"_Ssssaaaaa!_" roared Leoric's Salamence, flying in Garchomp's slipstream behind them. Garchomp screeched at its fellow Dragon-type Pokémon, and ducked down in the air, flicking its dorsal fin to the left and curving through the sky, with Salamence shooting down to stay on its tail.

"What's going on?" Brock hissed, clutching onto Salamence's neck grimly as the huge Pokémon continued to roar at Garchomp.

"Apache's just talking to Dullahan," Leoric answered lazily, as though the incessant bellows were second-nature for him to hear. He listened intently to Salamence's cries for a few seconds, then threw his head back and barked with laughter, thumping a hand on its back. "They're arguing over which one is going to get the first attack in," he added, shaking his head. "I think Apache's been looking forward to a battle… I haven't had to use him in the Championships yet, and I daresay he's getting restless."

"You haven't used your Sa—?" began Brock, but he was nearly thrown off Salamence as it snapped its wings towards its body and plummeted downwards in a sickening nose-dive. All he could see through the fierce wind and his blurry eyes was a scatter of small lights seated next to a long strip of something surrounded on three sides by water. As his transport finally slowed its descent enough for him to see clearly, Brock stared at the enormous cruise liner docked at the harbour, just as a large man with thick green hair – that reminded him strongly of a Tangrowth's vines – strode up the gangplank and flashed his ticket to the deckhands, who immediately grabbed his luggage and hauled it along after him.

_Wow, what an amazing ship…_ Brock thought dreamily, admiring the beauty of the vessel, before shaking the distracting thoughts from his mind and focusing on Leoric, who had jumped from Salamence and fallen five feet down to the ground, where he landed sturdily and looked back up as his Pokémon touched down behind a large array of shipping containers, completely hiding it – and Brock – from the view of the seafarers on the pier. A soft whooshing noise to Leoric's left made him spin around, only to see Ash and Ari disembarking Garchomp, before the Mach Pokémon was hastily recalled to its PokéBall.

"Is he on that ship?" Ash asked, looking over at the S.S Whirl as Pikachu hopped down onto the ground and hurried to a spot several feet away.

"No, Officer Jenny said something about a _helipad_," Ari puzzled, shaking his head and turning to Leoric, who shrugged his shoulders haplessly. "What the heck is a helipad doing at a seaport?" he wondered aloud, only to have his thoughts interrupted when Pikachu gave a loud yelp and pointed north of the liner. Squinting their eyes to see past the harsh lighting of the vessel, the group of three could barely make out a sleek black shape standing on a lone raised stage some distance behind. "Well, there's the helipad," Ari chuckled, scratching his head bemusedly.

"And that means that the kidnapper's there as well!" Ash rallied, starting forwards. "For all we know, Dawn is there _with him_! Come on, let's get him!"

"Now we're getting somewhere," Brock said shakily, staggering around from the corner. "Hey, there's the helipad!"

"We know," Leoric drawled, aiming his PokéBall at Salamence, who had only just trudged around the corner itself. "Apache, come on back; you'll get your chance to tear that Galactic soon," he added, with a suggestion of a smile, as Salamence growled before it was returned to its ball. But he kept his Pokémon's PokéBall in his hand and gave his companions a steely-eyed stare, which clearly meant '_it's time this freak knows who he's dealing with'_.

"Words just don't seem to do justice sometimes, do they?" Ash hissed in agreement, ripping a PokéBall from his belt, and a tearing sound on either side told him that Ari and Brock had just done the same. "Pikachu, you ready?" he asked, and Pikachu nodded fiercely as it leapt up onto his shoulder. As one, the four Trainers marched firmly across the harbour, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, and the people milling around the docks parted to give them passage, frightful of their hardened expressions. A minute later they reached the helipad, and with a brusque nod from Ari and Ash, they stepped forwards into the light of the helicopter, and Mark came into view.

"You!" Ari roared, leaping forwards despite himself, only to be brought short when Leoric threw his arm forwards and restrained him. Fighting against Leoric, who was now holding him in an arm-lock, his eyes burned like searing fire as they locked onto Mark's pale grey ones, staring back pitilessly with the faintest trace of a knowing smirk on his thin face.

"I thought I already dealt with you once before, little boy," he hissed, stepping forwards and away from the unconscious body of Captain Jacobs, who was lying slumped against the helicopter's frame with a broken nose and a hideous bruise running the length of his cheek. "But now that you've brought some Boy Scout friends of yours along with you, it seems I might have to be a little… _harsher_."

"That wouldn't be a _challenge_, would it?" Ash asked, baring his teeth and brandishing a fist at him. "Who do you think you _are_?!"

"Me?" he snored, folding his arms. "The name's Mark, not that it matters… Now I suggest you leave, before you end up like him," he jerked his head at the crumpled pilot behind him.

"We're not going anywhere until you tell us where Dawn is!" Brock shouted.

"Very well…" Mark muttered, and Brock gaped open-mouthed at him, amazed that he was giving up so easily. But the next moment, Mark swung a hand across his waist, which blasted his enemies with a flash of white light, and the next moment his Houndoom roared and jumped onto the cold steel ground, barking and breathing fire. "You were warned," he said cockily, leering at them from behind his Pokémon.

"You're outnumbered four to one, and yet you think you can win?" Ash exclaimed.

"I _know_ I can win. You four are nothing… at least not compared to Pau—Houndoom, send these rats scurrying with a Flamethrower!" Mark bellowed, covering up his lapse in concentration, as Houndoom launched a stream of fire from its jaws at Ari, who broke out of Leoric's hold and threw the pair of them to the floor. The flames flew past their heads, and Ari shouted in rage as his beloved hat caught fire and shrivelled into a pile of dust over his singed hair.

"That's it! Kingler, come on out and use Water Pulse!" Ash roared, throwing his PokéBall across the ground. Kingler pounced out in a blaze of white light and smashed its pincer into the ground, denting the metal as it fired a shockwave of water at Houndoom. Houndoom howled and swiftly moved to the side, and the attack careened past its ear and harmlessly skipped across the sea.

"You're going to have to do better than _that_ if you want to beat me with your second-rate Pokémon!" Mark taunted, reaching for three more of his PokéBalls. "Rhyperior! Parasect! Staraptor!" he shouted, throwing them onto the helipad. Mark's three Pokémon sprang out of their PokéBalls, stomping, hissing, and cawing, as they prepared for battle.

"Galadriel!" Ari bellowed, and Gallade crossed its blades across its chest in a karate stance as it eyed off the colossal Drill Pokémon standing opposite it.

"Apache!" hissed Leoric. With a screaming roar, Salamence flew into the sky and blasted a jet of dragon fire at Staraptor, eager to test its strength against this foe.

"Croagunk!" Brock boomed, as Croagunk flew out of its PokéBall and looked calmly at Parasect, two pairs of eyes unblinkingly trying to stare the other down.

"You seriously think that I'll be beaten?" Mark jeered, tossing his head back. "So be it."

* * *

Shane put his hand on the silver railing to his left and climbed the last few stairs onto the Whirl's deck, staring out at the vast stretch of sea beyond the shore. Under the faint light of the moon, the sea glittered with soft sparkles of white, winking at him like diamonds amongst the inky blue. Smiling sentimentally at himself, he stretched his arms and turned around towards Ayers Island, wanting to watch Mark take off in the helicopter as he made the trip back to Galactic Headquarters. But instead he was met with a different scene; rather than watching the chopper's rotors lifting it into the air and carrying his cohort away, it was sitting perfectly still, and amazingly, Mark was still outside, and four of his Pokémon were locked in battle with another four that he recognised as a Gallade, Salamence, Kingler and Croagunk.

_What the hell is he thinking?!_ he thought wildly, bracing his hand on the railing as Staraptor narrowly dodged a thick jet of water that erupted from Salamence's mouth. _I've got to help him out; his Pokémon would still be weakened from the—fiasco—against Paul. But_, he looked around edgily,_ I can't do much from here now; I'd get caught! Come on, Mark, fend them off!_

* * *

"Croagunk, jump!" Brock shouted, watching as his Pokémon gave a growling croak and rolled to the side, and Parasect's razor-sharp claws missed it by a hair, whistling as they sheared through the empty air. "Now use Poison Jab!" Croagunk threw its body forwards in the blink of an eye, its long fingers glowing purple, and it thrust its hand into Parasect's soft underbelly, blasting it through the air, where it bounced off Rhyperior's thick red armour.

"_Croooooa_!" roared Croagunk, jumping after Parasect as it scuttled to the right. Rhyperior, on the other hand, smashed its tail against the ground, and the tremor that followed knocked Croagunk off the platform and into the sea with a high-pitched croak. Grunting savagely, Rhyperior turned its attention back to Gallade, and it jerked its craggy head to the side just as Gallade launched a sharp blade of psychic energy at its drill-horn.

"_Your fight is with me!_" boomed Gallade, raising its blades and flicking them tauntingly.

"Kingler, Crabhammer on Rhyperior! If Mark wants to play dirty, so can we!" Ash thundered, and Kingler pounced forwards towards its new foe, its claw raised high and glowing white. With a blow that could have torn the helicopter in two, Kingler swung its claw around and smashed it into Rhyperior's stomach, but to Ash's amazement the Pokémon didn't give an inch. Kingler's eyes flew open in surprise as its claw bounced harmlessly away, and Rhyperior's narrow red eyes swivelled down towards it, and it flung its spear-like arm towards Kingler. With a sound like a vacuum-cleaner, Kingler was sucked up into Rhyperior's arm, and with a bellow the Drill Pokémon blasted Kingler off the helipad to join Croagunk.

"Kingler!" Ash cried, watching as Kingler fell below the surface with an almighty splash.

"Rhyperior have Solid Rock, Ash!" Ari shouted, watching as Gallade continued its assault. "So moves that are normally strong against it won't do as much damage!"

"Kingler, find Croagunk and pull him out!" Ash shouted into the jet-black water, hoping his Pokémon could hear in time. "Ari, Leoric, give them some cover!" he shouted to the two Trainers whose Pokémon were still in the battle.

"Roger, Ash! Galadriel, stop Mark's Pokémon if their attacks go for the water!" Ari yelled. "Distract them from Apache!"

"Apache, rend them asunder!" Leoric bellowed, raising his fist at the sky. "Draco Meteor!"

Salamence gave an ear-splitting roar and wheeled into the air, one of Houndoom's Flamethrowers flying past its outstretched wings. As the men, women and children on the dock raised their heads to see the source of the quaking sound, it raised its head at the sky and flew towards the stars, shrieking and screaming at the top of its voice, and the stars seemed to wink back at the Pokémon in reply as it disappeared from even Leoric's keen vision. Salamence's mouth split into a savage, fang-lined grin, as it performed a somersault and dived back down towards the helipad, aiming for the four Pokémon being bombarded by Gallade's Night Slash and Psychic attacks. Salamence's body glowed with a burning red light as it began to spin in the air, caused by the extreme speed at which it was travelling through the atmosphere, and to the people on the ground it looked like a shooting star.

But Salamence's fearsome appearance wasn't what made Mark's eyes widen in shock, and his mouth fall open in fear, as he shouted for his Pokémon to hide behind Rhyperior. For as Salamence dropped lower through the sky, the sky itself seemed to shimmer and brighten behind it, and a split second later the crowd of people at the dock screamed as they saw a dozen small comets bearing down on the harbour, directly behind the roaring ball of red that was leading the charge.

"_What do you think you're doing?!_" Ash shouted, his eyes reflecting the light of the meteorites as he swung around to face Leoric. "_We want to knock his Pokémon out, not knock down the entire harbour!_"

"I know," Leoric said calmly, his head still tilted up as Salamence flew closer. "Just wait," was all he cared to add.

"Galadriel, use Psychic to direct those Draco Meteors at Rhyperior!" Ari commanded.

"_Time to rock and roll_," Gallade chuckled, throwing its sword-like arms in front of its body. Its red eyes narrowed as they centred in on the plummeting rocks, and its slender body was wrapped in a bright purple aura, as Salamence dived down even further towards the ground, pulling up only in the slightest. "_Lead the cavalry, Apache,_" he mused, swinging his left arm wide as Salamence levelled out and rocketed over Rhyperior's head, blasting the three Pokémon cradled behind it with a hot, shredding pulse of fire. Parasect fainted on the spot, Houndoom howled in pain, and Staraptor's wings began to smoulder, but Rhyperior stood firm as it positioned its huge arms to strike the incoming comets down.

"_Rhaaaaai_!" it thundered, and Gallade threw his right arm across his body in reply. The first of the meteors, a small way ahead of the rest, was instantly surrounded in the same purple aura as the one around Gallade, and it deviated from its flight and shot straight for Rhyperior, who met the attack head on its spinning drill. The force of the blow pushed Rhyperior – and its fellow Pokémon – back seven feet towards the helicopter before its drill pushed through the rock, cleaving it in half, and the broken meteor clattered to the ground, two searing hemispheres of rock that burned through the platform and hit the ocean with a sizzling splash and a geyser of steam.

"Galadriel, make sure Rhyperior can't latch onto any of those comets for a Rock Wrecker!" Ari warned, and Gallade's head twitched in a tiny nod as it kept its mind focused on the meteors still falling to earth. Gallade enveloped three more of the burning missiles with his psychic aura, and was about to send them flying towards Rhyperior like the first, but just then a huge spindly shape erupted from the ocean and sprung heavily onto the platform, clacking a colossal claw as the small frog-like Pokémon on its back hopped off, its cheeks puffing in and out.

"_Croooa…_"

"_Get out of the way, you fool_!" hissed Gallade, but his eyes widened in fear as the distraction broke his hold on the meteors still falling from the sky. "_No!_"

"Ash, have Kingler use Guillotine on the meteors!" Ari roared, as Gallade jumped high into the air and volleyed a blast of green energy at the cluster of rocks, disintegrating one towards the back. But before Ash could order his Pokémon forwards, a small shape leapt up, reaching higher than Gallade could lift itself with its psychic powers, and it struck a purple-fingered hand into the meteor careening towards it.

"Croagunk?!" Brock yelled in alarm, but the comet glowed bright white and exploded, sending a shower of dust and tiny rocks over the helipad. "Well done!" he cheered, a smile on his face, as Croagunk was lightly lowered onto the ground by Gallade, who began to focus its psychic energy towards the remaining eight boulders, for Ash's Kingler had just destroyed the ninth with a bone-crunching strike of its claw. But the tenth meteor streaked over the sky, and the S.S Whirl was directly in its path.

* * *

Shane knew that the meteor was headed for the ship before anyone else had realised, and he was already hurling his PokéBall onto the deck when he heard the wailing screams of the dockside congregation. His Abomasnow popped out of the ball with a shrieking hiss, and he wordlessly ordered it forwards in the face of the comet. A massive ball of violet-coloured, pulsating energy formed in front of Abomasnow's outstretched hands, and its purple eyes flashed red as it launched the Focus Blast directly at the meteor. With a grinding noise like a chainsaw through glass, attack collided with attack head-on, and Salamence's Draco Meteor was ripped to shreds by Abomasnow's superior Focus Blast. A million glittering pieces of space rock fell lazily to the ground and the sea, and Shane patted his Pokémon's snowy flank as he turned back to watch his fellow Galactic square off against the young boys opposing him.

* * *

_I wonder who could have done that… _Ash thought, seeing the explosion out of the corner of his eye as he watched Rhyperior tear through another of Salamence's Draco Meteor attacks, the comet seeming to do nothing more than drive the colossal Pokémon back a few feet before it was dispatched. "Ari, Leo, Brock! We have to think of a different way to take down this Rhyperior! It's just not giving in!" he cried, watching as Gallade fired another meteor at Rhyperior, only to be destroyed just as easily as the others.

"Galadriel, hold those last six meteors! We might need them later!" Ari ordered, and Gallade halted itself from launching another comet at the Drill Pokémon. "Any ideas?" he asked, as Leoric shouted his Salamence to take out Mark's Houndoom with a Dragon Pulse.

"Just the one," he replied, watching as Houndoom was knocked off its feet by the harsh blue ball of energy that ripped itself away from Salamence. "But I'm going to need your support!"

"You've got it," Brock grunted. "Croagunk, use Faint Attack on Staraptor!" Croagunk pounced forwards, ducking around Rhyperior as the latter smashed a rugged arm through the metal floor six inches from its small body. With a battle-cry of a croak Croagunk ran a circle around Staraptor before striking it across the beak with its hand. Staraptor cried out in pain before succumbing to Croagunk, its feathery body slumping onto the ground with a rustling thud. "What did you have in mind?" Brock yelled at Ash, as Croagunk narrowly dodged another punch from Rhyperior.

"Brock, you have Croagunk distract Rhyperior like it's doing now," Ash shouted, nervously watching Croagunk as it slipped through the gap between Rhyperior's legs. "His luck can't last forever, though, so I'll have Kingler use a full-power Crabhammer to knock it into the ocean!"

"Kingler's not going to be strong enough, Ash! His match against Vespiquen must have taken a lot out of him," Ari countered, his eyes darting from Kingler, to Salamence, to Gallade, to Rhyperior, to the Draco Meteors still suspended in the air. "Leo," he roared, "have Apache charge up a Hydro Pump! I'll have Galadriel follow through with the Draco Meteors! Ash, you're in charge of this one!" he submitted.

"Alright, then! Kingler, power up your Crabhammer as much as you can!" he ordered, and Kingler's claw began to throb with energy as it flashed a brilliant white.

"Apache, Hydro Pump!" Leoric yelled. Salamence shrieked and shut its jaws firmly, throwing its head back as it prepared its attack. "Fire—! Well, _water_!" he laughed, and Salamence blasted a torrent of water through the air at Rhyperior, and Croagunk leapt to safety just as the Hydro Pump struck the former in the middle of the chest. The water continued to gush from Salamence's open mouth, and Rhyperior struggled against the enormous weight that was bearing down on him from above, but it closed its eyes against the pain and held its ground.

"Galadriel, let's _play_ _ball_!" shouted Ari.

"_Right arm, over the wicket…_" chuckled Gallade, pointing forwards at Rhyperior, and the six comets he was controlling shot forwards at once, crashing into the Drill Pokémon with all the force of a ballistic missile. Rhyperior roared with pain as the raw power of the meteors pushed it backwards, its clawed foot digging huge gouges in the helipad floor, but the momentum of the rocks wore out as it came closer to the edge of the platform, and Rhyperior, sensing an advantage, slashed the comets away, stopping less than a foot from the sheer drop to the ocean.

"_Rhaaaaaai_!" bellowed the Pokémon, blasting a jet of fire from the holes in its palms, which instantly evaporated Salamence's continuous Hydro Pump, and Salamence, too tired to continue, ceased the attack and lowered itself gingerly onto the ground.

"Now, Kingler!" Ash shouted. Kingler boomed and scuttled forwards at frightening speed, its glowing claw thrust into the air, and it swung its prized pincer around and into Rhyperior's body with the sound of a cannon. The shock that flew from the point of impact blew Ash, Brock and Ari off their feet, and Leoric was forced to grab onto his Salamence's tail to avoid being thrown into the ocean. Rhyperior, however, didn't have anything to hold onto, and the relentless force of Kingler's attack had pushed it from the platform. Its eyes shot down to the seemingly endless drop to the ocean below, and it gave a hideously frightened squeal as its enormous weight dragged it down to the water, swallowing its vast body whole.

"We did it!" Ash cheered, but then his joyful expression disappeared when he didn't hear Mark recall his Pokémon from the ocean's depths. "What the—?" he asked, swinging around in the face of the battering wind. A tug on his collar from Pikachu made his head shoot skywards, and he saw the Galactic logo painted on the tailfin of the helicopter as it banked to the left, flying smoothly away from the island. _How did he get that thing in the air without us noticing?!_ he thought wildly, watching as the chopper made a half-turn in the air and a tiny arm appeared from the side.

"_Houndoom, return_!" came Mark's voice, nearly lost amongst the howling wind as a pencil-thin beam of red light connected with the barely moving body of his Houndoom, recalling it to him in a flash. "_You may have beaten my Pokémon, fools, but you'll never beat me_!" he cackled, and the helicopter swung back around to fly over the sea.

"Oh no, you're not getting away _that _easily!" Ash countered, as Pikachu jumped lithely onto the ground. "Pikachu, blast him out of the sky with a Thunderbolt!"

"_Piiii…kaaaa…chuuuu_!" roared Pikachu, firing a powerful bolt of electricity from the sacs on its cheeks, arcing through the sky towards the retreating chopper. Ash heard the faintest trace of a scream as the Thunderbolt was drawn to the metal aircraft like a Beedrill to honey, and a moment later the helicopter exploded in a cloud of flying shrapnel and smoke. A tiny chunk of helicopter fell through the cloud of smoke and plummeted into the water with a splash, and a moment later the object surfaced, flailing about in the icy cold.

"He's still alive!" Brock exclaimed, just as the soft wail of police sirens could be heard from behind.

* * *

"Abomasnow, Mark will need our help. When Mark is as close to alone as can be, free him and cause a distraction. He will do the rest. Now go," Shane ordered in a low voice. Abomasnow blinked its lavender eyes once in understanding and leapt from the deck of the S.S Whirl, streaking along the ground on all fours.

* * *

"Officer Jenny!" he shouted, running emphatically towards the harbour street, where no less than five police cars squealed around the corner and skidded to a stop, a platoon of uniformed officers marching out with Officer Jenny at the head. "Officer, we found him. His name's Mark, and he's in the sea right now."

"You heard him, boys," Jenny called over her shoulder to the policemen behind her. Three pulled PokéBalls off their belts and hurried to the shore, releasing a Gyarados, Poliwrath and Octillery into the shallow water. The sheer speed of the Pokémon allowed them to traverse the enormous gap in a matter of moments, and Octillery wrapped its rock-hard tentacles around Mark's arms and legs, immobilising him as he struggled vainly against his oppressors. The owner of the Gyarados gave him a sharp whack on the head with his baton and pulled him up onto his Pokémon's back, and Gyarados sped back towards the shore, reaching the sand in less than a minute.

"So… _you're_ the one who kidnapped this Dawn girl…" Jenny said threateningly, her eyes locking onto his sodden face as the officers cuffed Mark and brought him over. "Confiscate his PokéBalls."

"Officer, there's a Rhyperior in the ocean, and he's been down there for at least two minutes—!" Ari blurted, concerned for the Pokémon's welfare. Jenny nodded and motioned to the policeman with the Poliwrath, who snatched Mark's PokéBalls and dove back into the water on his Pokémon's back. As Ash and the others watched on worriedly, Pikachu – squatting on the ground – watched with cold eyes as Mark was directed towards the squad cars. But as Mark tried to shake the burly officer away, Pikachu saw a blurred grey shadow standing next to the shipping containers where it and Ash had landed only a few minutes earlier. Pikachu started forwards at the sight of it, but when it blinked the shape had disappeared and, putting it down to drowsiness after a long day, Pikachu turned and hopped back onto Ash's shoulder.

"Hey, you! Yeah that's right, you; the Galactic scumbag!" snarled a harsh voice behind Ash, and he swung around to see Leoric marching swiftly towards Mark, his face contorted with anger. Mark snorted and looked away, which only seemed to enrage Leoric further; he grabbed Mark by the collar, ignoring the cry of protest from the guard, and swung the Grunt around, smacking his back against the edge of the car.

"What?" Mark spat.

"A damn _few_ things!" hissed Leoric. "First, _never_ leave your Pokémon to die! _NEVER_!"

"Don't lecture me about Pokémon, you pint-sized little halfwit. Pokémon are tools."

"They're not _tools_; they're your _friends_!"

"What _else_ was it you wanted to say to me?" Mark asked, rolling his eyes.

"You smart-mouthed son of a b—!" Leoric started, swinging his fist backwards to punch Mark in the face, but the blow never connected, because Ari latched on to his friend's wrist and held it firm. "Ari, what are you doing?!"

"Get away from him," Ari muttered calmly, but there was a finality in his voice that Leoric couldn't ignore, and he released his grip on Mark's shirt and stepped away.

"Good to see you can hold your _bitch_ in line, kid," Mark jeered.

"Leoric, don't rise," he warned, turning to the policeman who was reaching for his baton. "Officer, this will only take a minute. I need information from him that cannot wait. You can supervise to make sure that I don't do anything illegal."

"Uh—I'm not—humph, fine," growled the officer, watching as the top of Poliwrath's head broke the water and carried its Trainer to shore. "Did you get it in time?" he asked the man.

"Yeah, but he's in a bad way. He's going to need intensive treatment."

"Get him over to the Center right away, then."

"Now, as for you," Ari muttered, turning his attention back to Mark, "where is Dawn?"

"How should I know?"

"Because you were there when she was kidnapped. I saw you, I know what happened. You were the one that knocked me out, and took Dawn away, along with your Galactic colleagues," Ari answered coolly, just as Ash and Brock walked over.

"Doesn't mean I know where she is _now_. Last I saw of her, she was wedged inside a sack of Poffin ingredients."

"Where was the sack, then?" Ari pushed, his eye twitching.

Mark flashed a cunning smile and laughed. "Why, next to Paul, of course!" he shouted.

"I _knew_ it! I knew it was _Paul_ all along!" Ash cried, jabbing a finger into his chest despite the blanched look of rage that passed over Ari's face.

"Paul…?" he hissed, in a deathly whisper that even made Leoric look at him in surprise. "Paul has Dawn?" he asked, his body shaking as a small smirk wrought its way onto the corners of Mark's mouth.

"Ari, _don't rise_," Leoric warned, steering all three of his fellows away from Mark, who was laughing like a madman, before he was clobbered over the head by the policeman next to him.

"You'll never find her! That runt's probably killed her by now! He said he wanted revenge, so I can't imagine her lasting very long!" he yelled at their backs. He braced himself as the officer raised his club again, but a green, razor-like object spun into his neck, slitting his throat. With a gurgling gasp, the policeman slid to the ground, his life ebbing away, and Mark groaned with relief as another razor cut through the handcuffs jamming his hands behind his back. Rubbing his sore wrists, he whirled around on the spot to see Shane's Abomasnow lying in the shadows, and its eyes gave him a message clearer than words: _Don't run. Capture is inevitable. Make a plan to escape._

Mark nodded, turned back around and ran forwards, just as Abomasnow roared and launched another Focus Blast at the police car behind him. The car exploded on contact, shooting fifteen feet into the air with a blast of fire, smoke and hot glass as the windshield shattered, making the nearby collection of officers drop what they were holding and cover their heads. Mark ignored the shoots of pain in his legs as shards of glass cut into his calves, and he stooped down and snatched at his Houndoom's PokéBall, dropped by the Poliwrath-wielding policeman, and he enlarged it and held it next to his head as he ran.

"Stop or I'll shoot!" shouted an officer behind him, and Mark instantly stopped short, knowing that running would mean certain death. "Put your hands to your head and turn around!"

Mark hesitated for just a moment before he played his final card. _Sorry about this, Houndoom, but it's the only way that we can get out of this mess… in the next twenty-five years… _He pressed the button on his Houndoom's PokéBall, shrinking it back down to miniature size, and tossed it into his mouth. Fighting the adrenaline coursing through his veins, he held his nose and swallowed the PokéBall whole, wincing with pain as it rubbed against the inside of his throat. After taking three deeps breaths to calm himself, he slapped his hands against the back of his damp hair and slowly revolved on the spot to face the officer pointing the Taser squarely at his chest.

"Fine. I'll come quietly," he said loudly, and he allowed himself to be manhandled by the officers who re-cuffed his hands, and threw him into the police car closest to him, making sure to hit his head against the door.

"But I'll _go_ with a bang."

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Shane's last words to Mark are a catchphrase used by cricket commentator Richie Benaud – "I'll look forward to your company then".**

***Mark swallowing the PokéBall is similar to T-Bag swallowing the key in Prison Break's second season.**

**Quiz:**

***Which Pokémon called to **_**battle**_** in this chapter doesn't actually attack?**


	56. A Calculated Guess

**CHAPTER 56 – A CALCULATED GUESS**

"What the heck just happened?" Ash exclaimed, twisting around to watch Mark being stuffed into the police car. He'd heard the car explode only moments ago, but from his position on the other side of the harbour, the sound had taken a few moments to reach him. "Sounded like something blowing itself up…"

"Yeah, I think it was that ex-squad car," Leoric muttered, squinting his eyes as he pointed to the blackened shell lying on the street. "Must've been that Mark freak," he hissed, watching as the car containing the Galactic member sped down the road to their left, skidding around the corner as it headed for the police station. "About time they got him out of here. I was wondering if I'd have to have done it myself."

"Odds are you'd have dropped him off in the same way you did his team-mates," Ari said coolly, glancing over at him. "Dead and hanging from Apache like a rag-doll."

"Your point?" he retorted, still looking at the burnt frame of the police car. A splash at the edge of the shore caught his eye, and as he watched, a glistening white-and-green shape flew out of the dark water and thudded onto the deck of the cruise liner, where a shadowy figure recalled it in a haze of red PokéBall-light. "D'you reckon an Abomasnow could destroy a car?" he asked his friends absent-mindedly, not bothering to turn around and face them. If he had, he would have seen the blank stares on their faces as the question took them completely off-guard.

"What's an _Abomasnow_?" Ash asked, scratching his nose.

"You don't—? Wait, I thought you came here from the Sinnoh region," Ari said confusedly, paying more attention to Ash's question than Leoric's, much to the latter's frustration. "The Snowpoint City region is filled with Abomasnow. I'm amazed you haven't seen one; the Snowpoint Leader – Candice – had one when I faced her a year and a half ago."

"We haven't visited Snowpoint City yet," Brock chimed in. "Ash had only just gotten his Mine Badge from Byron a little over a week ago, and then he got the invitation to this tournament. But wait a moment—" he raised his eyebrow at Ari, "I thought you were in _Johto_ last year…"

"No, I only went in the _Conference_, and that was only because Leoric had just finished his Johto Gym campaign."

"Argh, never mind about the stupid Abomasnow then!" Leoric said loudly, scowling and crossing his arms.

"What'd you ask about them for, anyways?" Brock asked conversationally, looking over at him. But before Leoric could open his mouth and answer, an echoing hoot in the air made all four Trainers' heads snap up, and a few seconds later Ash saw an all-too-familiar sparkle of crimson wings beating down above his head.

"Noctowl!" he shouted, grinning widely as Noctowl perched itself on his arm.

"Not just _any_ Noctowl, too… look at that colour!" Leoric commented excitedly, rushing forwards to take a closer look. "Bit small, though," he added with a slightly condescending look at the Pokémon, who ruffled its feathers and knocked Leoric backwards with a small blast of psychic energy. "_Ouch! _Thanks for that one," he said sarcastically, steadying himself and poking his tongue out at Noctowl.

"Noctowl's a lot smarter than most of his kind as well," Ash said proudly, as Pikachu ran down the length of his arm to talk with the new arrival.

"Somehow, I don't think that Noctowl flew over here _just_ to mess around with Leoric," Ari reminded them sternly, tapping his foot against the concrete. Leoric and Brock both realised what he was saying before Ash did, and they nodded their heads in agreement before they turned to face the Owl Pokémon, while Pikachu ran back up Ash's arm and whispered something into his ear. Ash listened closely to his Pokémon's words, but his eyes widened in shock as Pikachu finished talking and looked gravely at him.

"Dawn's alive," he said, to a round of relieved groans from the others, particularly Ari, who fell to his knees and wiped a hand across his brow. "Paul's got her, in an unused shed to the east. Apparently it's close to that warehouse that I nearly got burnt alive in."

"Then what are we standing around here for?!" Leoric said, already enlarging his Salamence's PokéBall as he spoke. "Let's follow Noctowl and go get her out of there!"

"Whoa, easy there, speedy," Brock said warningly, putting his hand forwards to stop Leoric. "Paul's bound to have his Pokémon acting as bodyguards; we need to find a way to see inside without Paul knowing. And I think I know how we can do that," he added with a glint in his eye. He cupped his hands over his mouth and, tilting his heads towards the sky, he called at the top of his voice, "_CROBAT_!"

"_Should I just not say anything, if I'm going to keep being shot down?_" Leoric shouted, clapping his hands over his ears as Brock's booming voice bounced off the walls of the buildings around them.

"Please, if only you'd go through with it," Ari joked, rubbing his ears as the ringing in them began to die down. "So Brock, how long do you think it'll take Crobat to get here?" he asked, turning to the tanned Trainer.

"Two minutes tops, but we can start moving now if you'd prefer," Brock answered, sensing the impatience in both Ari and Ash, who had already released Noctowl back into the air, and was now eyeing his Pokémon off anxiously as it began to turn towards the industrialised buildings to the south-east. "Crobat will be able to tell where I am now that I've given him the rough idea."

"Okay, let's go!" Leoric said, knowing that he was saying something that the others would finally agree with. "Noctowl, lead the way!" he cried to the Pokémon hovering overhead, who turned to Ash for its proper orders. Ash nodded and moved forwards, so that he was standing underneath Noctowl, who hooted at Brock and Ari before flapping its wings vigorously and soaring down the street, moving this way and that in the gentle sea breeze moving in from the ocean.

"Don't worry, Dawn… we're on our way," Ash muttered, more to himself than to anyone else, but as he realised that he'd spoken aloud, he looked around to check whether the others had heard him. But he only saw Leoric and Brock running alongside him, so he stopped his frantic pace and turned around to see Ari standing stock-still in the middle of the street behind them. It looked like he hadn't moved an inch since he had asked Brock about Crobat, and his eyes were closed as though he was concentrating on something.

"Ari, come on!" Leoric said impatiently, having noticed as well, but Ari's eyes flew open even before the end of his sentence.

"Sorry, I was just letting Horazon know where we are," he said apologetically, catching up to them at last and running ahead.

"How did you do that?" Ash wondered aloud as he ran alongside Ari, glancing between him and Noctowl's progress overhead.

"Well, all Dusknoir have that antenna on top of their heads, right?" he began to explain, pausing every now and then to take a breath, "They pick up on all sorts of things, and I've trained Horazon to – through _his_ antenna – sense my presence, or any messages I might be able to send telepathically to him, no matter what the distance may be. Believe me, I'm no psychic," he added quickly, after seeing Ash's suspicious look. "_Anabel_ is the psychic, not me. Her powers are amazing… but I'm sure I don't need to tell you that," he grinned, to which Ash gave a half-shrug and a chuckle.

"That's pretty impressive," Brock said, having heard every word of their conversation, as he put on an extra spurt of speed to be level with the two. "So would you be able to command your Dusknoir in a battle without having to say anything?"

"You know," Ari said honestly, "it never occurred to me before now. So I guess I can't really say for sure. Careful now," he added distractedly, because Noctowl spread its wings wide and swept around a sharp right-hand corner, flying down a wide lane dotted with orange-coloured streetlights, each one giving way to a small circle of light on the cobbled surface.

"How much longer, Noctowl?" Ash shouted up to his Pokémon, who raised a wing to its beak in reply, signalling for them all to keep quiet as it banked downwards and skipped across the pavement with the scratch of claws on asphalt. "Is Dawn around here somewhere?" he whispered. Noctowl chirped softly and pointed towards an enormous shed, completely windowless and featureless except for a single steel door placed in the centre of the front wall.

"She's in—?!"

"_Cro—bat!_"hissed a cross-shaped object as it raced through the street that Ash had only just run the length of, kicking up a rooster-tail of dust and wind in its wake. Crobat braked to a stop in mid-air and flicked its wings one more time, shifting through the air to rest on Brock's shoulder, its tiny clawed feet digging into his orange-grey vest.

"Excellent timing, Crobat," Brock said quietly, patting his Bat Pokémon on the head.

"Noctowl, fly up there and tell me what you can see," Ash instructed, keeping his voice at a whisper, as Noctowl ruffled its wings and fluttered to the roof of the building, its large eyes glimmering as they saw through the layers of metal and into the room below. "Okay, so we know that Paul has the leverage here, so that means that—"

"—We have to take him by surprise," Ari finished grimly, glancing nervously at the bare steel wall.

"But how do you surprise someone like _him_?" Leoric growled, looking at his fellow Trainers, who all seemed at a loss as to an answer. After close to a minute, Ari finally shook his head and looked up from the ground that he had been so intently staring at, a strange expression on his face.

"I've got an idea, but I can't tell you what it is; you'll just have to follow my lead," he whispered, and he was met with a wall of stony looks and vigorously shaken heads.

"No way!"

"We're not flying blind into this!"

"Let's just wait for what Noctowl can tell us first," Brock reasoned, watching as the Pokémon flew back down towards Ash, hooting urgently at him. Ash took in every sound that Noctowl made, but – by the look on his face – it didn't seem to be anything particularly pleasing to him. "What is it?" asked Brock tentatively.

"Noctowl says that Dawn's bound to a steel chair in the middle of the shed, held by tough ropes," Ash translated, his dark eyes sweeping over them all. "Paul's Weavile is standing guard right next to her, and it has a claw close to her neck in case anyone bursts in. Torterra is taking up a whole corner of the room, and it's at the corner across from the door, to the left. Paul's standing opposite Torterra, in the corner closest to us—" he pointed at the corner to the right of the door, "and that's all we've got."

"Right. Well, we've got what we need, in any case," Ari said, turning to the building.

"Hang on just a second, Ari," Ash fired, stepping in between him and the shed to bar his path. "We're not doing anything – or going anywhere, for that matter – until you fill us in on this _plan_ of yours."

"Paul obviously wants to get back at me for… well, for Tina," he said bluntly, throwing his hands in the air submissively, "so I'll walk in there and say that he can have me instead of her. Once he lets her go, you get her out of there as quickly as you can. Horazon will get me out of there if things get nasty; I can't imagine he's too far away by now," he added, glancing around as though expecting his beloved Pokémon to appear from behind a corner at any moment.

"I'm not sure about this…" Leo muttered apprehensively. "At least let us provide backup with our Pokémon."

"Yeah, I agree with Leoric on this one," Brock said firmly, standing next to Ash. "You'll be much safer. Besides, we don't _know_ that Paul is purely after you."

Ari eyed his three friends for several moments, before sagging his shoulders and giving them all a warm stare. "Thanks you guys," he said kindly, nodding his head. "Good to know you've got my back, eh?"

"Dawn's back, too," Ash corrected him. "So, how do we do this?"

* * *

Paul's eyes flew open as he heard a faint buzzing noise outside, and his hands instinctively reached for the PokéBalls around his waist as he pushed himself off the cold metal wall with his foot, swinging around to face the door standing alone at the side of his vision. Glancing over at his Torterra, who lowered its cruel head towards the ground in an almost lazy nod, he stepped forwards, a foot or so closer to his other Pokémon present inside the shed.

"Weavile, be alert. Once I give the signal, you know what to do," he commanded, and Weavile gave its Trainer a barbaric smirk despite the whimpering plea by Dawn, who had fallen into a state of half-consciousness, sick with worry and fear. Turning and striding across the room, he stopped a short distance away from the door that was the only way in – or out – and sneered evilly at it, knowing full well what was about to transpire inside these walls.

"Paul… why me… why now…?" Dawn rasped, her eyes staring sullenly at the floor next to her feet, which was splattered with the tears that had fallen from her face in the last torturous hour. Paul snorted and kept his back to her, thoroughly irritated by her pathetic insistence at knowing the reasons for his revenge.

"You know why it's you," he spat, his voice sizzling like hot oil. "I ran out of other options to destroy that pathetic little vermin that you call a _boyfriend_—" he really did spit on the floor this time at uttering the word, "—so I had to enlist the help of another group of parasites. That miserable organisation of morons that call themselves Team Galactic. Now I had _really_ run out of avenues when I called them; they are the only thing to which I have a hatred that rivals my hate of Ari, and with good reason."

"What reason is that?"

"Ari's father is a Galactic, you stupid little girl," Paul said simply, as though it was the most obvious thing in the universe. "_Now_ do you see why I hate them both?"

"I… had no idea…" she whispered, keeping her gaze levelled at her shoes.

"Well now you do, so stop asking me pointless questions," he seethed, glancing briefly over his shoulder at her broken form before marching back to his original position at the corner of the shed, arching his back against the steel.

"_Hadron, use your Magnet Pull to rip that door away!_" shouted someone from beyond the building, his voice muffled in the damp night air. Paul shot forwards from the wall just as the large sheet of metal that was the door was torn from its hinges in the blink of an eye, with a terrible screeching sound that made Weavile cringe, even as its claw snaked around Dawn's head, the tip of its sharp fingers pointing into her soft neck.

"Show yourself, Ari! I know it's you!" Paul roared, his hands reaching for the same two PokéBalls that they had before.

"Promise me you won't hurt Dawn!" shouted Ari's voice, its owner still hidden in the shadows outside.

"Show yourself _now_, or I _will_ hurt her!" he fired back, baring his teeth as Ari walked slowly through the large gap in the wall, his hands raised high above his head in surrender.

"Okay, I'm here. Now let Dawn go. Please," he said, his voice pleading for mercy on Paul's part as he looked over at Dawn, whose head shot up at the sound of his voice. "Dawn, be careful… Everything will be all right, I promise you," he said soothingly, his eyes narrowing as he saw Weavile tighten its grip on her throat.

"Big mistake, making a promise you can't keep," Paul hissed, his lip curling into another sneer. "Since you're here at last, Ari, how about I give you a bit of a history lesson?!"

"Let Dawn go and you can give me whatever you want."

"I think she can stay and hear about it," he said firmly, shooting down Ari's attempt at a negotiation. He thrust four fingers into the air. "Four years ago, you and Tina went into the Ice Path. You were the only one who came out alive. You let Tina die."

"You think I'd _do_ that?! _Let_ _her die_?! Paul, it was _your_ fault she died in the first place!" Ari roared, pointing squarely at Paul's face. "If it wasn't for your father, Tina would still be alive!"

"My father—did what he had to do…" Paul mumbled, letting his guard down for a fraction of a second before focusing back on his rival. "_You_ didn't! You didn't _save_ her!"

"What hope did I have against twenty Rockets?! Especially your second-in-command! I was lucky to make it out alive _myself_!"

"Well you should have died instead of her!" Paul exploded, clenching his fists before he shot a dark glance at Dawn, still bound in her chair. "But then again…"

"What are—?" Ari asked, before his eyes shot open with realisation. "_NO_!"

"Weavile, n—!" Paul began, but he never finished his order, because an enormous purple object flew through the open mouth of the door, its speed making it appear little more than a flitting blur as it cannoned into Weavile, knocking it high into the air. Dawn shrieked as the Pokémon's claw nicked the side of her neck, and as Crobat wheeled into the air above her head and eyed Weavile off furiously, a tiny trickle of blood ran down her neck and onto her scarf, staining the pink a darker shade.

"Ice Beam!" Paul bellowed, and Weavile blasted a torrent of ice crystals into the air. Crobat's extreme speed was no match for the attack, and it quickly found itself covered from wingtip to wingtip in ice. With a feeble buzz it crashed onto the floor, the ice shattering all around it as it fell unconscious, a beam of red light from outside recalling it to its PokéBall, just as Ash ran through the door, with Pikachu on his shoulder and Torkoal by his side.

"Torkoal, take care of Weavile with your strongest Overheat!" he ordered. Torkoal blasted a plume of smoke from its shell and opened its mouth wide, blasting a huge column of blazing fire through the air towards Weavile. The Sharp Claw Pokémon squealed with agony as the attack smashed into its mid-section, and the crown of feathers atop its head began to smoulder as it was thrown backwards and into the air, flying into the wall. The cold metal offered some resistance to its body, but Torkoal's Overheat quickly melted the metal itself, and Weavile was driven outside the building with another frightened squeal, just as Paul gave a roar of anger and turned to Torterra.

"Torterra, finish Dawn _now_! Give her a taste of your Frenzy Plant!" he shouted, and Torterra glowed a fierce green as it prepared its ultimate attack.

A huge black shadow appeared on the ground in front of Torterra, and from the shadow came a bright blue light which split into two, smaller lights that orbited around the circle of black. One of the lights shot forwards and bounced into Torterra's hooked beak, before resting atop its head, whilst the second one continued to hover just above the shadow, just as it began to pull itself out from the ground itself. A yellow antenna materialised out of the darkness, shortly followed by a piercing red eye, and within little more of a second, Ari's Dusknoir was standing directly in front of Torterra, its hands spread wide in defence of Dawn.

"_Toooorrr_!" screamed Torterra, and a split-second later a mass of thorny brown vines erupted from the ground between Dusknoir and Dawn, spearing into the air. Dusknoir watched on as the vines reached the height of their climb, and as they began to shoot back down towards Dawn's barely-moving figure, the Pokémon selflessly launched itself into the air between human and attack, fearlessly meeting the Frenzy Plant head-on. The vines viciously tore across Dusknoir's bulky body, the tips of the vines spearing into the dark-grey flesh of the Pokémon, and when the final vine lodged itself into Dusknoir, the tiny blue light above its head suddenly exploded with a flash, and Dusknoir instantly fainted and hit the floor. The moment Dusknoir hit the ground, the light above Torterra's head was extinguished, and like its opponent, Torterra was immediately rendered unconscious, and its vast body slumped and crashed to the floor with a loud thump.

"Torterra!" Paul cried in alarm, twisting around to look at Ari with a look of pure rage across his face. "What did you do to my Pokémon?!"

"Destiny Bond, of course," Ari said, a hint of a smile on his lips. "It was your own fault for having Torterra attack Dawn; how could I have known that Horazon would have taken the attack and fainted? But then again, since he fainted, so did your Torterra."

"You son of a _bitch_!" Paul screamed, charging forwards. But as he ran towards Ari, a wild-eyed, savage-faced shadow leapt up from behind Dusknoir's fallen body, fist cocked, and with a mighty bellow he thrust his fist forwards and launched it into Paul's nose, sending him crashing onto the cold floor with a bang.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***The Pokémon 'Hadron' knows the ability Magnet Pull, which means that it is either a "Magne—" or "—pass" Pokémon. Coincidentally, both of these families of Pokémon have a final evolutionary form that can only be obtained through training at Mt. Coronet.**

***The fact that Dusknoir knows Destiny Bond means that (directly) its father was either a member of the Gastly or Koffing families. **

****Furthermore, since Morty was the person who gave Ari the egg – **_**and**_** he is a Ghost-type Gym Leader specialising in the Gastly family – it can be assumed that Horazon's 'father' was either a Gastly, Haunter, or Gengar.**

**Quiz:**

***Which is the only region to have a male Psychic-specialist Gym Leader, who is he, and what city is he based in?**


	57. Fight, Flight, Firelight

**CHAPTER 57 – FIGHT, FLIGHT, FIRELIGHT**

Paul clutched at his bleeding nose, glaring daggers at the figure standing over him. As the blood trickled down his face, he stood back on his feet and bared his teeth, ignoring the warm red liquid that seeped over them as he continued to glare at the pair of cold green eyes staring back at him. "Stay out of things that don't concern you," he warned, his voice thick with blood. "Now turn around and crawl back to your little den. Leo… the lion… you're nothing but a puny little kitten, waiting to be crushed," he sneered, and with a final contemptuous look he spat the blood in his mouth onto Leoric's forest-coloured shoes. Leoric glanced down at the mess on his shoes, his eyes bulging with anger, before he looked back at Paul with the closest thing to an answering sneer on his own face.

"Big mistake," he hissed, and before Paul had time to think, his left hand shot forwards, closing around Paul's throat, whilst the other one drew back and threw itself into his stomach, driving all the wind out of his body. Paul's face twitched in agony and slowly drained of colour as Leoric's strange-hold began to cut off his circulation, and he fought weakly against the boy's steel-strong grip on his neck. But Leoric wasn't giving a millimetre, even when Paul aimed a swift kick at his shins, which seemed to do nothing more than make him tighten his hold on Paul's neck.

"Leo, let him go, now!" Ash shouted worriedly, watching as Paul's face began to turn a pale shade of blue. Leoric shrugged his shoulders, and his fingers flew away from Paul's throat in an instant, leaving him to crash onto the floor as he choked and gasped for air.

"You're lucky that Ash is here to look out for you, Paul. Even though you don't deserve a breath of sympathy," Leoric seethed, staring pitilessly down at Paul, bent double and shaking with rage and shame.

"_Fuck your sympathy_," Paul quaked, ripping two PokéBalls from his waist as he struggled painfully back to his feet. He could feel the aching throbbing in his noise as it continued to bleed, but the pain was manageable, as he threw the PokéBalls onto the ground with a cry, "Let's see who deserves _whose_ sympathy at the end of this!"

With a bellow and the crash of claw on steel, an Electivire and Magmortar exploded out of the opening PokéBalls in a flash of white, leering threateningly at Leoric and cracking their joints as the Trainer backed away, his hands flying towards his own PokéBalls. He heard Ari cry out in alarm, but just as his fingers closed around his third PokéBall along, Magmortar retracted its left claw and pointed it squarely at his chest. Leoric froze. His mind was racing, telling him to get out of the way, or else summon one of his Pokémon to defend himself, but his muscles wouldn't obey. It was as though they were cast in iron and sealed in place, and so he watched, terrified, as a yellow-red glow appeared on the inside of Magmortar's arm.

"_Maaaaaggg…!_" growled Magmortar, its narrow eyes glinting evilly as the glow grew brighter as its Electric counterpart flexed its muscles and swung its tail arrogantly, apparently enjoying what was about to happen. "_Magmooor!_" roared the red Pokémon, and a jet of fire blasted itself out of its arm towards Leoric.

At last, Leoric's body began to obey his mind, and he threw his arms in front of himself in a futile defence and screwed his eyes shut, waiting for the searing pain that would tell him it was all over. A red-hot shock of heat ripped through his body, and he gasped with pain as he knew that he was about to die. But all of a sudden, the fire stopped, and after a few moments Leoric allowed his eyes to open a fraction. Standing in front of him, absorbing the heat of Magmortar's attack, was _another_ Magmortar, its body glowing with a fierce red glow.

"Colenzo…?" Leoric murmured, before his eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed onto the floor with a dull thud. Ari's Magmortar shifted its weight to glance briefly at the boy's fallen form, before grunting and turning back to Paul's Magmortar, who sneered and raised its arms expectantly, waiting for a fight. But the two Magmortar weren't the first ones to clash, because a colossal yellow-and-black shape hurtled out from behind Colenzo and struck Paul's Electivire with a furred fist, knocking the Thunderbolt Pokémon into the ground.

"Leoric!" Ash roared, running forwards towards his unconscious friend despite the danger of the Pokémon in front of him. He knelt down and lifted Leoric's head above the ground, and Pikachu slapped the boy lightly across the cheek, but he wouldn't stir, and so he began to drag Leoric away from the feuding Magmortar, who looked ready to blast fire again at any moment.

"Brothers in arms, Paul. You know how it's always been," Ari boomed, stepping forwards to stand next to his Magmortar, just as his own Electivire leapt backwards and stood on his other side.

_They both have the same Pokémon…_ Ash thought, moving Leoric's body to safety, outside the warehouse, where he was greeted by a grim-faced Brock. "Leoric's fine, he just fainted from heat exhaustion or something," he hurriedly explained, and Brock nodded as he picked up Leoric's legs and moved him into the shade of a greenhouse a street over, resting his head against the soft glass. "Pikachu, Torkoal—" he looked from the Pokémon on his shoulder to the one standing next to him, "stay here and make sure that he's alright. Brock—" he turned back to his friend, "let's get Dawn out of there before something _else_ goes wrong."

"Right," agreed Brock, standing to his feet and running at full pace to the shed, with Ash close behind. They stopped at the entrance to the building, expecting a column of fire or a bolt of electricity to shoot out, but all they could see – or hear – was Ari arguing with Paul, while their two Pokémon mirrored their opponents' every moves. "Now's our chance to get her, while Ari has Paul distracted."

"I wouldn't call it _distracted_…" Ash said nervously, but nonetheless he followed Brock as they silently crept around the inner walls of the shed, making sure that Paul's attention was still fully focused on his arch-rival. As he had said only moments ago, Ash noticed that Ari didn't just seem to be shouting at Paul for the sake of causing a diversion; there was definitely something else to it, but he couldn't place it – nor did he have the time to – as he tried covertly to grab Dawn's eye.

"_Dawn…_" he whispered, jerking his hand this way and that to try and get her attention. But she was either unconscious herself, or too frightened to move, because her head was bowed into her chest and her eyes were hidden by her long blue hair, sweeping across her face like a sea-coloured curtain. Frustrated with the agonising slowness at which he and Brock were having to move, Ash decided to take a risk, and he snatched his hat from his head and threw it expertly across the room towards her. The brim of the hat smacked Dawn squarely on the forehead, and she jerked upright and looked around wildly, searching for the person who had thrown the hat, now lying in her lap. Her eyes connected with Ash's, and he raised a warning finger to his lips, signalling for her to keep quiet, and she bit her lip and obeyed, watching their progress with teary eyes as all three heard Ari and Paul's heated conversation.

"—a chance against mine?" Paul was saying in an arrogant voice, and although he had his back to Ash and Brock, they could both imagine the trademark smirk that no doubt accompanied the remark.

"I'm not sure that Colenzo can beat your Magmortar," Ari admitted, but his eyes glinted defiantly as they saw Ash edging around the wall towards Dawn. "But by the same token, your Magmortar can't beat Colenzo, either. I mean, you can't decide which is the stronger of twins, can you?" he asked sardonically.

"My Magmortar will wipe the floor with your pathetic Pokémon, even if it _is_ his twin brother!" Paul spat, stamping a foot on the ground, the sound echoing across the room. "He was always stronger and faster, and now – at last – you'll see it with your own eyes!"

"Strength and speed isn't everything! You need _heart_!"

"_Heart_?! P-lease! That old approach never did anyone any good, especially you! It's made you _weak_!"

"And I suppose that when you were with Tina, your sudden change of _heart_ made _you_ weak as well?" Ari challenged, knowing that he only had to buy another minute or so for Ash and Brock to reach Dawn. Paul howled with rage, clutching at his hair and shaking his head like a crazed animal, but instead of giving Ari an answer he could never give, he ordered his two Pokémon forwards to settle the matter on his behalf.

"Electivire, pummel that puny excuse for your species into the ground!" he barked, and Electivire roared as it bounded forwards, its left fist shimmering with ice crystals. Ari's Rakanishu agilely ducked to the side, narrowly avoiding the blow, and Electivire swung around on the spot to launch another Ice Punch at its foe. "Magmortar, let's see how loyal you _really_ are! Blast your brother with a Hyper Beam!" Paul bellowed, throwing his arm forwards, and Magmortar launched a massive beam of orange light at Colenzo, who boosted itself out of the way using the same tactic that it had against Ash's Buizel on the day of the Championship's commencement. The column of light tore through the wall behind Ari like it was tissue paper, with a screeching sound of ripping metal, and shot into the sky, where it was quickly swallowed up by the dark.

"We'd better be careful, Ash," Brock murmured, watching anxiously as the two Electivire began to wrestle fiercely with each other, trading bone-crushing blows and freezing parts of the building with their Ice Punch attacks. "If one of us gets hit by a stray attack…"

"You don't need to tell me," Ash answered darkly, before darting across the room with surprising speed. It didn't matter to him any more whether Paul saw them or not; Ari's Pokémon were well-occupying Paul's, and as he looked at the two Trainers he saw that they hadn't moved an inch from their stances, rather that they continued to glare at each other with such ferocity that Ash had to shake his head and look back at Dawn to stop himself feeling intimidated by it all.

"Ash—!" Dawn gasped, as Ash finally reached her, still shackled to the chair by the thick ropes. "Get me out of here—!"

"Don't worry, Dawn, you'll be out of here quicker than Brock to a pretty girl," he replied, with a forced laugh. "Speaking of whom," he added, because Brock had just stopped right next to his two companions.

"We need to do something about that cut," he said worriedly, watching as the wound continued to trickle blood down Dawn's neck. "You've lost a bit of blood already; we don't need you losing any more."

"Let's not worry about that! Let's get her out of here!" Ash hissed, pulling a PokéBall from his belt. "Gliscor, use X-Scissor to break these bonds!" he cried, throwing the ball high into the air. In a blast of harsh light, Ash's Gliscor glided out of the ball and swooped down over Dawn, who shrank back as far as she could in her chair as the Pokémon's pincers began to glow pale. "Close your eyes, Dawn…" Ash suggested, taking a precautionary step back from Gliscor as it swung its arms high. Dawn whimpered in fear and threw her head to the side, closing her eyes as Gliscor completed its attack, shearing through the ropes and freeing her from her tiny prison.

"Come on, we need to get you out of here," Brock said quickly. Dawn struggled to get to her feet, but she weakly fell back down onto her chair, panting with effort, and so he grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her onto his shoulder. "First Ash, now you," he mused, feeling Dawn's hands gripping the back of his shirt and, ignoring the scowl from Ash, he swiftly jogged towards the open gap in the wall, heading for the open air.

"I'll bring up the rear," Ash called, but he clapped his hands over his mouth, fearing that he might have spoken too loudly and caught Paul's attention. But all he could hear were the struggles of the four Pokémon still locked in their stalemate, and he turned around to see the battle as it unfolded. Ari's Magmortar – which was the smaller of the two Blast Pokémon – fired a pulsing ball of blue energy at Paul's Magmortar, who was thrown off its feet, before it fired a jet of air behind its body to steady itself, in the same way that he had seen Ari command his Magmortar to evade Buizel's Water Gun. _Must be a family skill…_ he thought, watching apprehensively as the two Electivire on the other side of the room continued to volley punches, kicks and head-butts in a desperate effort to gain the upper hand.

Ari's Electivire screamed as his foe wrapped its two cord-like tails around his neck, biting down as they threatened to strangle him. Reaching over his back, Rakanishu grabbed onto the second Electivire's back and lifted it high into the air with a gasping growl. Paul's Electivire sent its fist crashing into its opponent's skull with a sound that made even Ash cringe, but Rakanishu took the attack in his stride and jumped into the air to join the other Thunderbolt Pokémon still afloat. Wrapping his arms around his foe, Ari's Electivire held Paul's Pokémon in a bear hug as the pair of them fell towards the ground, and a split-second before impact he shifted his weight so that his foe was underneath, and with a shuddering crash Paul's Electivire was crushed between the immovable ground and the sheer weight of Rakanishu, who hooked an icy fist into its jaw for good measure as the shaggy beast slipped into unconsciousness.

"Good work, Rakanishu! Stay where you are!" Ari shouted. "You see, Paul?! You need _heart_ to overcome your obstacles, not pure power!"

"Spare me!" Paul bellowed, pure poison in his words. "I know that power is what's needed to win! Power stops you from being weak! It stops_ me_ from being weak!"

"Your _anger_ keeps you from being _strong_!" Ari rallied, his voice echoing like thunder.

"I don't need advice from you, of all people! _You_ – my enemy – pretending to be my friend?! _You_, the one who let Tina die, leaving me broken and alone?! _Ha_!"

"It's not all about _you_, Paul!" screamed Ari, his eyes wild like fire. "You have to remember that _this is bigger_ _than you_! You weren't the _only_ one who lost something that day!" he said, his voice cracking, and Ash saw a flicker of sympathy pass across Ari's contorted face, seeming to soften his features in a bizarre way.

Ash's jaw fell open when he saw that single display of emotion from Ari; not because of the emotion itself… but because it was frighteningly familiar. But as he tried to focus on where he had seen that strange flicker before, a stray Hyper Beam from Paul's Magmortar whizzed past his ear, missing his head by a matter of centimetres. Ash yelped in fright and jumped to the side, crashing onto the floor and shutting his eyes in pain as he jarred his shoulder on the collapsed frame of the chair that had – until so very recently – held Dawn captive. Rubbing his arm to reduce the ache, he stood to his feet and opened his eyes just as Paul gave a tortured scream, and what he saw made him gasp in astonishment.

The entire room seemed to have darkened in an instant, leaving everything in a strange half-light that was being cast from the centre of the room. Even the twin Magmortar ceased their assaults and turned to stare at the source of the glow, and as they moved aside, Ash saw that the light was coming from two indistinct shapes standing either side of a tiny flickering ball of yellow light. He was immediately transfixed by the small sphere; it was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen, and he felt the ball pull at him to come closer, enchantingly, mesmerisingly.

Ash took a slow step forwards, carefully weighting his foot against the ground, but as he lifted his rear leg off the floor to take the next step towards the yellow orb, the two shapes on either side of it suddenly flared with searing light, and he staggered backwards, throwing an arm across his eyes to shield himself. Squinting against the light, Ash lowered his arm to try and see what was causing the flares, and he saw what appeared to be a human-like figure wrapped in fierce cobalt light, standing opposite the second shape he had seen before, only now it was another human-shaped being encased in purple light, burning like the fires of a furnace.

_What the heck is going on…?!_ Ash wondered, stumbling forwards to inspect the strange creatures closer. _What _are_ those things? And what's with that light—? Wait, can it be…? _He moved another foot closer, and saw that the closer of the two figures – the one shining with purple light – wasn't, in fact, covered in light, only that there was a glowing purple lining around the being's body. _It is! It's aura!_ Ash thought, a rush of adrenaline coursing through his body. _But whose, and why?_

"Stay back, Ash!"

The roaring voice shot through Ash like a lightning bolt, and he physically jumped as though he'd just been electrocuted. Spinning around, he looked wildly for the person who had just spoken to him, but his voice – for it was undoubtedly a male's voice – was very familiar.

"_Ari_?!" he exclaimed, whirling around on the spot. His eyes settled on the figure standing furthest from him, the one wrapped in the shimmering _blue_ aura, and he shouted in shock when he saw Ari's face hidden inside the cobalt light. "_What's going on, Ari?!"_ Ash yelled, starting towards him. "_How do you have au—?!_"

"I said stay back!" he repeated, his eyes never leaving the figure standing on the other side of the ball of yellow light. "Ash, I don't know what's happening either, but I _do_ know that whatever it is, it's dangerous! I don't want you getting hurt, so _please_, step away!"

"That's right, Ash, _stay out of this_!" shouted a voice coming from the haze of purple aura across from Ari. "Leave the _weakling_ to me!"

"_Paul, is that you_?!" Ash shouted, turning around to face the figure, and as he had expected, he saw Paul's features staring at Ari from inside his own aura. "Do _you_ know what's going on here?!"

"Of course I do!" Paul jeered, but his eyes widened as the small ball of light in between himself and Ari crackled with electricity, shooting spots of light out in all directions, and Ash jumped backwards to avoid being struck by the sparks as they flew through the air.

"_Then what is it_?!" he shouted, back away from the yellow sphere as it shot more sparks of light across the room. Suddenly, the ball expanded and disappeared into the air, leaving a tiny object hovering in the space where it had once been. "What is that…?" he pondered aloud, moving back towards it to take a closer look, but he stopped and stared at it when he saw that it was a chain necklace. The chain-links, made of pure silver, were so thin that they seemed finer than silk itself, but they weren't the most interesting thing about the piece of jewellery.

What was so intriguing about it was the small object hanging from the bottom of the necklace. It was unlike anything Ash had seen before in his life, which was saying a lot, considering everything he had encountered during his journeys as a Pokémon Trainer. It looked like a cross between a crown and a helmet, and it was made out of some kind of yellow-coloured metal that burned with a light of its own as it floated in front of Ash's face. There were two large, arrowhead-like protrusions at the sides, which narrowed as they came towards the centre, which ended in a tiny beak of sorts that jutted out in front of the rest of the crown.

Perched above this crown was another, even smaller crown, which was very similarly shaped to the first, although in this instance, the shape reminded Ash strongly of his Noctowl's horns, but admittedly, the ends were sharper than what would be on his Pokémon's head. For the second time in the space of a few short minutes, Ash felt a strong sense of déjà vu the longer he stared at this remarkable object, but this time he _knew_ that he had seen this exact shape before, and recently as well. He reached his hands forwards to touch the necklace, wondering if any contact with this small crown would trigger his memory into recalling where he had seen its kind before.

"_No_! That necklace belongs to me! Don't touch it!" Paul screeched, but it was too late; Ash's hand brushed against the base of the crown, which shimmered and wavered as though it was being blasted with a strong wind, and it began to dissolve into the air. "_No!_" Paul screamed, running forwards, and with a flying hand he grasped for the necklace just as it disappeared, and his hand clutched at the thin air above Ash's hand.

"_Tina_!" Paul shouted, and as Ash spun around to face him, he saw something that, until now, he'd never believed possible; Paul's eyes were swimming with tears. But a moment later, Paul fixed his stare on Ash himself, and the latter could feel the hatred burning away in them, as cold as ice. "You'll _pay_ for that!" he screeched, reaching for the PokéBalls at his waist, just as the purple aura around his body disintegrated, plunging the room into the natural moonlight from outside.

"Ash, get out of here!" Ari shouted, running forwards and tackling Paul around the ribs, sending them both crashing onto the ground, and Ari's chain necklace bounced up and smacked him in the eye. "_Now_!" he implored, looking at Ash with one eye, and Ash nodded and took to his heels, fleeing the building without shame, without looking back. He didn't stop running, feeling his feet fly against the hard pavement for close to a minute, until he reached the greenhouse where Brock, Dawn, and a newly conscious Leoric were gathered together, along with Pikachu and Torkoal, who hooted happily and puffed a cloud of white smoke from its nostrils as its Trainer flopped down on the ground next to it. But before he could relax and reflect on what he had just seen, Dawn threw herself onto him and gave him a spine-bending hug, knocking the breath out of his lungs.

"Thank you so, _so_ much for finding me! I was so scared, and you all helped me! P-Paul, he said he was going to—" she spluttered, tears falling freely down her cheeks, but Ash humbly pushed her aside, saying that she would have done the same for him had the situation been reversed. "T-Thanks…" she murmured, before her head shot up and she looked this way and that. "Where's Ari?" she asked anxiously, getting to her feet.

"He was—uh—talking to Paul when I left," Ash replied, rubbing a hand up and down his face. "Don't worry—he should be fine." _…I hope…_ he added to himself, remembering the fury in Paul's face when the small gold necklace had vanished.

"Here he comes now," Leoric said abruptly, clambering upright and crossing his arms as Ari came into view, carrying Paul's slumped figure over his shoulder.

"G-Get him away f-from m-m-me!" Dawn squeaked, edging backwards as the two came closer. Brock, sensing her distress, put an arm around her shoulder and led her away from the others, just as Leoric marched forwards and pointed at the boy on Ari's shoulder.

"What'd you bring _him_ here for?!" he rumbled, as Ari gently lowered Paul onto the ground, being strangely careful not to bang his head against the concrete. "He's just asleep, right?" Leoric asked, prodding his side with a foot.

"Yeah, I had Rakanishu knock him out with a ThunderShock," Ari answered, straightening up. He opened his mouth to say more, but Leoric raised a hand to silence him, his mouth set in a firm line.

"What. Is. He. Doing. Here," he repeated, jabbing a finger towards Paul.

"I wanted to _discuss_ a few things with him. _Personal_ things," he added with a dark look at Leoric, whose hand twitched towards a fist, before he shook his head and threw his hands up in defeat, turning away and stalking off to join Brock and Dawn around the corner.

"Hey, Ari," Ash muttered after a few awkwardly silent seconds, once Leoric was out of earshot, "what happened in there…?"

"Was extremely weird."

"No no, that's not what I meant," he said, waving his hands through the air, as Pikachu hopped up from the ground and settled itself on his shoulder.

"I know," Ari chuckled, settling himself down on the cold ground. He gazed at Ash's Torkoal for a short while, watching the spiralling smoke that came out of its nose and shell, before glancing around and looking up at Ash. "What was with that glow, anyways?" he asked quietly, resting an arm on his knee.

"I think it was something called _aura_," Ash answered, sitting down next to him. "It's really rare, too; I've only seen a couple of living things that have it, and—"

"—let me guess, it's rare enough to be able to _see_ it?"

"Well, it's more of a sixth sense than seeing it, if you want to get technical."

"Okay, so something like ESP?" Ari ventured. Ash thought about it for a moment and chuckled, looking down at the ground.

"Sounds about right," he said. "So you've never seen anything like that before… have you?"

"Nope, that's a first for me," Ari shrugged, looking back at Torkoal as it slowly plodded over to stand in front of Ash. "You reckon something might have caused it?" he asked, his eyes following the smoke rising out of the Pokémon's shell.

"Something like _what_?" Ash asked wildly, snapping his head around. "The only things I know that can have aura are Pokémon that can use Aura Sphere."

"What if it wasn't a Pokémon, though?" Ari countered, reaching a hand down the front of his shirt and rummaging around inside it. "What about something like this?" he asked, pulling his chain necklace out from underneath it.

"What is _that_?" Ash exclaimed, leaning in and snatching at the object hanging from the necklace, despite nearly choking Ari in the process. "Sorry—" he said distractedly, focusing on the small item. It loosely resembled a five-point star turned upside-down, and it looked to be made of hardened metal that shone with a dull grey lustre. Excluding the bottom-most point, which seemed wider than the others, a small ridge ran the length of each of the star's four arms, leading to a shining blue gem set in the centre of the star – an identical shade of blue to the one that had enveloped Ari's body minutes ago.

"It's a necklace that I bought in Olivine City, around four years ago," Ari said, suppressing a laugh as he saw the open-mouthed expression on Ash's face when he said the words. "It was—"

"—part of a set of three, kept in a rosewood box," Ash finished, his words tumbling out after one another. He felt the necklace being pulled from his hands, and his eyes shot up to see Ari glaring suspiciously at him.

"How did you know that?" he whispered.

"I heard about it from an old lady who sold Pokémon Charms at the Olivine markets, while Brock, Misty and I were travelling through Johto," Ash invented. "She told me about a brown-haired boy with a round-brimmed hat, a blonde-haired girl and purple-haired boy who had paid a lot of money for her '_greatest treasure_'…"

"Right, well yeah, it's part of a set of three. Paul took the second necklace, and—well, you almost grabbed the third a moment ago," he said with a grimace.

"When the necklace disappeared, Paul shouted Tina's name," Ash recalled, a slight frown on his face. "So that means that the third one was—?"

"Tina's, yep," Ari replied bluntly, getting back to his feet. "I don't know how, but seeing her necklace again, after all these years… I just feel like there's a connection between me, her and Paul, something that goes way deeper than what I took it for… as though it's—"

"Fate?" Ash suggested, raising his eyebrows sceptically.

"I was going to say _destiny_, but fate works fine too," he smirked. "But honestly, do you reckon these things could have caused that little… 'aura spike' or whatever it was?"

"Ari, I'm sure that the three of you were _destined_ to meet, but get a grip," Ash said light-heartedly. "They're just necklaces."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Ari grunted. He swung around on the spot and punched one of the glass panels on the greenhouse wall, which cracked but didn't shatter, and he ran a hand through his dust-laden hair as he began to pace around in a small circle. "This last day's been too much for me," he growled, more to himself than to Ash. "All this crap with Paul—" he shot the boy's body a filthy look, "and Tina, bringing everything back to the surface… And I don't think Leo's too happy with me not telling him…"

"Hey, you need to stop worrying about everything, yeah?" Ash said, smacking his hand down on Ari's shoulder to stop him from working himself up any more. "You won't be any good if you let this stuff get to you. Paul's ticked me off a fair few times too, but it's not healthy letting him get you angry."

"…You're probably right," Ari grunted for the second time, turning back around to face him. "Thanks," he added, with a weak smile, as he tucked his necklace back under his shirt. "Oh, one more thing; could you not—"

"This conversation never happened," Ash chuckled, zipping his mouth shut as Pikachu did likewise. "And don't worry, Torkoal's not going to tell on you anyways," he added, patting his Coal Pokémon's head caringly before he returned it to its PokéBall in a flash of red light. "Come on; let's go catch up with the others. I'm sure you and Dawn have a lot of—well, you know," he suggested, gesturing with his hands rather than actually saying the words.

"Lead on, Ketchum," Ari laughed, shaking his head merrily to rid himself of the ashes of his hat, having been burnt to a crisp by Mark's Houndoom an hour ago. Ash grinned and turned around, getting his bearings, before he and Pikachu walked off around the corner of the greenhouse, their figures distorted by the dull glass as they strode down the length of it. Ari started forwards, before remembering that Paul was still lying unconscious on the ground, and so he knelt down next to his body, looked around to check if anyone was watching, and smacked Paul in the nose with his fist, sending the boy's head jerking to the side.

"I think you've had enough… _bitch_," he said savagely, before jumping to his feet and hurrying after Ash, feeling much better afterwards.

* * *

**Quiz:**

***How many Pokémon are capable of knowing Aura Sphere (including specials)?**


	58. The Error Of Ways

**CHAPTER 58 – THE ERROR OF WAYS**

"Thanks again for your help throughout the matter, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Girard," said Officer Jenny, formally extending her hand to shake those of the two news-anchors standing in front of her. "I'm not sure that I would have been able to handle that hysterical girl – let alone her friends – if you hadn't been there to mediate."

"We're always thankful to help out the authorities in any way we can!" Derek said cheerfully, clasping her hand and flashing her a charming smile. "And if we happen to stumble across an enthralling story in the process, all the better! Don't you agree, Jeanne?" he asked, turning to his fellow reporter.

"Absolutely," Jeanne replied, flashing a smile of her own as she shook Jenny's hand, but the smile quickly faded. "We were happy to help."

"Well," sighed Jenny, checking her watch, "I suppose I had better interrogate this _Mark_, or whatever his name may be. It's been a long day, and I think I'm going to enjoy what little sleep I can get after all this excitement," she added with a sad chuckle. "Thank you again for everything you've done."

"I sure hope that Ash and his friends find that Dawn girl," Derek muttered, glancing nervously at Jeanne for a split-second before nodding at Jenny. "We'll see you around, Officer Jenny."

"Hopefully not in the near future," Jenny grinned, turning and striding down the hall towards the stairwell at the end.

"Come on, Jeanne; we'll have a lot of explaining to do to Mr. Brannagh about that elevator," Derek said, turning to her, but he blinked when he saw the worried look on her face. "Jeanne? Jeanne, snap out of it!" he snapped his fingers in front of her face, bringing her out of her trance.

"I'm just worried about that poor girl…" she whispered, her eyes watery as they looked at Derek. "I heard what Brock said to that orange-haired girl—"

"I think her name was Misty—"

"—okay, _Misty_," she hissed. "He said that someone named _Paul_ was the one responsible for her kidnapping… you don't think it's the same Paul that—?"

"Somehow, I think they _are_ the same person," Derek answered grimly. "Don't get involved in this one, Jeanne."

"But—"

"What happened to your daughter was a tragedy, I know, but just because Paul and Ari seem… _connected_… to this girl doesn't mean the same thing will happen."

"But—"

"Jeanne, it doesn't concern you. Let it go," he said, his voice cutting her off like a guillotine, and Jeanne closed her mouth and allowed Derek to lead her out of the police station.

* * *

At the end of a grimy corridor, caked with slime and adorned with thick strands of spider webs, a thin figure reclined on a narrow bed bolted to the wall. A lone shaft of moonlight, shining through a pale, iron-barred window, cast a sliver of white across the face of the lone occupant of the tiny room that the bed was a part of. The soft white seemed to melt into the pale face of the man inside, twinkling in his grey, lifeless eyes as they looked upwards, and the light clashed at fierce odds at his tough, jet-black hair as he cupped his hands underneath his head contemplatively. He was sitting in a gloomy, cramped jail cell, with a mesh gate constituting the only wall not made of reinforced concrete. On his way through, being pushed along by the sour-faced police officers, he had glanced at the wall between his cell and the adjoining one, and judging by what he had seen, he estimated that the wall was at least eighteen inches thick.

_Too thick to try anything other than ramming your head against it,_ the man thought, staring up at the dripping ceiling, running his eyes along the length of pipe that speared through the space above his head, ending in the wall that separated his cell from the next. _And that'd be the _thin_ wall, too…_ he added, because his cell was the one at the very end of the corridor; the wall behind his head, and the one to his left, were two of the four walls that made the basic structure of the entire police station. Going from what he knew about architecture, he had to reason that _those_ walls were at least six inches wider than the third wall, meaning that directly next to his head was two feet of impenetrable stone.

"So that just leaves me to _break down the fourth wall_," he muttered, snickering at the comment as his pale eyes swivelled around to the mess of steel wire that criss-crossed over itself to form the door that kept him captive in this prison. Swinging his legs around, he stood up from his rickety bed, creaking and groaning as his weight lifted away from the ancient wooden boards, and he reached the gate in two short strides, weaving his fingers through the coin-sized gaps in the wire.

"Hmm… Torchic-wire, four millimetres thick, can hold its shape at temperatures up to fourteen-hundred degrees…" he murmured, dredging up facts and numbers from his days at the Galactic Academy, so many years ago. He laughed viciously and shook the wire with his thin hands, bound tightly together with steel hand-cuffs, clicking his tongue as he took a step back from it. "It won't last fifteen seconds against Houndoom's fire attacks," he hissed, kicking the bottom half of the door with his shoe.

A sharp clanging noise echoed down to his holding cell, and he instantly knew that the Officer Jenny he had seen at the harbour was coming to bring him to interrogation for questioning; this wasn't his first arrest, and he knew how things went with the authorities. He turned around, away from the gate, and stared forlornly out of the tiny window mounted on the wall above his head, as the marching footsteps became louder. A second later, the footsteps stopped, and he heard the jingle of keys followed by the clicking noise of a key in the lock as Jenny unlocked the gate.

"Look, _Officer_, I've got nothing to say—" he drawled, but he was greeted with an excruciating pain in his knees as Jenny volleyed her police baton into the back of them, nearly shattering his kneecaps in the process. Gasping with agony, he pulled himself up from the floor and glared at the turquoise-haired policewoman standing fiercely over him, streaming a torrent of swear words from his mouth as his legs shook unsteadily.

"For someone who's got _nothing to say_, you sure are a talkative one," she seethed, pointing her baton at his throat and nudging it with the tip. "Now shut up and come with me."

"Whatever you—"

"I said shut up!" she roared, forcefully striking him in the temple. He staggered backwards, his eyes nailed shut in pain, and he fumed between his bared teeth, but otherwise he gave nothing away. Rolling her eyes at his stubbornness, Jenny pulled a PokéBall from her belt and tossed it lightly onto the ground. A large, bulky Pokémon burst out of the ball in a blaze of stark white light, swinging a sheet of long yellow hair from in front of its face, which was nothing more than a purple canvas dotted with two beady eyes and a set of enormous red lips. A long red dress flowed out from under the Pokémon's hair, billowing around it as it swung its hips in a hypnotic rhythm.

"_Jynx, jynx, jynx, jynx,_" it said melodically, moving its skinny arms to and fro with the rhythm.

"Jynx, use Psychic to move… it's _Mark_, isn't it… to Interrogation," Jenny commanded. Before Mark could launch another curse at her, he felt his body seize up and freeze in place as Jynx's psychic powers immobilised him, and he was struck dumb mid-sentence, his mouth gaping open ridiculously as he tried to say the words he had been so eager to shout. With effortless grace Jynx manoeuvred the hapless Galactic out the door and down the damp corridor, Jenny marching behind them both with her baton in hand.

_Oh, if only that Abomasnow had given me a little more time to get away…_ Mark thought to himself, reluctantly allowing himself to be dragged along the hallway and down to the door marked 'Interrogation'. With a nod from Jenny, Jynx threw him roughly into the room, sending him crashing against the cold steel table, and Mark gasped for air as the wind was driven from his lungs.

"Sit down," she ordered, recalling her Pokémon to her PokéBall and clipping it to her belt. "Now."

Mark clenched his tongue between his teeth, holding back a retort that would no doubt earn him other painful blow to the head, and threw himself onto the thin chair sitting alongside the table. "Look, I have no idea why I'm here, so please _enlighten_ me as to why!" he shouted, thumping a fist on the table.

"You're here because you're a suspect on: three counts of murder, one count of kidnapping, four counts of attempted aggravated assault, one count of property destruction, and one count of evading arrest," Jenny said, riffling through a sheaf of papers in her hand. Mark let out a low whistle and ticked them all off on his hands.

"Ten? Wow, I've been busy, haven't I?" he chuckled, tipping his chair back onto its hind legs. "But hang on—" he leant forwards, dropping the chair's front legs against the ground with a loud bang, "I get the kidnapping, the four triple-A's, and the evading arrest, but I didn't kill _or_ destroy anything… or any_one_."

"You killed three people, including two of your own Galactics!" Jenny shouted, her anger boiling over at the man's arrogance.

"What are you talking about?! There were only four of us on this island. I'm still alive, my boss was… alive…" he trailed off as Jenny produced a stack of full-colour photographs from inside a manila folder and spread them over the face of the table. Mark saw more than fifty of the photographs, but only two of them mattered to him, and they were the ones that Jenny pushed across the table towards him.

"These two were found by one of the boys who you battled earlier at the harbour," she stated. "Upon inspection, they were found to be in possession of these badges—" she held two tiny yellow Gs in the palm of her outstretched hand, "of which we found a matching badge inside your pants pocket when your clothes and Pokémon were seized. Do they look familiar?" she asked, indicating the pictures of the two women's faces.

"Ale-Alex—!" he choked, running a hand down the red-haired girl's face. "Em—Emi—…" his eyes swam with tears as he saw the lifeless gold eyes of his other teammate, half-hidden behind a wispy curtain of bright blue hair, and his collapsed onto the table, his body shaking with sobs as he realised their fate. "How—what happened—?!"

"They were found at the Anjiosi Hot Springs, a little over an hour ago," Jenny said uneasily, beginning to worry at this unexpected show of emotion, and she soon realised that this man, broken over the death of these two girls, couldn't have been the one responsible for their murder. But at her words, Mark instantly stopped his grieved tears, and his head slowly rose off the cold steel. He blinked his eyes and stared at the officer with a penetrating coldness that made Jenny physically shiver in her seat at the sight of it.

"Hot springs?" he quaked, his spidery hands forming fists on the surface of the table. "That—_that son of a bitch_!" he bellowed, pounding his fists into the metal with such force that it was dented by the blows. "_I'll kill him_!" he roared, standing to his feet and picking up the chair that was about to fall to the ground behind him. With another roar he threw the chair across the room with all his strength, and the one-way mirror on the wall shattered as the flimsy metal crashed into it, sending a spray of sharp glass onto the floor on both sides. He charged for the door, but was blasted off his feet when an excruciatingly hot flare of electricity shot up his spine, making his muscles seize and contract. His body shook uncontrollably as the current continued to course through him, and when the unbearable pain was finally over, he kept twitching around like a Magikarp on dry land.

"You'll do no such thing!" Jenny shouted, pocketing her Taser and pushing him onto his back with the toe of her boot. "Even _if_ you didn't kill those two girls, you're _still_ under arrest for the murder of Sergeant John Avery," she seethed, grabbing Mark by the hair and dragging him back to his feet despite his tortured scream.

"I didn't kill _him_ either!" he wailed, snatching at his hair as he was dumped onto the still-standing chair that Jenny had been occupying, and he felt the officer re-tie his handcuffs so that they were tied to the table, which was bolted into the ground. "It was my boss!" he seethed.

"Do you have any proof _at all_?" Jenny challenged, folding her arms.

"My Pokémon had been confiscated _before_ I was handcuffed, and _before_ that car was blown up! My boss – Shane – his Abomasnow killed that cop with a Razor Leaf, freed me with a second one, then blew up the car with a Focus Blast!"

"Then why did you run?!"

"Because I knew that I'd be the one who'd get blamed!" Mark countered, gritting his teeth.

"A likely story. You know what I think? I think that you slit his throat, slipped a PokéBall out of your pocket and used it to create a distraction while you tried to run," Jenny hissed, her gloved hands curling into fists as they rested on the photographs on the table.

"I'm telling you, I'm _innocent_!"

"And _I'm _telling _you_ that you're staying right here until your trial! If you truly are as innocent as you say you are, you'll have no problem pleading your case to a judge," she said darkly, sweeping all the photographs, except those of Emily and Alex, into the manila folder and heading for the door.

"You're being _biased_!" Mark roared, vainly trying to break his wrists free from the biting sting of the handcuffs. "You won't listen to me because your cop friend got killed!" he shouted desperately, his heart racing as Officer Jenny slammed the door shut behind her. His eyes slid back to the two photos that she had left behind, and his body trembled with grief as he saw Emily's pale face again. _She was too young to die… she was only twenty-two! That's no age to die! _he thought, his emotions instantly turning into red-hot anger, and a taste for vengeance at the one who mad murdered her.

"Know this, Shane!" he roared, his voice bouncing off the walls as he shouted to the heavens, "Know that the last breath you take will be at my feet, in this life or the next! I will avenge Emily, and you will know my wrath!"

* * *

"Hey, Ash…" Ari mumbled, as he and the rest of the group walked down the beautifully decorated hallway of Ash's hotel, just as the elevator behind them chimed and closed shut. Ash, several paces ahead of him, stopped and turned on the spot, both he and Pikachu looking at him curiously.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Look, um… when Dawn was—about to get hit by Torterra's Frenzy Plant—" he shifted around on his feet, as though he was uncomfortable with something, "I didn't tell Horazon to do anything… I couldn't. I just froze up—and when I saw those vines starting to fall back down… I was so scared—" he broke off and firmly shut his mouth, worried that he was about to break down from reliving the experience, and Ash hurried over and threw a comforting arm over his shoulder.

"Hey, from what you told us before we ran in there, you'd trained that Dusknoir to sense your emotions, right?" he reasoned, helping Ari move down the hallway. "So what I reckon happened is that Dusknoir sensed that you were all frozen up, and he decided to do something of his own accord. I'd even go as far as to say that he did what he thought _you_ would have done!"

"You… you think so?"

"I've seen Pikachu do the same kind of thing a fair few times with Pokémon that I would have done if my friends were involved," Ash said warmly, patting Pikachu between his ears. "So there's no point fussing over it, yeah?"

"Yeah, I guess not," Ari agreed, wiping a hand across his eyes and giving a small sniff. "Now get off me, would you?!" he chuckled, slapping Ash's hand away. "Touchy, aren't you?"

"I could say the same about you," he retorted, stopping in front of his hotel room door. "Come on, let's just wind down and relax before we get a _nice long night's sleep_, alright?" he suggested, turning the door handle and walking inside. Ari groaned happily at the prospect of sleep, and he followed Ash into the spacious, well-lit lounge room, softly closing the door behind him with a tiny _click_.

"Ari!" shouted a voice to his left, but before Ari could turn around and acknowledge the voice's owner, he was met – for the second time in three nights – with a sheet of navy blue hair, and a pair of shimmering sapphire eyes, as Dawn launched herself at him and winded him with a crushing embrace. "Oh, Ari, I was so scared! Paul said he was going to kill me the moment you walked through that door, but I thought I'd never see you again, and then when he had his Weavile try and c—"

"_Calm down_, Dawn, it's all right! Nothing's going to hurt you here!" Ari gasped, amazing himself by the amount of words that he could get out despite the pain in his chest. "You're safe here," he added lovingly, wrapping his arms around her and returning the hug.

"Man, I think I'm gonna hurl…" Leoric laughed, leaning back in his armchair as Ari and Dawn repeatedly kissed each other. "Oh yeah, puke time," he laughed, puffing out his cheeks and making fake retching noises until they finally pulled away from each other, red in the face. "Oh, don't think you have to stop on account of my illness," he said sarcastically, putting a finger inside his mouth and pretending to throw up again.

"I've never stopped doing anything on account of your _mental_ illness, if that's what you mean," Ari fired cheerfully, a hand on Dawn's hip as he stuck his tongue out at Leoric. "But Leo, can I have a word with you out on the balcony?" he offered, gesturing towards the door that led outside.

"But you only just got here, and I wanted to talk to you as well!" Dawn pouted, clutching at his hand.

"Sorry, Dawn, but Leoric and I have a few things to sort out before—well, before anything else," he murmured apologetically. "Please? I'll be ten minutes, tops," he pleaded, kissing her on the cheek.

"Fine," she said, rolling her eyes, but there was no mistaking the blush on her face that had appeared when he had kissed her. Ari kissed her again, on the lips this time, and as he and Leoric made for the balcony, Ash suppressed a snicker when he saw that her cheeks were as red as Tamato berries. "I—think that Piplup should join in and relax with us too—_erm_—don't you think?" she said hastily, summoning her pint-sized penguin Pokémon into the room and scooping the happily chirping Piplup up into her hands as she sat down on the armchair that Leoric had just vacated.

"_Pip pip-lup!_" squeaked Piplup, waving its arms about as Dawn nuzzled her chin against its feathery head.

"Oh, I missed you too, Piplup!" Dawn said in a baby voice, tickling the Pokémon's belly. Ash held back another laugh, but he wasn't as successful this time around, and so he sloppily disguised it as a cough. Dawn saw through the pathetic attempt at once, and she scowled at him as she hugged Piplup's mid-section. "What?" she snapped.

"Well, for someone who came this close—" Ash held his thumb and forefinger a hair's breadth apart, "to dying – _twice_ – you seem pretty upbeat about everything at the moment," he observed.

"I just realised that with you guys looking out for me as much as you did, I never really had anything to worry about," she shrugged, taking off her white hat and placing it on Piplup's head. "Hey, where was Ari's hat anyways? He didn't have it on him when he walked through the door," she inquired, whipping her head around to look at Ari and Leoric, who were leaning on the balcony railing outside.

"Well, it got burnt to cinders by a Houndoom about… an hour and a half ago," Brock recounted, checking the clock on the wall just as it struck two o'clock in the morning. "You know that man that cornered you and Ari in the alley? We tracked him down to a helipad at the harbour, and Pikachu here—" Pikachu happily jumped on the spot, "destroyed his escape helicopter with a Thunderbolt attack."

"You should have seen the explosion!" Ash added dramatically, thrusting his hands into the air and adding choice sound effects, all of which made Dawn burst out with laughter.

"Okay, stop it, or I really _am_ gonna die!" she choked, clutching at her stomach.

* * *

A cold, gentle wind blew across the night sky and flapped at the clothes and hair of the two Trainers standing just outside the room where Dawn was doubled over with laughter. The smaller of the two – albeit only by a matter of a few centimetres – subconsciously raised a hand to his head, thinking to stop his hat from flying away in the gust of air, but when his hand met the shock of brown hair at the back of his head, he remembered that his hat had been destroyed, and he lowered it back to rest on the railing as he stared out at the vast expanse of ocean straight in front of him.

"The stars came out tonight," he murmured, looking up at the twinkling mass of lights above his head. Leoric snorted and shook his head, turning his head to stare dubiously at his friend.

"Come on, Ari, you didn't bring me out here just to talk about the _stars_, did you?!" he chortled, running a hand through his blonde fringe. "You said you wanted to sort some things out, so… start sorting!"

"Okay then," Ari said, leaning backwards and holding the railing with his hands to keep his balance. "Look, Leo, I'm—I'm really sorry for not telling you about what Tina, and what happened with Paul all those years ago," he rushed, looking imploringly at Leoric with all the sorrow of someone who had betrayed his friend, because Ari truly felt like he had.

"I'm not saying I completely forgive you for that," Leoric said stubbornly, refusing to meet his gaze. "You really dug the knife in by not telling me. Heck, I had to find out from _Ash and Brock_ – who you haven't even known for a _week_! – about what happened! When your best friend tells his secrets to a stranger over his best friend, that's not something that I'm just going to forget in a hurry."

"Look, I totally understand where you're coming from; I really do," Ari pressed on, "but please don't let one stupid, _gigantic_ mistake on my part stop us from being friends. We've been through way too much together," he added despairingly, watching as Leoric tossed his head back and gripped the railing with both hands.

"Dude, you make it sound like we're a goddamn couple," he hissed, but Ari could see the shadow of a smirk on his face. "Should I just tell Dawn what you said to me, because I think she might get a bit jealous by it!" he added, roaring with laughter as the hilarity of the moment finally escaped him.

"You can be a real pain when you want to be, you know that?" Ari shouted, pushing Leoric in the chest as he struggled to contain his own raucous laughter.

"Like I said before," he growled, throwing an arm over Ari's head and putting him in a stiff headlock, "this doesn't mean I completely forgive you. But I'm willing to live with it for the time being, on one condition."

"Alright, alright!" Ari yelled, trying to free himself from Leoric's grasp. "Just let me go!"

"The _condition_ is that I don't have to tell you _anything_ about what I do – when you're not around – for the next six months. And if you ask me about it at all, the six months starts all over again," he said silkily, moving his arms away from Ari's head.

"But that's no fair!" he whined, throwing his hands in the air. "I want to know about what goes on with you and M—you're right… you're right," he admitted, letting his arms fall to his sides in defeat, knowing that he'd be in the wrong to complain. "Your secrets are _your_ secrets until two o'clock tonight, six months from now. Deal?" he offered, putting his hand forwards, to which Leoric smirked and clasped it in his own, before the two moved together for a one-armed hug.

"Good to know that you know where to cross the line," Leoric muttered, clapping his free hand on Ari's back. "Now get out of here," he winked, and Ari punched him in the arm before strolling back inside to join Brock, Dawn, and Ash, who seemed to have fallen asleep momentarily before slipping off his chair and landing face-first on the carpet. Leoric watched Ash pick himself up from the ground, and cracked with laughter when he saw the inflamed red mark running up the side of his face due to the carpet burn he'd just received.

"I wonder what Anabel's gonna think when she sees _that_ one," he mused, stretching his limbs and yawning tiredly before trudging through the open doorway, scratching his backside as he swung the door shut behind him.

* * *

"Hang on, if we're going to give credit where credit's due, it was _me_ that punched Paul square in the nose!" Leoric challenged, jabbing at thin air to get his point across.

"And look where that got you; you would've been fried like an egg if Ari's Magmortar hadn't jumped in the way and saved your skin," Ash pointed out, stifling a laugh.

"You're just jealous that _you_ didn't get to sock him one!" he fired back, smacking his fist against his open palm.

"Hey, settle down!" Ari and Brock shouted at the same time, although they were talking to a different half of the quarrelling pair, who blinked and shut their mouths obediently before winking discreetly at each other as they leaned back in their seats.

"The way Leo goes on about it, you'd think he'd won a medal," Ari sighed, rolling his eyes, much to everyone's amusement.

"I think he _should_ have gotten a medal, it was pretty brave of him," Dawn reasoned, giving Ari a meaningful look, as Leoric thumped a fist on the arm of his lounge chair and praised her for being a supportive friend. "Come on, are you telling me you wouldn't have done the same thing if you had the chance?" she asked Ari, who kept silent for several moments before answering her question.

"No comment," he said cheekily, choosing not to answer her question at all. His comment – or lack thereof - earned him a smack in the face with the small cushion in Dawn's hand, followed closely by Piplup, who volleyed an over-eager Bubblebeam at Ari in reply, appearing to misinterpret Dawn's intentions with the face-hit. Ari shut his eyes as the spray of water soaked him from the tip of his hair to the base of his chin, and he stood up from the lounge and shook his head from side to side, comically trying to dry his face off in the same fashion that a wet Poochyena would.

"Yuck!" Leoric exclaimed, as some of the water hit him in the face. "Ari, if you're gonna act like a dog, I'll put you out _like_ _a dog_!" he threatened, so in reply, Ari wagged his tongue at Leoric and barked playfully at him, earning him another cushion to the face and a peal of laughter from Ash and Dawn – Brock having headed off to bed several minutes ago – and Ash fell into hysterics by the time Pikachu had the sense to snap him out of it with a ThunderShock.

"Sorry, but you set yourself up for it, Leo," Ari shrugged pushing his hair out of his eyes and sitting back down next to Dawn, who picked Piplup off the ground and put it lightly on his lap. "Hey, there, Piplup," he said formally, looking at the Penguin Pokémon upside-down as its head craned up to look at him, "do you think you can go ten minutes without _showering_ me with affection?" he joked, to which Piplup blew a large blue bubble from its tiny mouth and popped it with its beak, splashing him with more water. "Guess not," he muttered, wiping the water away from his eyes.

Ash laughed at his friends' antics and leant back in his comfortable armchair, Pikachu resting lazily on his lap. _It's so hard to believe that we were so worried about so many things only two hours ago…_ he thought, watching through half-closed eyes as Leoric tried to trick Piplup into hitting Ari with another Water-type attack. He absent-mindedly scratched Pikachu between the ears and closed his eyes as he let his drowsiness take over, and within moments he was sound asleep, his head lolling to the side as his mouth fell open.

"Oi, Leo, look at the time!" Ari exclaimed, pointing – with a foam-covered hand, thanks mostly to Piplup – at the clock on the wall, where the hands pointed at twenty past two. "We should _really_ get some sleep before sunrise… we're gonna need all the energy we can afford if we want to prepare for the fourth round—"

"—And the next Tag Team battle, blah… blah… blah… but they're not until… tomorrow anyways!" Leoric said groggily, waving a hand in the air. "You worry too much sometimes," he added, slowly getting to his feet. "Sorry to have to part company with you guys, but the _missus_ here needs her ugly sleep," he sneered, cuffing Ari around the neck.

"Like _you're_ a regular Steven Stone yourself," Ari retorted, pushing Leoric away and turning to Dawn. "You, on the other hand…" he murmured with a cheeky smile, "would put a _Milotic_ to shame. And I would know," he added, tapping the fourth PokéBall on his belt inconspicuously.

"Stop it, you're making me blush!" Dawn whispered, grinning all the same as Ari got to his feet. "Are you and Leoric going back to your room now?" she asked, crestfallen as she grabbed at his hands.

"Yeah, I'm absolutely knackered after today—well, yesterday and the first part of today—and all I need right now is a soft, comfy bed that I can just fall asleep in," he said dreamily, beginning to drift off merely by talking about his impending sleep. "But I will definitely come over here and see you the moment I finish my breakfast in the morning, alright?" he reassured her, giving her a quick peck on the cheek before letting go of her hands and heading for the door, Leoric stumbling wearily behind him and battling to stay awake.

"See you tomo—later today, then," Dawn said, Piplup waving at the two departing Trainers as it jumped up onto the coffee table.

"See you later, Dawn… Ash…" Leoric grumbled, failing to notice that Ash was already beginning to snore, as he lumbered after Ari and slammed the door shut behind them.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Jeanne's full name – **_**Jeanne Girard**_** – is, like her co-anchor, based on Sacha Baron Cohen; this time, it is the name of the character that Cohen plays in **_**Talladega Knights**_**, although the character's name is actually **_**Jean**_** (but I digress).**

**Quiz:**

***Steven Stone and Milotic share a common trait in that they both appear in what?**


	59. All We Want For Christmas

**CHAPTER 59 – ALL WE WANT FOR CHRISTMAS**

Ash's eyes flew open at once, only to be blinded by the sun shining straight through his window, and his hands flew in front of his face to protect himself. Unfortunately for Pikachu, he had been sleeping right next to Ash, and the sudden movement knocked both it and the bed-sheets across the room and smacking into the bedroom wall. Frantically waving the thick blankets away, Pikachu decided to pay Ash back – for doing this to it for the second morning in a row – and blasted him with a ThunderShock attack.

"Thanks… for the wake-up call…" Ash coughed, shaking the electricity out of his system as he stripped out of his pyjamas and pulled his jeans on. "Hey, Pikachu…?" he mumbled, zipping up his jacket as he reached for his cap, "I get the feeling that I've forgotten something. Something… important—" he adjusted the brim of the cap and looked around to find that Pikachu had already left the room, presumably to get some breakfast. "I guess Pikachu didn't forget that he was hungry," he laughed, slipping on his shoes before rubbing his eyes and plodding down the hallway towards the kitchen, his mouth already watering at the thought of the steaming plate of pancakes that Brock made for him every morning.

Turning into the dining room, Ash stopped short when he realised that neither Brock nor Dawn were anywhere to be seen, especially not – to Ash's stomach's extreme disappointment – the kitchen. Thinking that he might have woken up before them, Ash about-faced and slowly turned the handle of Brock's bedroom door, making sure to make as little noise as possible as the door swung inwards.

"What the—?" he muttered, because Brock's bed was unoccupied and freshly made, right down to the fluffing of the pillows at the head of the bed. "Hmm… maybe Dawn…" he whispered – although he had no idea why he was whispering – and tried the door on the other side of the hallway. To his surprise, the door was already ajar, which immediately told Ash that Dawn wasn't asleep in there; she didn't leave the door open unless she was happy with her appearance, which was usually never. But he pushed the door open nonetheless, and from out of nowhere, Pikachu jumped up onto his shoulder, sporting a fluffy red hat ringed with a white collar, and tipped with a white ball of cotton.

"_Piika_!" squeaked Pikachu, balancing itself on Ash's shoulder as it straightened the hat to allow its ears some room to move.

"Pikachu, what are you doing, going through Dawn's th—?" Ash began asking, but his eyes shot down to the corner of Dawn's room, where there was a small stack of boxes covered in gift-wrapping paper. He looked from between the boxes, to Pikachu, to the hat on his head, and all of a sudden two and two came together. "Is it Christmas Day _today_?!" he yelped, smacking himself in the forehead, to which Pikachu tapped a paw on his nose.

"I had no idea! I was so caught up in the tournament and—and having to chase Team Rocket and—all that business with Paul—!" he ranted, sprinting down the hallway and into the lounge room. "I completely forgot about it! Argh, I'm so _stupid_!" he growled, looking up at the clock mounted on the wall, which read eleven o'clock. "And I _slept in_?!"

"_Pika pi…_" Pikachu mumbled, taking the hat off its head, replacing it with Ash's hat before he put the Christmas hat on Ash's. Ash looked up at the bobble hanging down over his fringe and raised a hand to tap it like a Skitty to a ball of string.

"Come on, Pikachu, we've got to get something for everybody!" he decided, running back into his room and swiping his other five PokéBalls from the bedside table. "These guys can help," he explained to his Pokémon, dashing back down the hallway and skidding across the polished floor as he headed for the door. "Let's see… Torkoal, Noctowl, Kingler, Gliscor and Glalie—" he tapped each PokéBall in order as he clipped them to his waist, feeling the familiar weight as they tugged at his belt. He was so focused on inventing roles for these Pokémon, he didn't even notice as Pikachu jumped onto the floor and streaked down the hallway, leaping onto Ash's bed and rummaging through his backpack, lying on a chair next to the bed.

_Okay, got it,_ Ash thought, and once he looked around he realised that Pikachu was no longer with him. "Pikachu—?!" he called, but before he could call his Pokémon's name again, Pikachu bounded out of his room and hopped onto the lounge next to where Ash was standing, holding a large square of leather between its teeth. "Right, I knew I'd forgotten something… my wallet," he said sheepishly, stuffing the wallet into his back pocket before switching his and Pikachu's hats back to their original owners.

"_Pi-ka-cfhu_," warned Pikachu, tossing the hat bobble behind his ears as Ash placed him back on his shoulder and threw the door open, slamming it shut behind him.

"Keys—?" Ash asked blankly, his hands patting down his pockets. Finding nothing, he turned back to the lock in the wood and swore in frustration, kicking it once for good measure before bolting down the hallway towards the elevator. "How can this day get any worse?!"

* * *

"Okay, guys, since it's Christmas – and because we have no Championship battles today – you can roam the island for as long as you want," Ari said, ignoring the whooping cries and high-fives that his Pokémon were giving each other. "…Just make sure that you're back here at the house by sundown, understood?" he added firmly, and his five Pokémon – Gallade, Electivire, Garchomp, Magmortar and Dusknoir – all nodded in agreement and strode down the street towards the main hub of the island, whilst the sixth of Ari's Pokémon gave a musical cry and slid into the ocean water beyond the beach, its red, fan-like tail the last thing to disappear from sight.

"Stop slacking around, Ari! We need your help over here!" boomed a rough voice behind him, and Ari spun around to see Brandon holding up an enormous Christmas banner whilst Noland over-enthusiastically nailed it into place with what looked like a sledgehammer, standing at the top of a thin wooden ladder.

"What do you need _me_ for?! You two look like you're doing fine by yourselves!" Ari chuckled, walking over to join them and holding Noland's ladder as the latter finished nailing the corner of the banner into the top of the wooden wall.

"See, Brandon? He's got no clue at all," Noland smirked, working on the lower corner of the banner now. "Ari, have you ever tried using a sledgehammer one-handed whilst standing on a ladder?" he asked rhetorically. "_You_ help _me_ by getting and holding my beer while I'm working!"

"You called me over to be your booze mule?" Ari shouted, shaking the rickety ladder with his hands.

"Careful there, mule!" Noland cackled, grabbing onto the supports of the second-storey balcony with his free hand, the sledgehammer dangling from the other as he moved it to rest over Ari's head. "If you knock me off, this hammer's gonna knock you _out_!"

"Whatever. I get you _one_ beer, and you can hold it yourself," he muttered, moving away from the ladder and walking along the side of the house, swinging the gate open and entering the enormous backyard. "Hey Brock, how's the preparations coming along?" he asked, noticing the dark-skinned Trainer – dressed in a ridiculously frilly pink apron – fussing over a gas barbeque that seemed extremely unwilling to start.

"Work, you stupid piece o—oh, hi Ari," Brock muttered, snapping his head around to look at him.

"What are you doing with that barbeque? The party's not until… about seven-thirty. That's like eight hours away," Ari said, making for the fridge and snatching a thin bottle from inside the door. "Not mine, Noland's," he explained, seeing the suspicious look on Brock's face. "Hey, why don't you let your Pokémon out of their balls? They'd enjoy stretching their legs, and Croagunk could probably help you out with some things," he suggested.

"That's a good idea; I can't believe I didn't think of that one earlier!" Brock said brightly, taking his PokéBalls from his belt. "Come on out, guys!" he yelled, and his Crobat, Croagunk, Sudowoodo and Happiny burst out onto the ground – or in Crobat's case, the air – and moved into the large space of lush green that was beyond the house's back fence. "Where are your Pokémon, though?" Brock asked, after watching Happiny toss Sudowoodo over the fence, the latter not being able to squeeze through the gap.

"I let them out to enjoy themselves for the day. They're somewhere on the island, doing—well, whatever they want," Ari chuckled, glancing down at the beer in his hand. "Ah screw this; Noland can get his own beer," he muttered, putting the drink back in the fridge. "So what's the matter with the barbeque, Brock?" he inquired, moving over to help Brock with his problem.

* * *

May snatched at the red outfit hanging on the rack and held it up against her figure, turning to the three girls who were accompanying her on their shopping spree. "If I was wearing this, which part do you think a guy would look more at?" she asked anxiously.

Anabel looked up from a sky-blue tank top and looked the outfit up and down, trying to picture May wearing it. "I don't think you'd have to worry about that," she said comfortingly, moving forwards and holding one of the sleeves against May's arm. "I think you'd be hard put to find a guy who wouldn't be looking at _all_ of you."

"Well, that answers _that_ question," May sighed, tossing the outfit back onto the rack and poring over the next one. "I need to find something that'll look… well—"

"Dazzling but not desperate?" Dawn suggested meekly, to which May nodded vigorously.

"So, May… who is it you're trying to look—_dazzling_—for, anyways?" Anabel asked, hiding the smirk on her face.

"No-one!" May retorted, turning away to hide the slight blush on her cheeks. "We need good costumes for our routine, remember!" she huffed, now turning crimson. "And I'm the only one who doesn't have one; I've seen yours and Dawn's and—Misty's—and they all look gorgeous! I just want to fit in with all that…" she mumbled.

"You'll do fine," Misty said, checking her reflection in the mirror as she imagined herself in the green bikini in her hands, "I've performed a lot of water shows in Cerulean City with my three sisters, and you can get a bit nervous at first, but once we get a few practices under our belts, it'll be like second nature to you!"

"But I'm not a performer like you!" May whined, clutching at the two thick brushes of brown hair at the sides of her face.

"Just imagine that you're at one of your Pokémon Contests," Dawn suggested, putting a hand on her friend's arm. "It's not much different; you don't have your Pokémon with you, but there's only going to be about ten to twenty people there to see it."

"I guess you're right…" she mumbled, taking a second outfit that Dawn handed her from the carousel. "Wow! This looks amazing!" she gasped, turning it over in her hands.

"It looks exactly the same as the one you were just looking at," Anabel snorted.

"It's completely different!" howled May and Dawn, outraged at the mere suggestion that they were similar.

"Dawn, you have such an _eye_ for these things!" praised May, pirouetting whilst she held the outfit against her body. "Thank you so much for picking this one out!" she squealed, hugging Dawn around the neck. "It's _perfect_!"

"Hey, I'm glad to help," she said shyly, watching amusedly as May turned her new obsession this way and that, admiring the fabric. "Well, don't just stand there; try it on!" she ordered, pointing at the changing rooms to the side. May nodded excitedly and bounded over to the rooms, ripping one of the curtains across to hide her from the rest of the store as she changed her clothes.

"Anabel, could I borrow your opinion for just a _teensy_ moment?" Misty asked, beckoning for Anabel to join her. "You know Leoric, right?"

"Yeah, w—?" Anabel murmured, before stepping backwards. "Oh no. No-no-no-no-no-no-no! I am not helping you with your little game of cat-and-mouse, no way!" she cried, gesticulating wildly with her hands.

"Stop being such a baby, Anabel; I just wanted to ask you a question!" Misty snapped, walking towards her.

* * *

Ash raced through the lobby and threw the wide glass doors open as he ran into the open street, looking this way and that as he tried to get his bearings on where the best shops were. Spinning around on the spot, Pikachu quickly became dizzy from it all and tottered onto the ground with a dull thud, looking remarkably similar to a Spinda as it teetered and tripped over clumsily, and tiny little Psyduck spun around its head as it tried to shake itself out of its confusion.

"Come on, Pikachu, this is no time to be sitting down on the job!" said a frustrated Ash, pulling the five PokéBalls from his waist and hurling them into the air. "I need your helps, guys!" he shouted, just as his Pokémon pounced out of their balls and landed on the ground next to a still-dazed Pikachu. Noctowl cocked its head to the side as Pikachu looked at it starry-eyed, before rolling its eyes and giving him a short, sharp psychic blast that brought him back to his senses.

"Okay guys, it's Christmas, it's nearly noon, and I need to find presents," Ash said brusquely, pacing back and forth like an irritated drill sergeant ordering his troops. "We need—_I_ need—gifts for Brock, Dawn, Misty, May, Max, Ari and Leoric—" he ticked them off on his fingers, "which means that there's just enough of us to look for one present each. We'll split up to look for one persons gift each, and then we'll meet back here at… two o'clock, so you can show me where you found them. Now, who gets who…?" he muttered, looking at the Pokémon gathered in front of him.

_Kingler,_ he thought, looking first at the giant crab Pokémon on the far left, clicking its pincers together. _He's a powerful Pokémon… so maybe I should have him scout something out for Leoric… but then again, he's a Water-type, so he'd be perfect for Misty!_ "Kingler, you remember Misty when we were at the Indigo League, don't you?" he recalled, and his Pokémon blew a large bubble out of its mouth and pierced it with its claw, which he took to be a yes. "Okay, look for something that you'd like… that has nothing to do with food or water, alright?" he added cautiously, and Kingler immediately scuttled away in search of Misty's gift-to-be.

_One down, six to go,_ he sighed to himself, his eyes moving on to the next Pokémon in line – Noctowl. _Ah, well _this_ one's easy… Noctowl's intelligent, so he can find something for Max!_ "Noctowl, I want you to look for something that appeals to the smart part of you, to get for Max. You think you can do that?" he requested, and Noctowl gave him an affirmative hoot before soaring into the air and skimming across the streets to find a worthy present.

_Well, that's Max done and dusted… but what about May?_ Ash considered, his eyes probing the group before settling on the bulkiest of them all, as the Pokémon in question gusted a plume of distinctive grey smoke from its nostrils with the sound of a steam train. _Torkoal, hmm… maybe a bit of jewellery? After all, he _is_ a Coal Pokémon, so he might have a natural eye for that sort of thing…_ he added, stepping forwards and kneeling down in front of Torkoal. "Hey buddy, do you know anything about jewellery?" he asked tentatively, praying for a positive response. Torkoal blasted Ash with a torrent of smoke and clapped its feet together, vigorously nodding its serpentine head, and Ash laughed as he patted Torkoal's immense shell.

"Okay, okay! You can look for a nice bracelet or some earrings to get May, how does that sound?" he offered. Torkoal, being the emotional Pokémon that it is, broke down into tears at the suggestion, overwhelmed with happiness at being given such an important task. "I take it that's a _yes_, then?" Ash commented, watching as Torkoal regained its composure and waded away, its long neck reaching up high as it craned to see the windows of the shops it passed.

"Was it something I said?" he joked, shaking his head as he looked down at the three Pokémon still remaining in front of him, and strangely he was drawn to the only Pokémon of the original six that was still in the air, softly breathing a small cloud of mist into the air. Ash didn't even need to think about which person Glalie would be gift-hunting for, and neither, it seemed, did Glalie, because as their eyes met, it nodded at once and floated away to try and locate a suitable gift for Dawn.

_So now we're left with the guys,_ Ash mused. "Gliscor," he said abruptly, making the Fang Scorp Pokémon dart, frightened, into the air. "Sorry—you can, uh… look for something to get… Leoric!" he exclaimed, snapping his fingers at the thought. "Yeah, both of you are fairly playful, so I dunno, look for something that you'd enjoy! But y'know, nothing _too_ casual," he added seriously, wanting to impress his new friends with a good present – not that he doubted his Pokémon's abilities. But Gliscor knew what Ash meant, and he stuck his tongue out at Ash before catching a passing updraft of air and gliding away.

"Well, Pikachu," Ash said, watching Gliscor disappear from view, "that just leaves you and me to get something for Brock and Ari. To be honest, I don't know what to get _either_ of them," he admitted, his shoulders slumping. "I mean, Brock's always the guy who buys _us_ things… but I don't know… maybe a cookbook, or something on raising Pokémon?" he thought aloud, scratching his chin haplessly.

"_Piika chu Pika!_" Pikachu said brightly.

"_You_ don't know Ari _either_," Ash said bluntly. "But… maybe… Pikachu—?!" he shouted, for Pikachu was already sprinting down the street on all fours, the Santa hat flopping about in the wind as he ran. "Pikachu, wait up!" he called after his Pokémon, before resting his hands on his head. "Well, I guess that leaves me to get something for Brock," he sighed, letting his hands fall to his sides before beginning the long walk down the street ahead of him, looking through every shop window he came across to find a good present for his oldest friend.

* * *

"_Hey, wait up! Stop! I need to ask you two something!_"

"_Galadriel, hold up. I think someone wants to talk to us."_

"_Who could it possibly b—? Oh, greetings, Pikachu!"_

"_About time you paid attention_," Pikachu wheezed, having run at full pace down the street to catch up with the two Pokémon in front of him. Whilst Ash had been deliberating over which of the two of them would be searching for Brock and Ari's presents, Pikachu had seen a fleeting glimpse of a Dusknoir hovering alongside a Gallade four streets down, just as the crowd dispersed for a split second, and he had chased after them.

"_It's been a while, Pikachu,_" Horazon said conversationally, his deep voice booming like a gong. "_How come Ash isn't with you?_"

"_I could ask the same thing about where Ari is," _Pikachu replied smartly, _"But long story short, I came here to ask for your help._"

"_How on earth could _we_ help?!"_ Galadriel inquired, seemingly shocked by the request. "_I mean—"_ he broke off as Horazon gave him a piercing look with his lone, red eye, "_How _may_ we be of service?"_

"_Well, it's Christmas Day,"_ Pikachu explained, keeping an eye out for the danger of being trampled by nearby tourists, "_and Ash wants to buy everyone some presents, you see. We all split up to look for a present for each person, and, well—I'm the one looking for a present for Ari. But I've got no idea what he _likes_, so I was wondering if you guys could help me pick something out for Ash to buy him…"_ he looked pleadingly at Galadriel, who returned the gaze indifferently before giving in; he just couldn't ignore helping a Pokémon in need.

"_I'm not sure that there was anything in our schedule for today, was there?"_ he asked Horazon, who threw up his hands in defeat as the craggy face on its front gave a disgruntled groan. _"Oh, stop being such a wet Reaper Cloth,_" he snorted, poking his fellow Pokémon in the side of the arm. _"Both I—"_ he tapped his chest proudly, _"—and Horazon—"_ Horazon grunted reluctantly, _"—are at your service, until such time as you accomplish your task."_

"_Uh… thanks, I guess?_" Pikachu giggled, rocking back and forth on his feet. Horazon twanged at the antenna on top of his head and hovered down the street impatiently, and Galadriel rolled his crimson eyes before gesturing for Pikachu to follow along with him.

"_So what's the deal with this Santa spree?"_ Horazon asked, the face on its back – a smiling face in contrast with the frown plastered across the Pokémon's front – blinking rhythmically as he focused his attention on the small yellow Pokémon running to keep up.

"_I'm not a hundred percent sure on it myself," _Pikachu admitted, hopping onto Galadriel's shoulder after the Blade Pokémon courteously offered it. _"He completely forgot about Christmas until about twenty minutes ago, and all of a sudden he raced down here to buy everyone gifts. He was in such a rush that he accidentally locked himself out of the room!"_ he added with a laugh, and he was relieved when Ari's two Pokémon joined in on the joke.

"_So you split up to look for gifts individually, eh? Who got stuck picking out whose gifts?"_ Horazon asked, weaving between a group of small children clamouring over a man selling Magikarp.

"_I'm with Ari—obviously… Ash is looking for Brock's… Noctowl and Max… Torkoal and May… Glalie and Dawn… Kingler and Misty… and Gliscor and Leoric," _Pikachu summarised, counting seven pairs of names off on his paws.

"_I see. But wait—_" Galadriel stopped in his tracks and scratched the horn on his head, _"you only named seven people! What of the lovely Ms. Silver?!"_

"_Who?"_

"_Don't worry about it, Pikachu,"_ Horazon muttered, whirling around to face the two Pokémon behind him. _"Galadriel always feels that using humans' first names is disrespectful."_

"_What if you're talking about Ari?" _Pikachu asked hypothetically.

"_Master, of course… or Master Ari,"_ Galadriel replied simply. _"We Gallade are the _masters_ of courtesy, after all,"_ he added with a small chuckle.

"_Right…"_ muttered Pikachu, glancing edgily at his courier's head. _"I'll keep that in mind, Gallade."_

"_Feel free to call me Galadriel."_

"_Okay then, _Galadriel_, any ideas on what would make a good gift for Ari for Christmas?"_

"_Well, Master Ari enjoys hot dogs and caramel milkshakes… although I'm sensing that those wouldn't make suitable presents…"_

"_A Feebas would know that they wouldn't be good gifts, Galadriel,"_ Horazon drawled, rolling his eye. _"Look, Pikachu, if Ash wants to get him something cool, just have him buy Ari some kind of PokéBall. Actually—"_

"—_Ash should purchase a Dusk Ball,"_ Galadriel finished, much to Horazon's frustration. _"Master Ari seems to have a penchant for custom PokéBalls that I've never fully understood. As far as I'm aware, all he needs to complete his collection are a Dusk Ball… a Luxury Ball… and of course, the elusive Master Ball."_

"_So you're saying a Dusk Ball is what Ash should get him?"_ Pikachu repeated, making sure he understood the comment. _"Wow, thanks! That sure was easy!"_ he admitted, his ears twitching happily from under his fluffy Santa hat.

"_What is _with_ that hat?!"_ Horazon screeched, pointing at the bobble as it swung around in the breeze. _"I know that it's Christmas and all, but… seriously, why?!"_

"_Oh, this?"_ Pikachu impulsively raised a hand to bat the cotton ball out of the way. _"I found it in Dawn's room this morning, and—"_ he looked around nervously, as though expecting to be overheard by passers-by, and he beckoned for the Gripper Pokémon to come closer, _"—you too, Galadriel—"_ Galadriel craned its round head so that Pikachu was stuck between his and Horazon's heads, _"—I found it along with…"_ he whispered furiously into their ears. Horazon nodded knowingly, but when Pikachu finished, he yelped and jumped backwards, smacking into a thick-set man with black hair.

"_I did _not_ need to hear that!"_ he shouted, clamping his vast hands over his ears and swinging his head from side to side. _"La-la-la-la-la-I-can't-hear-you-la-la-la-la-la—"_

"_I have to agree with Horazon on this one,"_ Galadriel admitted, raising a sword-like hand to cover his mouth. _"My ears were not ready for information that—specific—"_

"_Sorry about that, guys,"_ chuckled Pikachu. _"I thought it was actually pretty funny…"_

* * *

"Okay, I _officially_ think that you bought too many clothes, Dawn," Anabel giggled, holding five bags between her own hands as the group of four strolled merrily out of the department store. "I mean, I know that shopping is a passion, but…"

"It's a healthy way for me to spend my free time. Besides, what good is Christmas without a little _Christmas shopping_?" Dawn rebuked, turning her nose mockingly upwards as she struggled with the weight of no less than nine shopping bags running the length of her arms, and trotting dutifully behind her was Ambipom, carrying another three in its tail-hands. "Alright, _maybe_ I got a _little_ carried away," she admitted, spreading her arms wide as she looked at the brightly coloured bags hanging off them.

"You look like a supermarket scarecrow," May smirked, only holding a single bag which was slung over her shoulder. "Trying to scare other girls away from the accessories that you couldn't buy today—"

"—I'll come back for _those_ tomorrow," Dawn said smartly, groaning with irritation as she shifted the bag-strings further along her sore arms. As she began to lead the girls along the sidewalk, making for the hotels where they could drop off their bags for the rest of the day, she spotted an oddly-coloured Noctowl flying overhead, sprinkling a shower of golden particles from its dull red wings as they flapped, and she followed it with her eyes as they twinkled in the light.

"Hey, it's Ash's Noctowl!" Misty exclaimed, pointing at the bird as it soared down the street behind them. "I wonder what it's doing…"

"Maybe Ash decided to let his Pokémon out of their PokéBalls for the day," Anabel suggested. "I think I'll let Espeon out of her ball as well; after all, it's _Christmas_!" she said brightly, dropping her bags as she pulled Espeon's PokéBall from her waist. "Let's have some fun, girl!" she called, and Espeon mewed happily as she cantered onto the ground, stretching her legs and basking in the midday sun.

"_Pyoh…_" Espeon circled around Anabel's legs and rubbed her head against her Trainer's trousers before contenting herself by licking her front paw.

"Aw, that's so cute!" squealed May, jumping on the spot. "My Glaceon does that all the time, and it just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside whenever I see it."

"You have a Glaceon?! That's so awesome!" Anabel said loudly, grabbing May's hands, and they jumped up and down like a pair of hyper-active children. Misty and Dawn looked at their friends' behaviour and hid their faces in their hands, finding the whole spectacle embarrassing; after all, they _were_ in the middle of a crowded street, and somehow it always looked awkward if you weren't one of the ones bouncing around.

"I hate to break up your little Spoink session here," Misty said, finally tiring of it, "but we _really_ should get these—" she held up the four bags of clothes and other items she had bought on her own splurge, "back to our hotels quickly. We still need to rehearse our routine, remember?" she reminded them, to which Anabel and May instantly moved away and picked up the assortment of shopping bags at their feet, mumbling amongst themselves in the process.

"Spot on as always, eh Misty?" Dawn said in a bubbly voice as she nodded at Ambipom, who marched forwards with Dawn's tenth, eleventh and twelfth shopping bags in tow.

"I wonder what the boys are doing…" Anabel pondered aloud, shouldering her bags and walking after Dawn. "I can't imagine that Noland and Brandon are having much fun getting the party ready," she added with a smirk as Misty tagged along behind her, leaving May to stand on her own at the store's entrance.

_Well, I know what _one_ of the boys is doing right now,_ she thought to herself. _And he knows what another one is doing… _she added, allowing a tiny smirk to escape her as she ran to catch up with the shopping-laden girls ahead of her.

* * *

Leoric sat with his back to the enormous maple tree standing in the middle of the small square of grass opposite a small, colourful bakery that sported a magnificent wedding cake in its window, topped off with a remarkably lifelike, miniature groom and bride standing atop the highest tier of the cake. But the cake wasn't something that he was remotely focused on; in fact, he wasn't focusing on anything at all. He was just relaxing in this quiet little bubble that was his solitude as he crossed his arms and sighed peacefully, allowing himself to slide a few inches down the tree's trunk.

_Now _this_ is what I needed after a long week,_ he thought contentedly, staring up at the great sprawling branches above his head, blocking out most of the sunlight shining down on the rest of the square. _Just a few hours where I can relax and forget about everything that's going on in the world… I let Apache and the others out to play for the day, everybody's presents are bought and wrapped… I've ticked all my boxes for Christmas, especially the 'nice' one for Santa to double-check,_ he added, shaking with silent laughter at his lame attempt at humour – lame by his standards of conversations with himself, anyways.

"Man, I feel _so_ comfy right now," he whispered to himself, slowly closing his eyes. "I could just drift right off to sleep…" he gave a huge yawn and tensed his legs, which bumped against the small package, wrapped in a thick woollen blanket, which had been resting next to them. "Shit!" he yelped, scrambling forwards and snatching the blanket off the ground, cradling the package tenderly in his arms. "I have _got_ to watch where I stick my feet," he mumbled, holding tightly onto the blanket as he pushed his head backwards, knocking it on the tough bark, completely oblivious to the small boy watching him from behind a leafy green bush on the far side of the square, his cup-shaped spectacles reflecting the sun's rays.

"This. Is. So. _Boring_…" he muttered, scratching at his dark blue sideburns. "I can't believe that May tricked me into doing this. _Pokémon merchandise_ my hiney!" he hissed, watching as Leoric flipped open one of the corners of the blanket, revealing a large sky-blue egg speckled with fluffy white patches. To the boy in the bushes, it looked like a topsy-turvy Santa egg, and the notion made him crack with laughter. Striving to avoid detection, he stuffed his fist into his mouth and watched as Leoric turned the Pokémon egg this way and that, checking for the slightest imperfection on the surface, but he seemed happy with the egg's condition, because he quickly covered it back up with the blanket and tucked it under his jacket.

As the bespectacled boy shook with suppressed laughter, the movement of his head caused a stray beam of sunlight to be reflected from his glasses and into Leoric's eyes, and after a few seconds the small semicircle of bright white distracted him enough to look over in annoyance at the prankster who was so obviously trying to get on his nerves. "Stop doing that, man, or else I'm gonna come over there and shove those glasses up—_Max_?!" he shouted, finally seeing the face of the boy, who instantly tried to hide amongst the leaves even though he knew he'd been caught.

"Max, get over here! There's something I want to show you!" Leoric called, and after a few seconds he saw Max's dark hair rise up out from the bush, closely followed by the rest of his face, which looked as guilty as a thief cornered at market. "I'm not gonna hurt you," he reassured the boy, gesturing with a hand – the one not still holding the egg in place under his clothes – for Max to come closer.

"Promise?" Max yelled, staying put in his tiny sanctuary for the time being.

"I promise. Besides," Leoric replied, a concerned look on his face, "that Beedrill behind you looks ready to sting you, though."

Max screamed in fear and dashed out of the bush, his hands covered his bowed head as he blindly ran forwards, trying to put as much distance between himself and the Beedrill. But as he reached the safety of Leoric's maple tree, he stopped and realised that there wasn't even a hint of angry buzzing in the air, and when he swung around to investigate, he saw that the bush was completely uninhabited and unmarked, except for the branch lying across the ground that Max had trampled in his haste to escape.

"I should have just shouted _Beedrill_ to start out with," Leoric chuckled, looking up at the furious scowl on Max's face as he realised that he'd been duped. "Max, from what I've heard about your smarts, you of _all_ people should have realised that Beedrill don't nest in residential areas," he said merrily, smirking knowingly at the small boy. "What were you doing in that bush, anyways?"

"Well—uh—you see—" Max gulped, his quick mind desperately trying to invent a decent lie, "I was—walking down the street—and I thought I saw—a, uh, _Wurmple_—sliding into the bush—so I decided to—take a closer look at it!" he said hurriedly, taking a deep breath to slow his racing heart. "Sorry if my glasses got the sun in your eye," he apologised, hoping that the comment would distract Leoric from his pathetic lie. Leoric looked mistrustfully at him for a moment, trying to decide if he believed Max or not, but he seemed satisfied with his explanation, because he shrugged his shoulder and gave a non-committal noise from his throat as though clearing it.

"Fair enough then. Come on—" he patted a hand against the soft, green grass next to him, "sit down; I want you to see something."

"Is it that Pokémon egg?" Max asked animatedly, dropping to the ground and crossing his legs as Leoric pulled the thick blanket from under his jacket.

"You saw it, did you?" Leoric muttered, a little crestfallen at not being able to show it more dramatically, but he quickly recovered from his disappointment and unwrapped the blanket, showing the egg to Max in all its fullness. "I only just got it this morning. Would you care to take a guess at what Pokémon you think will _hatch_ out of this egg?" he dared Max, who took the egg carefully in his hands and scrutinised it closely.

"Well…" he muttered, turning it this way and that, "judging by the size of the egg, it can't be a very _large_ Pokémon as its lowest evolutionary form…" He adjusted his glasses and stared at the splotches of white dotting the blue surface, his tongue between his teeth. "And judging by the way these white spots resemble clouds, I'd say it's an aerial Pokémon, most likely a Normal-Flying dual-type."

"You're not bad at this," Leoric commented, impressed by the boy's keen knowledge. "But _which_ Normal-Flying type is it?"

"It _isn't_ a Pidgey, Spearow, Hoothoot or Starly," Max analysed, "the light blue colour eliminates them – and also Taillow – right away. In fact, the only Pokémon that I can possibly think of would be a Swablu," he shrugged, looking hopefully at Leoric as he wondered if he had guessed the correct answer.

"You should consider this sort of thing as a profession," he muttered, shaking his head in wonder as he gently prised the egg out of Max's hands and re-wrapped it in the woolly blanket. "Yep, it's a Swablu egg, and—just between you and me—my Apache – Salamence – is the father," he added proudly, grinning at the open-mouthed gape that Max gave in reply.

"Who's the mother, then?" he asked curiously, and Leoric whispered the answer briefly in his ear. "W—no way! Your Salamence, and her Altaria—?!"

"Oh yeah," Leoric laughed, tapping the egg softly with his finger. After falling silent, he got to his feet and, making sure that the egg was safely in his grasp, turned to Max and offered him a hand to get to his feet. "Feel like going for a walk, little man?" he suggested.

"Sure!" Max said cheerfully, keeping stride with Leoric as they passed the bakery.

"So how _did_ May get you to follow me?"

* * *

"Okay guys, how did you all go with finding something for everybody?" Ash asked exasperatedly, clutching a plastic bag in his right hand, and another bag in his left, as he met his six Pokémon outside the ground floor of his hotel. Whilst he had been searching for a Christmas present for Brock, he'd realised that he had forgotten all about his mother in his desperation to find gifts, and so he had stopped by a specialty shop on his way back and bought her a gift that, whilst not being overly expensive, he felt held a lot of symbolic significance when it came to Christmas.

"_Toor toor!_" puffed Torkoal, holding a shop brochure in his jaws as he stomped his feet excitedly. Taking the brochure and unfolding it, Ash saw from the front page that it was advertising various necklaces and earrings from a jewellery store that he had actually passed during his frantic searching over the past two and a half hours. As he flipped slowly through the pages, he saw that most of the items for sale were extremely lavish and ridiculously expensive, taking particular note of a solid gold Sableye studded with various precious stones, which – judging by the price – not even Madam Muchmoney would be able to afford.

"_Torkoal torkoal!"_ chimed the Pokémon, pointing at the corner of a page two-thirds of the way towards the back. Ash slipped his finger into the gap and opened the brochure to the right page, which had a number of Pokémon brooches for sale. Following Torkoal's foot, he spotted a small red-and-orange brooch in the upper-left corner of the page, and he grinned from ear to ear.

"Torkoal, that's absolutely _perfect_! If I ever need to buy jewellery ever again, _you_ are going to be the one I call!" he exclaimed proudly, and his praise was all too much for Torkoal, who burst into another stream of happy tears, swaying joyfully as Ash gave the Pokémon a warm hug around the neck. "May's gonna love that," he added, stowing the brochure in his pocket and pulling out Torkoal's PokéBall. "You deserve a rest, buddy. But don't worry, I'll bring you back out when May opens her gift, yeah?" he reassured Torkoal, who whistled happily as he was recalled to the ball in a haze of red light.

"Let's see… Kingler, what about you?" he asked his Pincer Pokémon, who pointed its massive claw to a street on their left and scuttled away towards it. "Wait up, Kingler!" Ash shouted, scooping Pikachu into his arms and running after it, with Noctowl and Gliscor flying through the air above his head, and Glalie floating lazily behind them.

* * *

"Brandon! Give us a hand here in the kitchen, would you?! Brock and I can make this much salad on our own, but we can't do this _and_ get the potatoes ready, you hear?!" Ari shouted down the hall, shredding a large pile of carrots on the chopping board in front of him. "Now! Just remember who's got the knife out of us two!" he added loudly, scraping an equal portion of the pile of stringy orange into four separate, enormous china bowls, thoroughly mixing each batch into the other vegetables and cheeses already inside.

"How are the appetisers coming along, Mrs. Ketchum?" Brock asked, shouting in triumph as the barbeque hissed to life.

"They're going fine, Brock! Mimey just finished making the garlic bread, and I'm almost done here with the berry platter!" Delia chimed in, her hands reaching at all angles to pick a berry, seemingly at random, from the various stalks that surrounded her, just as her Mr. Mime marched through the kitchen, holding four loaves of garlic bread aloft in its gloved hands as it headed for the fridge.

"_Brandon!_" Ari roared, leaning over to look down the empty passageway, turning back to his work only after hearing a faint cry of '_coming!_' from outside.

"Sorry, but Noland got tangled up trying to hang tinsel from the balcony, and I nearly fell off the ladder trying to untie him," Brandon said loudly, shuffling into the kitchen and shaking tiny streamers of red and green from the shoulders of his hiking gear. "Sometimes, he's more trouble than he's worth," he muttered slyly.

"_I heard that, Brandon, you ungrateful little hole-digger!_" shouted Noland's voice from outside, intermittently heard from between the bangs of a hammer.

"Stop your complaining, Noland! Just get that Santa up there!" Brandon yelled, washing his hands in the sink before turning to the stack of potatoes awaiting him on the far bench. "Surgeon—scalpel," he muttered to himself, picking up the knife lying next to the chopping board, "look at this! It's tiny! I've got a _way_ better solution!" He pulled a flat-blade with a steel handle, and a small excavating hammer, from the loops on his hiking belt and held them in place as he moved the first potato on the board.

"Oh no, you don't!" Delia exclaimed, grabbing the tools and ripping them out of Brandon's hands. "We're not using dirty digging tools for food! You use the knife that's given to you!" She thrust the handle of the knife into Brandon's hand and stormed back to her platter, muttering about the ineptitude of '_some men in the kitchen_'.

"You've got to be kidding me," croaked Brandon as he looked back at the pile of spuds, which seemed to double in size before his eyes. "I knew I should have stayed and helped Noland," he sighed, slicing through the first potato and throwing it into the bowl next to him.

* * *

"Okay, girls!" Anabel said brightly, resting a finger on the _PLAY_ button of the small stereo sitting in her lounge room. "On the count of four, Dawn—_one, two, three, four!_" she pushed down on the button, playing the song recorded on the cassette in the stereo.

"_**I… don't want… a lot for Christmas… there is just one thing I need…**_"

"Dawn, you keep pausing after you say _'don't want'_," Anabel sighed, stopping the song and rewinding it back to the beginning. "You're not supposed to pause, remember?"

"I'm sorry!" Dawn wailed, tapping her temple with her fingers. "I just keep getting carried away with the song, and then I get nervous, and—"

"Come on, girl, you can do it!" May encouraged her, twirling on the spot. "These outfits will really help you out; trust me."

"I know, May; these outfits are awesome…" Dawn mumbled, looking at the similar way that they were all dressed, although she herself was missing her Santa hat. "But it's really hard to get this right—and when we do it tonight at the party, we're only going to get the one chance—!"

"Dawn, calm down!" Misty said, grabbing her firmly by the shoulders. "You're not doing anybody any good by working yourself up, especially not yourself! Anabel, I really think we should all just take five minutes to relax and grab a drink, yeah?"

"All right," Anabel said, seeing no harm in a quick break. "Actually—" she slumped her shoulders and flopped down onto her armchair, "better make it ten…"

"Stop pushing yourself so hard, eh?" May suggested, passing Anabel a glass of water, which she quickly drained. "You may be used to efficiency and all that jazz from being a Frontier Brain, but it's _Christmas_!"

"I am getting so sick of having that used as an excuse," Anabel muttered, laughing tiredly. "Look at me, I'm turning into a scrooge, now!" she cried, throwing her hands into the air and shaking her head as Espeon hopped lightly onto her lap.

"The only one who's got any chance of being a scrooge around here is Ash," Misty joked, dropping her hat onto the spare armchair to reserve it as her own. "Believe me, I travelled with him for three years; he _never_ seems to remember when that big twenty-five pops up on the calendar."

"_Never_?" gasped Anabel. "But—what if he forgets this time, as well—? What if he doesn't get me anything—? Would that mean that he doesn't l—"

"You say those words, Anabel, and I'll gag you with your Santa hat," Dawn said warningly, pointing threateningly at her. "Ash is _definitely_ going to remember Christmas this year, and he is _definitely _going to remember to buy you a gift. You _especially_."

* * *

Unbeknownst to Anabel, Ash marched triumphantly down the main street with Pikachu perched happily on his shoulder, and eight shopping bags swinging at his sides, as he rejoiced in his success at finding a gift for everyone. Having just bought Ari the Dusk Ball that Pikachu had suggested, he had crossed off the final box on his list, and he had even found a store that hand-wrapped Christmas gifts while he waited, for which he was extremely thankful – he had had little experience when it came to preparing gifts so that they looked presentable.

"Ah, it's so good to have all our Christmas shopping done so quickly, isn't it, buddy?" Ash asked Pikachu happily, shaking the bags in his hands lightly as he heard the contents rattle about in their freshly wrapped boxes.

"_Piikaachuu…_" muttered Pikachu, looking down the street ahead of them.

"I did _not_ miss anyone," Ash said proudly, linking the shopping bags on one arm together so that he could prove his point to Pikachu. "I got one for Brock—Dawn—Ari—Misty—May—Leoric—Max—_and_ Mum—" he counted eight on his fingers, looking sideways at his Pokémon as they passed in front of the Crescent Moon Café, "so who could I have forgot… for…" he trailed off, his mouth open and closing like a Feebas out of water as he stared at the restaurant behind Pikachu's head, the sheer enormity of the colour purple painfully jolting his memory.

_Oh no, you didn't…_ Pikachu thought miserably, slapping himself in the forehead as the bags in Ash's hands fell to the pavement.

"I forgot to get something for _Anabel_!" he screeched. "How could I have forgotten about her?! Surely she would have been the _last _person I'd have forgotten to buy a gift for! I'm such an idiot!" he shouted, knuckling himself in the forehead. "Ow… Wait—!" he sprinted into the café, leaving Pikachu outside to guard his neglected presents, and moments later he dashed back outside, scooping them back up along with his Pokémon. "It's only three-thirty in the afternoon! I've still got time to get her something, right?!" he asked Pikachu desperately, who hesitated for a fraction of a second before nodding encouragingly at his hysterical Trainer.

"Let's go get Anabel the best Christmas present in the history of the world, Pikachu!" he shouted, feeling strangely invigorated by his new task, and he bolted down the street as fast as his feet could carry, looking manically for anything that would catch his eye and help him find Anabel the perfect Christmas gift.

* * *

"So do you know what _you're_ getting for Christmas this year, Leoric?" Max asked, as he and Leoric walked down a winding road, flanked on both sides by narrow wooden fences and large green trees. "I know what May's getting me; a Pokétch!" he said excitedly, clapping his hands together, barely able to wait until his sister gave him his present.

"What are you getting _her_?" Leoric asked curiously, the Swablu egg nestled against his jacket.

"A montage of her performances in the Kanto Contest circuit," he answered boastingly. "I had to send in letters asking the T.V network to mail me the footage of her battles and appeals, but once I got them, I just tweaked them together on my computer!"

"That's pretty ingenious," Leoric admitted, looking down at the egg in his hands. "Does May _like_ that sort of thing?"

"What, Contests?!"

"No, I know she loves—I meant does she like the little montages and such?"

"I sure _hope_ so," Max grinned, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as they both turned a corner in the road, which ended with a small view of the ocean and the beach. "If not, I'm gonna feel guilty for taking the Pokétch."

"Yeah, I can see how you would," Leoric chuckled.

"While we're on the topic of my sister…" Max said wryly, looking at Leoric out of the corner of his eye, and the latter slowed his pace to a crawl. "You haven't seen her acting… _weird_… or anything like that, have you?"

"Mate, I barely _know_ her," he reminded the boy, clapping him on the back. "How the heck would I know if she's gone loopy?"

"I'll give you that one, but I'm not finished. May, she—ah, never mind," Max said dismissively, his eyes twinkling as he waited for the inevitable pull of reverse psychology to take hold on Leoric. It didn't take very long.

"Nah, come on, you brought it up, so let it out," Leoric pressed, jogging ahead and rounding on Max. "What's got you all edgy 'bout your sis?"

"Well…" he muttered, pretending to make a big show out of wording it, "she's—"

"—Come on, junior; don't hold out on me here—!"

"—got a bit of a—"

"—what? A _what—_?!"

"—thing for you."

"—keep going, Max, don't—" Leoric rambled, Max's last words taking five full seconds to sink in. "…wait, what?"

"I think May likes you," Max repeated dully, as though he was talking to someone six years _younger_ than him.

"O…k…" Leoric murmured, shifting the Swablu egg in his hands and turning away. "Care to tell me what gave you _that_ idea?" he asked.

"Well, May and I were still awake when Misty came back to our hotel room at, like, two in the morning," he recounted, resuming his pace towards the small square of ocean visible behind the trees. "And she started – for lack of a better word – _bragging_ to May that—"

"—she'd gone on a date with me, right?" Leoric asked irately, walking briskly to keep up with Max. "Did she also _brag_ that she never actually kissed me during that date?"

"I think she left that part out," Max grimaced. Leoric was tempted to explain the reasons behind that small anomaly, but he didn't want to trouble the boy with tales of murder and conspiracy, and so he kept his mouth shut and allowed Max to continue speaking. "But at the end of it, May didn't seem to be very pleased."

"What, did she bring out the Meowth claws and try to slash Misty's eyes out?"

"No, but if you went by the looks that May was giving her, you'd have thought that it was going to happen any second," Max smirked. "She was furious at the whole—"

"I'm gonna have to stop you there, Max," Leoric interrupted, holding up a hand to silence him. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I don't want to see my big sister get hurt," Max said matter-of-factly. "Whatever you and Misty have got going on – which is none of my business to start with – May seems a bit jealous of it. If it's because of Misty, that's for the two of them to sort out; girl things are girl things. But if it's _you_ that's getting May all distraught—" he jabbed Leoric in the arm with a finger, "then I'm going to get involved _big time_."

"Are you honestly expecting me to take a threat from a ten-year-old seriously?" Leoric laughed, shaking his head at Max, who put his hands on his hips and scowled. "Look, just between the two of us, I'm three ways from Sunday about the whole thing with Misty. She's completely out of left field, and she's really – I dunno – _fiery_ and everything… but that doesn't mean I'm just gonna crush May and leave her by the wayside, yeah? I knew May long before I knew Misty—remember that," he added sincerely, looking Max dead in the eye.

"Now come on," he grunted, trudging down the beaten path towards the sea, "we've got a party to get to. I'm looking forward to some good _Christmas cheer_, so let's leave this conversation here on this road until tomorrow. Alright?!"

* * *

Ash sprinted down a long, shop-lined street, filled with desperation as he searched wildly for his present to give to Anabel. It was nearing four o'clock in the afternoon, and he was running extremely low on ideas, energy, and inspiration. He'd been running across the island like this for more than half an hour, but nothing he'd seen in that time had come close to qualifying as a worthy gift.

"I—need to—catch my breath—Pikachu—" he wheezed, clutching at the searing pain in his side as he lowered himself gingerly onto a park bench, a merciful shadow being thrown across his face by the large maple tree standing in the vacant square nearby. "I think that this—is why I always—seem to forget Christmas shopping—every year," he coughed, ripping his cap off his head and running a hand through his thick black hair.

"_Pikachu…_" muttered Pikachu sympathetically, patting his Trainer on the arm.

"_What's this? A Trainer collapsed and laden with gifts for his loved ones? Why, whoever could it be, Horazon?"_ chuckled a suave voice that made Ash's head snap upright, cricking his neck in the process. _"My my, it appears to be Mr. Ash Ketchum! Enlighten us, Mr. Ketchum, what could have you staring so wistfully at the ground on this wonderful Christmas Day?!"_ boomed the voice again, and a moment later Ari's Gallade and Dusknoir came into view, sidling out from behind the maple tree and moving towards Ash and Pikachu.

"_What are you guys still doing out here?"_ Pikachu asked, hopping down to talk to the Pokémon. "_I'd have thought you were bored by now or something…"_

"_Please, we don't get bored!"_ Horazon laughed, smacking Galadriel roughly in the back and knocking him forwards. "_My bad—anyways, what's got Ash looking so down, eh?"_ he asked, pointing at Ash, who was rubbing his neck to ease the pain that had been caused by his and Galadriel's appearance.

"_We realised that we hadn't thought of buying Anabel a gift, and now Ash is exhausted from looking for something…"_ Pikachu sighed, throwing up his own hands as though declaring his defeat along with Ash's.

"_But I did tell you that you had forgotten her in your plan!"_ Galadriel said impatiently, stomping the ground. _"I said '_you only named seven people, what of the lovely Ms. Silver?'!"

"_How were we supposed to know that you were talking about Anabel?!"_ Pikachu hissed defiantly, sparks crackling at his cheeks. "_Anyways, I don't think that Ash would have found anything good enough, even if he had another _day_ to look!"_

"_Has he tried in there?" _Horazon asked, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. Ash noticed the gesture from his spot on the bench, and he instantly sprang to his feet, shouting absurdly at himself as he ran over to the point that he had seen Ari's Dusknoir pointing at; the small, colourful bakery that stood in the shadow of the large maple tree. _"What is he yapping about?"_ Horazon asked Galadriel, who shrugged his thin shoulders and looked on curiously.

Ash pressed his hands to the glass of the bakery, staring inside at the handsomely made wedding cake that stood in the window – the very same cake he and Anabel had seen three days ago, right after his second-round victory against Kaiden. _Three days…_ he thought to himself, _it feels like a month has passed, with everything that's happened…_ He stared and stared at the two small figurines atop the smallest tier of the wedding cake, and an idea sprang into his mind, so ingenious that he cackled with laughter and punched the air with his fist, making the three Pokémon behind him jump in fright.

"_Is your Trainer ailing somewhat, or is this to be expected?"_ Gallade whispered as he bent down to ask Pikachu, who shrugged his shoulders and bounded over to ask Ash himself. _"I wonder, was Master Ari ever this… publicly open… during the time before he captured me?"_ he asked Horazon, who grunted and shook his head vigorously.

"_Trust me, if Ari acted like _that—" he pointed at Ash, who was swinging Pikachu around in the air at arm's length like a ballet dancer, "_during what happened in our trip through Johto, he'd never have survived long enough to catch you in the first place,_" he answered drily, folding his arms across his round chest as he watched Ash and Pikachu talking animatedly.

"_But surely there were—_occasions_—when Master was prone to shouting at the sky and pretending to start a chainsaw with the air?"_ pressed the Blade Pokémon, to which Horazon rolled his eye and turned away, not bothering to answer the foolish question.

"_Galadriel!"_ squealed Pikachu, charging towards him. _"Ash needs you and Horazon to help him with Anabel's gift! Please, please, please, please, please!" _he begged, clasping his hands together and falling to his knees as he pleaded with the clearly shocked Pokémon standing in front of him.

"_I—uh—are you quite sure that—oh, fine,_" Galadriel caved, throwing his blades into the air in defeat. _"Come on, Horazon, we might as well lend what assistance we can to Mr. Ketchum."_

"_Stop calling him Mr. Ketchum, Galadriel,_" Horazon hissed, floating forwards and moving past Pikachu, who clapped his hands together joyfully. _"You make it sound like you work for him."_

"_Well it appears that we _both_ will be under his employment for a short period of time,_" he countered, shooting a miniscule Psycho Cut at his teammate's back as Ash clapped the enormous Pokémon on the back and ushered him inside. _"Shall we?"_ he suggested dully, psychically opening the bakery door and allowing Pikachu to trot inside before bringing up the rear.

"Wh-What is it you want?" stuttered the baker behind the counter, his eyes darting fearfully from the Dusknoir, to the Gallade, to Ash, who smiled and spread his hands over the counter.

"We need to ask a small favour…"

* * *

"Ho ho ho! _Merry Christmas_!" hollered Brandon, slapping his hands against the cushion strapped to his stomach. Noland doubled up with laughter at his fellow Frontier Brain's costume; they'd had to play rock-paper-scissors to determine which of them would be dressing up as Santa Claus this Christmas, and Brandon had lost miserably. After double-checking that his belt was fastened tightly around his waist, Brandon nodded happily to himself and shifted his long white beard so that it covered his mouth, and put on a pair of half-moon glasses.

"I don't see what you're laughing at," he said icily, rolling his eyes as Noland clutched the porch railing. "If _you_ were the one that had to dress up as Santa, we'd have to sling this belt around your _head_ to shrink it down to size."

"At least I'd fit down the chimneys," Noland cackled, and as he turned to stifle another laugh, he saw a small collection of people walking down the road towards the house. "Well, Brandon, time to get into character—our first guests are here!" And with that he pulled Brandon's fake beard away from his face, then let go and watched Brandon hiss as it smacked against his chin, before clapping him on the shoulder and walking inside, just as May, Misty, Anabel and Dawn stepped up onto the porch.

"_Merry Christmas_, young ladies! I'm sure that you'll all be getting some marvellous gifts tonight! _Ho ho ho_!" he boomed, in his best attempt at a Santa-like voice. The four girls cracked with laughter at his accent, but it seemed to be all in good spirits, because they thanked 'Santa' and walked inside, each one carrying a small bag in their hands as they moved down the hallway. Once they were out of sight, he pulled a short list of names from inside his coat and, using a large novelty quill that had been thrust upon him by Delia, he crossed off the four girl's names, along with his own, Noland's, Delia's, and the two boys that had helped with the preparations throughout the day.

"So that just leaves five," he murmured, stuffing the scroll and quill back under his coat as he saw two more people headed towards him, one much shorter than the other. Squinting his eyes to adjust to the glasses he was wearing, he saw that it was Leoric and Max, and Leoric seemed to be carrying what looked like a small child in his arms, wrapped in a blanket. He held back a booming laugh as Leoric tripped on a thorny root and crashed onto the sandy ground, holding the blanket like a trophy above his dirt-covered head, just as a large wave from the ocean roared in and soaked him from head to toe. Max was fortunate enough to dodge out of the way, and he held Leoric's egg as the latter sprang back to his feet and wiped most of the mud from his face, snatching the egg back and storming up to the house.

"_Ho ho ho_, _Merry Christmas, Leoric_!" Brandon chortled. "I daresay that your Christmas wish this year is for some _dry clothes_!" he added, noticing the scowl plastered on the boy's face. "Well, if you'll go into Santa's change room, you'll find a spare suit in the top dresser. It's a bit of a tight fit for me this year—" he slapped a hand on his artificially made belly, "but I think you'll be able to squeeze into it. I could use another Santa to keep things cheerful," he chuckled in an undertone, and Leoric shrugged his shoulders and smiled, walking down the hallway after Max, who had already bounded inside, hoping to get his Pokétch from May a little early.

"And that leaves three people to arrive," he muttered to himself, crossing their names off the paper in his coat. Five minutes later, he saw a lone figure striding down the road, and as Brandon shaded his eyes in the afternoon light, he saw that it was the green-haired boy that had battled Ash numerous times throughout the tournament, but he couldn't remember the young man's name.

"Uh, hi," Kaiden muttered, his hands in his pockets. "This _is_ the Christmas party that Brandon's hosting, right? I, uh, got invited by Gary Oak to come along—"

"Well then, my boy, you've come to the right place! Everybody's already inside, so just head down the hallway and grab a piece of Christmas cake!" Brandon suggested, gesturing inside, and Kaiden hesitated slightly as he raised his eyebrows at 'Santa', before twitching his head in a nod and moving down the passageway, where he was greeted with a chorus of cheers. "Now all we need is for Ash and Gary to turn up!" he said cheerfully, watching Gary's faint outline shimmer in the late afternoon heat as he trudged up the long coastline to the house. "Hang on… if Gary's there, and we're all in here… then where the heck is _Ash_?!"

* * *

"Brilliant. You guys—" Ash said, staring in wonder at the small gift cradled in his hands as Pikachu, Galadriel and Horazon walked alongside him, "are just brilliant. I-I'm speechless—!"

"_I'd hate to have to listen to him if he was talkative,"_ Horazon muttered smartly to Galadriel. _"I mean, a little bit of praise is all right, but you'd think that we'd just saved his life!"_

"_Maybe that _is_ what we accomplished,"_ rebutted the Blade Pokémon, shrugging his hands, _"by assisting Mr. Ketchum—Ash—in securing a gift for Ms. Silver."_

"_Yeah, maybe you're right," _Pikachu said cheerfully, pacing along next to Horazon. "_If he hadn't gotten Anabel a gift, and she found out… I'm shivering just _thinking_ about it."_

"—I mean all three of you really outdid yourselves this time," Ash was still rambling, tapping his gift-wrapped present with the back of his hand. "Well, Pikachu, I guess we should head to Anabel's hotel to give her our _gift_, shouldn't we?"

Pikachu grimaced and looked at the two tall Pokémon standing next to him, who looked incredulously back at him, shocked that he hadn't told Ash about his friends' plans. _"I was waiting for the right moment! Then Ash remembered he hadn't bought Anabel anything – that wasn't the right moment either,"_ he wailed, gesturing wildly.

"_I suppose that _we_ should make sure that Mr. Ash gets the message now, shouldn't we?"_ Galadriel asked Horazon patronisingly, glancing discreetly down at Pikachu as he spoke. _"Mr. Ash, a word if you would!"_

"Huh?" Ash turned around, still weighed down by the nine gifts he was having to carry all by himself. "What is it, Gallade?"

"_I'm afraid that Ms. S—Anabel—will not be returning to her place of residence until sometime in the early hours of tomorrow morning,"_ Galadriel explained politely. _"She is attending a Christmas celebration, being hosted by her fellow Frontier Brains – Mr. Brandon and Mr. Noland – at a beach house on the north-western coast."_

"A Christmas party?!"

"_Indeed. Also, Master Ari has – by telepathy – instructed both Horazon and myself to inform you that you are also welcome to attend,"_ he smiled, bowing respectfully as Ash cheered at his invitation to the party.

"That sounds totally awesome!" he shouted, stomping his feet excitedly as Pikachu leapt up onto his shoulder. "What do you think, Pikachu?" he asked, and Pikachu merrily adjusted the Christmas hat that he had been wearing all day in response. "I'll take that as a 'yes', then," he chuckled. "So who else is going to be there?" he inquired, looking back at Ari's two Pokémon.

"_I think that you will be much happier learning for yourself,"_ Galadriel said mysteriously. _"If you wish, Horazon and I can transport you there immediately."_

"But how? Dusknoir can't learn Teleport, can they?" Ash asked blankly.

"_Ghost-type Pokémon don't _need_ Teleport to be able to travel!" _exploded Horazon, its stomach-face screeching terrifyingly and making Ash stumble back in surprise.

"_Please forgive my friend's—"_ Galadriel struck Horazon in the side with a Night Slash, "—_lack of manners. He would be able to safely move Pikachu to the residence by shadow-travel whilst I Teleport you there."_

"Oh. Uh, okay?" Ash shrugged, watching as Pikachu hopped off his shoulder and jumped onto Horazon's outstretched hand, where he was encompassed by the Pokémon's other enormous hand, hiding him from Ash's view. Horazon gave a booming cry and lowered himself into the ground, his body turning the deepest shade of black as he disappeared into the ground, taking Pikachu along with him.

"_Time is of the essence, Mr. Ash,"_ Galadriel reminded him, somewhat impatiently as he swung his arms above his head. Ash mumbled apologetically and nodded as he moved forwards, feeling the familiar spinning sensation that he had experienced the first time he had travelled via a Gallade's Teleport, and again his knees buckled as his feet touched down on land. Shaking a loose covering of sand from his gloved hands, Ash inhaled a deep breath and smelt the ocean, and he saw it a moment later when he raised his head, just as a beautiful Milotic breached the surface, moaning melodically as its huge red mermaid-tail arced through the sky.

"Wow…" he whispered. Galadriel glanced over to see what Ash was so impressed by, and upon seeing the Milotic just as it sank below the water, he threw his head back and snorted.

"_Yes, Shinryu is without a doubt the least modest of my Master's Pokémon,"_ he muttered, shaking his head irritably as he helped Ash to his feet.

"Ari has a Milotic?! Cool."

"_No, I believe it's _beauty_ that makes Feebas evolve,"_ mused the Pokémon, marching down the beachside towards a large wooden house overlooking the stunning ocean view. Ash heard a strange sucking noise from the ground several feet away from him, and he jumped to his feet when he saw a dark vortex rising out of the sand, his hands flying halfway towards the PokéBalls at his belt before he realised what the vortex really was.

"_Pikachu!_" squeaked Pikachu, leaping up to Ash from Horazon's hands.

"_You're welcome,"_ grumbled Horazon, twanging his antenna habitually before hovering towards the house that Galadriel was headed to, and Ash quickly followed suit, taking in the sight of this remote corner of the island.

* * *

"I am not coming out!"

"Oh, don't be such a spoiled sport, Leoric! I'm sure it's not that bad!" Max shouted, banging his hands on the door.

"Brandon tricked me! He said this—this—_thing!_—wouldn't fit _him_! He never said that it wouldn't fit _me_ either!" screeched Leoric's voice from the other side of the thick wooden door.

"Leo, just get out here! _We'll_ be the ones to judge if it fits or not!" Ari roared, looking regretfully at Misty and May, who shook their hands in front of their faces in defence. "Well, most of us anyways!" he smirked.

"Now I'm definitely _not_ coming out!"

"That's it, I'm getting sick of this," Anabel hissed, patting her Espeon on the head. "Espeon, use Psychic to unlock that door."

"_Pyoh_," mewed Espeon, the small red stone on her forehead glowing bright. The five people gathered outside the door heard a soft click in the lock, and Ari tried the handle, which smooth swung all the way down, so with a nod from the girls, he slowly tried to push it open, but Leoric threw himself against the door and slammed it shut again, knocking Ari backwards as he moved his foot away from the door jamb.

"Son of a—Leo, open up!" Ari bellowed, turning the handle again and launching himself at the door, which thudded but didn't budge as Leoric pushed against it from his side. But when Max joined in the effort, May rolled her eyes and tossed a PokéBall out of the open window next to the bedroom, sending out her Venusaur in a flash of white light.

"Venusaur, use Vine Whip to trip Leoric up," she said coolly, watching on as two thin green vines snaked out of the plant on her Pokémon's back, easing towards the door and squeezing under the gap. She smirked and nodded her head triumphantly when she heard a frightened yelp on the other side of the door, and she signalled to Ari and Max, who threw themselves at the door, which swung open at once.

"Oh my god…" Ari muttered, holding a serious expression for half a second before exploding with raucous laughter, and he was quickly joined by Max, who doubled over as he was overcome with childish giggles. "Did someone order a stripper?!" Ari roared in between laughs, wiping a tear away from his eye as Leoric jumped to his feet and scowled at them, trying in vain to hide himself from the girls' visions at the same time.

"Brandon said that I'd be able to '_squeeze into it_'," Leoric recited, hanging his head shamefully as he saw Misty and May's jaws drop to the floor. He was dressed in an enormous pair of baggy red trousers, with white cotton at the waist and ankles, from which he wore a high pair of shiny black boots. His belt was tightened to the very last notch as it struggled to hold up the vast pants against his waist, but that was where the illusion of Santa Claus disappeared completely, because his coat was nothing like a traditional Christmas coat. It was a tiny red-white jacket that looked to be straining at the seams as it wound around Leoric's back and sides; the coat wasn't even big enough to meet in the middle, and so the three girls had a prime view of the middle of his chest and stomach as he desperately tried to force the two sides of the jacket together, but to no avail. And to top it all off, the ever-present Santa hat was perched awkwardly on the side of his head, the cotton bobble flapping about at his right ear.

"Well—that's, uh—a very—_unique_ take on Santa—" May spluttered, her face matching Leoric's trousers in colour. "I—_uh_…"

"I wouldn't mind sitting on _that_ Santa's lap," Misty whispered tauntingly in her ear, and May gave her half a nod before realising what her orange-haired friend had actually said, and her eyes widened as she glared at Misty, who smirked and walked over to Leoric, satisfied with her attempt at angering May. "So tell me, Leo… have I—"

"Please, no '_naughty or nice_' jokes," he pleaded, dropping his hands as he gave up on trying to salvage any dignity from his costume. "I feel like a gigolo in this thing…"

"At last, an outfit where he actually _admits_ it!" Ari shouted, his face going red with laughter as Max cracked, rolling on the floor. "Does he even know what a gigolo _is_?" he asked May, catching his breath.

"I'm sure he just finds the _word_ funny, not the _meaning_," May sighed, snatching Max's arm and dragging the shaking boy to his feet. "Max, keep this up and you're not getting your Pokétch," she warned, and Max immediately shut his mouth and stopped laughing.

"Don't be such a complaining little Furret," Anabel remarked, leaning on the door frame. "You're not the only one who's going to be wearing something that—"

"Anabel, shut up!" hissed Misty, zipping a hand across her mouth before slicing a hand in front of her throat. "They're not supposed to know, remember?!"

"Oh, sorry—!" cried Anabel, clapping a hand over her mouth.

"Come on, girls, we should go help Dawn with all the last-minute stuff," May suggested, giving Misty a reproachful glare as she fiddled around with the buttons on Leoric's jacket. "Misty, that means you _too_!" she shouted, and Misty lingered momentarily, flicking the cotton ball away from Leoric's face, before about-facing and following May and Anabel out of the room, with Max following close behind as he pleaded with May to still give him his Pokétch. Ari stared after them for a few seconds before turning back to Leoric, a mischievous smirk on his face.

"So what time—?"

"Shut up."

* * *

"Ash! _Merry Christmas_! It's good to see you again," boomed Brandon, shaking Ash's hand as the latter stepped up onto the porch and made room to be able to return the handshake, still laden with his gifts for the others. "Very good to see you… well, particularly after our last little run-in, eh?" he added quietly.

"You don't need to remind me about that one…" Ash grimaced, remembering how close he had come to being throttled by the man standing before him. Pikachu looked confusedly from Ash to the man he thought was Santa Claus, and Ash shook his head dismissively as if to say 'never mind'. "But I thought you were _Santa Claus_ and not Brandon," he smirked as he turned back to Brandon.

"Touché, Ash," chuckled the white-bearded Frontier Brain, ushering him inside. "You know, you're the last one to arrive! I was beginning to wonder where you'd gone to! How did you get here?"

"I had a little help," he replied shrugging his shoulders. "Hey, is there anywhere I can put these—" he jangled the bags at his hands about, "until later?"

"Put them with all the other presents down by the big Christmas tree," Brandon suggested, pointing to a twenty-foot-high pine tree adorned with coloured lights and spirals of glittering tinsel. "No-one's opening their gifts until after dinner, so you can leave them there until then."

"Thanks for that," Ash grinned, weaving past the barbeque and the long dinner table to get to the tree. Craning his neck upwards, he saw a glass Jirachi perched atop the peak, and he smiled inwardly as he remembered the real-life Jirachi he had met during his journey through Hoenn with Brock, May and Max. Gently placing the presents on the ground – taking particular care with Anabel's gift – he looked to his right and saw the huge green pasture stretching out to the hillside, and he decided to let his Pokémon enjoy the atmosphere.

"Come on out guys, and stretch your legs a little!" he called, throwing his PokéBalls into the air. "You too, Pikachu," he added, and Pikachu jumped onto the soft grass, Christmas hat swinging to and fro. His other Pokémon – Torkoal, Glalie, Gliscor, Noctowl and Kingler – hopped onto the ground and scurried away along the grass with Pikachu, where they were quickly joined by Brock and Dawn's Pokémon, save her Mamoswine, which was still being kept in its PokéBall for safety reasons. "Don't forget to be back for the presents!" Ash shouted after them, watching as Brock's Happiny tossed Kingler over the small wooden fence that was dividing the property in two.

"Ash!" yelled Brock, jogging over to stand next to him.

"Hey, Brock! I think this is the first time I've seen you today, so… _Merry Christmas_!" Ash said happily, shaking Brock's hand as the latter passed him a glass of juice. "Cheers," he added, taking a deep drink. "So what have you been doing all day?"

"Ari, Brandon, Noland, your mother and I were getting everything ready for this party," Brock explained, jerking his head towards the beautifully laid-out table, dotted with huge salad bowls filled to the brim, and a tantalising berry platter in the centre of the setting. "My hands are sore all over from cutting all those vegetables! I mean, I lived with nine siblings for most of my life, but none of them had Dawn's appetite!" he joked, clenching his fingers and cracking his aching knuckles.

"Speaking of Dawn—" Ash said, looking around for the familiar blue hair and white hat, "where is she?! I thought I saw her heading back to our hotel at about noon, but otherwise…"

"She and the other girls have been shopping all day, I think," Brock shrugged, sipping his own lemonade. "What's with the Santa hat?" he asked, pointing at Pikachu, who was performing a small light show for the Pokémon, including a swooning Buneary.

"He just found it in Dawn's room and decided to wear it…" Ash said blankly, taking another sip of juice. "I guess he's just getting into the _spirit of Christmas_!"

"_There's my hat_!" shrieked a girl's voice coming from the kitchen, and Ash and Brock jumped as they saw Dawn storming towards them, her fists swinging at her sides. "I was wondering where it got to! I—wait, what were you and Pikachu doing in _my_ room?!" she asked dangerously, poking Ash in the chest.

"I slept in, and I was just checking if you were awake!" Ash said defensively, backing away from her. "I didn't _actually_ put my foot _in_ your room; Pikachu was the one that found the hat!"

Dawn blinked and stopped her advance, looking past Ash's shoulder at the cluster of Pokémon beyond the fence. Giving him an apologetic look, Dawn cupped her hands in front of her mouth and shouted, "Pikachu, can I _please_ have my hat back?! It's very important!" She waited as Pikachu's ears perked up, and seconds later he was sprinting back across the backyard towards her, taking the hat from his head and holding it up to her. "Such a little sweetie," she said in a honeyed voice, tapping Pikachu on the nose as she took the hat and put it on her own head, where it clashed horribly with her hair, and the white hat already there. Pikachu grinned and clapped his hands together before dashing back through the fence to join his fellow Pokémon, and Dawn hummed a catchy Christmas tune as she walked back inside the house.

* * *

"_Where did you run off to?"_ Kingler asked, scuttling around Pikachu as the latter jumped through the gap in the fence.

"_I had to give Dawn her hat back, of course!"_

"_Professionally speaking, I think it looked cute on you,"_ purred Espeon, who had slipped through to join them a minute earlier.

"_Uh… thanks?"_ Pikachu replied meekly, blushing sheepishly as he watched Kaiden's Marowak practising its bone-throwing skills against a rock.

"_He looks cute without it, too!"_ challenged Buneary, before floundering away into a clump of bushes nearby.

"_Did I say something wrong?"_ asked Espeon, watching the bush quiver and shake.

"_I am not entirely sure…"_ Pikachu said slowly, plonking himself down on the grass. _"Buneary's always been a bit, well… odd."_

"_She's not odd!"_ squeaked Piplup, waddling over to sit next to Pikachu. _"Maybe _you're_ the one that's odd!"_ she added stubbornly.

"_Eh, maybe…"_

"_Yesh, well, maybe we're all a bit odd, aren't we?"_ growled a rough, low voice from under a large tree.

"_Especially odd if you have a name like Rakanishu,"_ sneered Espeon, making the voice's owner pounce to his feet, his twin black tails swirling behind his bulky frame.

"_I happen to like my name very much, little mish," _rasped the Electivire, lumbering forwards. "_I'd much rather be a shtrong, handshome, shecshy Electivire than a prishy Eshpeon."_

"_A what?" _said Pikachu loudly, having difficulty hearing the Pokémon's words.

"_You wouldn't be making fun of my acshent, would you?"_ Rakanishu snarled, his small red eyes narrowing at the small yellow Pokémon in front of him. _"I take great offenshe to that!"_

"_Sorry, we didn't know—!"_ squealed Piplup, waving her flippers wildly, but Rakanishu cut her off.

"_It'sh alright, I'm jusht meshing with your mindsh,"_ he chuckled, rapping Pikachu and Piplup over the head with a knuckle, making Espeon roll her eyes.

"_You do that to _every_ new Pokémon you see. Why?"_

"_Fun,"_ he said simply, before moving back to his spot under the tree.

"_So where are Galadriel and Horazon and the others?"_ Pikachu asked, looking around for any sign of the Pokémon amongst his fellows.

"_Galadriel, Horazon, and Leoric's Tyrael are meditating up on that hill—"_ Espeon jerked her head towards the closest rise, "_Dullahan went for a fly with Apache and Vizier…_ _Colenzo's helping with either spotlights or fireworks…"_ she ran through the names, her head whipping around to face Rakanishu. "_Which reminds me… shouldn't _you_ be helping out with the fireworks, too, Rakanishu?!"_

"…_I'm taking a resht break,"_ said the Thunderbolt Pokémon lazily, and Espeon sneered and shook her head as she turned back to Pikachu.

"_Strongest one of the bunch, but the laziest at the same time,"_ she joked. _"Bit sad, really," _she added with a wink.

"_I heard that!"_

* * *

"Attention, everybody!" cried Delia, tapping a spoon against her champagne glass. Everybody in the backyard who had been talking immediately stopped and turned to face her, wondering what it was that required their attention. "As you know, tonight _is_ Christmas night, and as such we've got a very special performance planned for you all!"

"Alright!" shouted Leoric, applauding the news along with the others. "I wonder what it is…" he muttered, leaning towards Ari, who shrugged his shoulders and looked around, as though hoping for some kind of clue.

"Hey, where are the girls?" he whispered, after realising that Delia was the only female in the backyard.

"Who cares? They'll miss out on the fun!" Leoric said in a sing-song voice, waiting for the performance – whatever it was – to begin.

"Okay, Hadron, lights please!" Delia shouted, looking upwards, and the entire backyard was plunged into darkness.

"Ari, stop touching me there!" Leoric cackled. "_Ow!_"

"How about _there_, you conniving little—?"

"Shh!" hushed Noland, blindly smacking both of them in the back of the head.

"Silver Wind, Beautifly!" yelled a voice, seemingly all around them. A Beautifly, invisible in the total darkness, hummed as its wings shone white, which threw a brief light across the backyard, before discharging a shimmering mass of glittering rainbow particles into the air, making the men in the audience gasp appreciatively at the sight. But as they fell gracefully to the ground, Beautifly hummed again, its wings glowing with pale yellow light this time, and the tiny glittering particles were suspended in mid-air, hovering next to the faces of everyone in the backyard, including the smaller Pokémon that had found their way back and slipped through the fence. The glow slowly filled the yard with dim light – not enough to be blinding, but enough to give everybody a view of their surroundings – and Beautifly slowly flew higher into the air, floating like a star above their heads.

"Wow… check it out…" whispered Ari, tapping one of the little flecks in front of his face.

"Galadriel, Colenzo, spotlight! Wait for the signal!" ordered Delia, and Ari's Magmortar was lifted psychically into the air by Gallade, hovering eerily above them as it retracted its arms and held them in front of its body, waiting for this mysterious signal.

"Signal…?" Ash mumbled to himself, but just then he heard a soft click, and suddenly the entire yard was filled with the soft twinkling of a glockenspiel to match the twinkling of the Beautifly's Silver Wind.

"_**I… don't want a lot for Christmas..."**_

A woman's voice rang out through the yard, filling the ears of everybody present, and Colenzo instantly shone a soft beam of white light onto the house's side gate. All eyes turned to the point that the spotlight was focused on, and as they watched, Dawn stepped into the light, a microphone held in her hand. She looked completely transformed from her normal look; her hair was perfectly straight and fell past her shoulders, and instead of her regular white hat, she was wearing the same Christmas hat that Pikachu had been sporting for most of the day.

But that wasn't all that Dawn had changed about her appearance, because instead of the black-and-pink v-neck skirt, she wore what could only be described as a Santa _dress_. Running down the front was a long strip of fluffy white cotton, which ran along the bottom of the dress as well, and the dress itself billowed out stiffly as it reached halfway down her thighs. Replacing her tall pink boots were even taller _black_ high-heeled boots that nearly wound up to her knees, and her hands were clothed in shiny white gloves as she raised the microphone back to her mouth.

"_**There is just one thing I need… I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree—!"**_she sang, and with the last two words, the tree behind them flared to life, all its lights blazing fiercely as the song rolled on, and Dawn locked her eyes onto Ari and moved slowly towards him. _**"I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know—"**_Ari couldn't help the smile on his face as he realised what was going on, despite Leoric's over-dramatic fit of silent coughing, as Dawn drew even closer. _**"Make my wish come true! All I want… for Christmas… is… you,"**_ she finished, ending it by kissing Ari on the lips just as the music playing began to liven up, and she quickly moved around as Ari put his arm around her waist – to a round of loud applause – as Galadriel swung Colenzo around to focus back onto the side gate.

"_**I don't need to hang my stocking there upon the fireplace,"**_sang a new voice, but both Ash and Brock had heard it before, and as they thought, Misty appeared from the gate a moment later, dressed in the almost same way as Dawn. The only difference between her outfit and Dawn's was that, as opposed to black, she was wearing knee-high _white_ boots, and her orange hair lay over her face like a curtain as it almost blended in with the red of her outfit. _**"Santa Claus won't make me happy with a toy on Christmas Day—!"**_ she winked as she saw Leoric standing behind Dawn, and made a beeline straight for him. _**"I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know! So make my wish come true—! All I want for Christmas is you… baby,"**_ Like Dawn, Misty finished her part of the song by kissing her 'Santa' on the lips, and she gave Leoric a meaningful stare as she leant her head on his shoulder and put her arms around him, waiting for the next girl to appear as the audience cheered her performance.

"_**I won't ask for much this Christmas; I don't even wish for snow—"**_ Ash gasped as he saw Anabel appear in the spotlight, wearing an identical Santa-dress to the Dawn, but in his opinion she looked a thousand times more beautiful than Dawn and Misty put together. To him, there was just something about the way her hat was placed on her head, or the gloves on the ends of her hands, but no matter what it was, he was spellbound by it as she kept singing. _**"I'm just gonna keep on waiting underneath the mistletoe—"**_ Anabel actually produced a cluster of mistletoe from behind her back and held it above her head as she walked, _**"I won't make a list and send it to the North Pole for Saint Nick, and I won't even stay awake to hear those magic reindeer click—"**_ she tapped the heels of her boots together and swung her hips to the side, to a short burst of applause from Dawn and Misty, who then gave her the thumbs-up.

"'_**Cause I just want you here tonight, holding on to me so tight—"**_ Anabel crept forwards towards Ash, who was rooted to the spot, and reached a hand out towards his, grabbing it firmly and giving him a quick wink, her eyes darting up to the mistletoe above their heads, _**"What more can I do? Baby, all I want for Christmas is you!"**_ This time, Ash pulled her forwards of his own accord and kissed her full on the mouth, Anabel wrapping her arms around him as Brandon and the others applauded and wolf-whistled at the couple. Galadriel, oblivious to all of it, looked up and manoeuvred Colenzo around to shine his spotlight on the gate for the fourth time.

"_**All the lights are shining, so brightly everywhere—!"**_ sang another voice, who everyone knew was undoubtedly May's, and a moment later she appeared in the circle of bright light, and like Misty she wore high white boots. The moment she finished her first lyric, her Beautifly's Silver Wind doubled in brightness instantly, flooding the yard with a multitude of colours that made everyone gasp with wonder. _**"And the sound of children's laughter fills the air! And everyone is singing—"**_

"—_**Singing—!"**_ chorused the first three girls, swaying to the beat as _May_ kept singing. May herself noticed Leoric for the first time in the night, and was about to move towards him, but when she saw Misty holding onto him, her face twitched with anger for the briefest of moments before slipping back to the festive smile that she had shown in the first part of her song. _**"I hear those sleigh bells ringing—!"**_ she changed course in an instant, moving direction from Leoric to her little brother, who was moving his hands to the rhythm of the song.

"_**Santa, won't you bring me the one I really need? Won't you please bring my baby to me—?"**_ she finished, her voice ringing loud and clear, and the message reached Max's ears just as clearly, because he grinned and winked knowingly at her. May gave a relieved smile and moved back away from him as Dawn, Misty and Anabel broke away from their partners and formed a line, with black boots on the inside, and white boots on the outside, as they performed the final chorus of the song as a quartet.

"_**Oh, I don't want a lot for Christmas; this is all I'm asking for—"**_ the four girls linked their arms together and gave a small kick in the air with every second beat of the drum playing on the stereo speakers, to more applause from the boys and Delia, who all swung in time with their talented singing. _**"I just want to see my baby standing right outside my door… oh, I just want you for my own—"**_Dawn winked at Ari, Anabel smiled at Ash, and both Misty and May gazed at Leoric, who was still wearing his undersized Santa jacket, _**"More than you could ever know! Make my wish come true: oh baby, all I want for Christmas is… **__**you**__**—!"**_ they finished, holding their last note for a remarkably long time, and as the music finally died, every person and Pokémon who had been listening to the song applauded and cheered, with enough noise to rival the crowds that watched the Championship battles every day.

"Thank you so much!" said the girls proudly, curtseying quickly before having a group hug and congratulating each other on their wonderful performance as the Silver Wind faded, and Colenzo dimmed his lights and was lowered back onto the ground.

"Okay, everybody, dinner's ready!" Brock shouted, switching the lights back on and revealing the dinner table, stacked to breaking with piles of roast potatoes, steaming baked turkeys, loaves of garlic bread, and the berries and salad from earlier lining the centre of the vest wooden slab. "Grab a seat!" he invited, noticing the salivating looks on Gary, Brandon and Noland's faces, as he took a pair of carving knives from his belt and began slicing the turkey.

* * *

"I am officially packed full to burst," Brandon groaned, throwing down his knife and fork and leaning back in his chair, having just finished off a third helping of turkey and roast potatoes. "I throw in my towel – or in this case, napkin – in shamefaced defeat," he added dramatically, his napkin joining his cutlery on the table.

"What's the matter, Brandon? Eyes bigger than your stomach?" Gary asked, although he had long abandoned his half-eaten dish, and the rest of the table laughed whole-heartedly as Brandon stubbornly chewed his way through one more potato just to prove a point to him.

"No, the problem is that his stomach is bigger than his brain," Noland chuckled, tapping Brandon on the side of the head to another round of laughter.

"Please, no more jokes!" Kaiden pleaded, holding his stomach. "I think I had _way_ too many Pecha berries…" he added, groaning as he bowed his head forwards.

"I think we've all had enough to eat," Dawn agreed, dropping her Santa hat back onto her head, where it tipped loosely to the side before she pulled it down firmer.

"Wow, Dawn's full—!" Ash exclaimed, even though he was filled to the eyeballs with turkey and vegetables. "Well, come on, everybody—" he struggled to his feet, "let's clean up so we can move on to the presents!"

His words got an enthusiastic reply out of everyone, who were all eagerly awaiting their Christmas gifts, and so with the scrape of chairs and the chink of plates and glass, they all set to work. Max and May went around the table, collecting all the leftovers and grouping them together so that the dished could be taken away. Brandon, Noland and Leoric cleared the table, stacking plates and bowls five-high before hoisting them over to the sink, where Brock, Delia and Mimey sped through the washing and wiping, making light work of the mountains of dishes. Once they had been dried, Ash, Ari and Gary stowed them away in the cupboards, pushing the larger pieces of china towards the back to make room for the next load. Finally, Misty, Dawn and Anabel folded up the tablecloths and doilies, bunching them together in neat piles before carrying them over to the laundry, and ten minutes later, the entire kitchen was spotless, and there was no sign at all that the dinner had even taken place.

"It just goes to show that you can really get a job done quickly if you have the right motivation," Delia said cheerily, proudly surveying the scene as all others made for the Christmas tree. "Now split into groups and move to separate parts of the yard, so you've got more room to open your presents!"

"Hang on, Mum," Ash interrupted, snatching a small gift from under the tree and presenting it to her. "Merry Christmas."

"Oh, you shouldn't have, Ash!" Delia squealed, kissing her son on the forehead and opening the gift, revealing a beautifully made fruitcake.

"I figured that since a fruitcake like me is never home, you should have something else to remember me by," Ash joked, smiling sheepishly and scratching the back of his head as his fellows roared with laughter. Delia giggled and kissed him on the forehead again, before kneeling down next to the tree and handing Ash his own gift; a thin, square package.

"I'd open that one when you're on your own, sweetie," she suggested. "Now go on, give everyone else your presents!"

* * *

"Ash, this is so awesome!" Max shouted, his eyes sparkling as they stared at his brand-new Pokémon scanner, nearly as long as his forearm. "These things can pick up on Pokémon from a hundred yards away, _and_ they can give you details about their species!"

"Yeah, sort of like an unofficial Pokédex," Ash grinned, patting Max on the head. "Glad you like it; my Noctowl helped me pick it out for you. Didn't you, buddy?" he asked, and Noctowl hooted and nodded its head in reply, perched on his arm. Max graciously thanked the Pokémon for its choice, and Noctowl, satisfied with itself for one night, flew off Ash's arm to go hunting for food, its crimson wings glittering under the moonlight.

"May—" he began, but Brock cut him off with a wave of his hand, holding up a large present of his own as he tucked Ash's gift to him – a one-year subscription of Ilex Forest charcoal – behind his back.

"Ash, before anyone else gets their present, we want to give you ours," he said excitedly, extending the present towards Ash. "All five of us—" he gestured to himself, May, Max, Misty and Dawn, "worked hard to get this together, and we hope that it's good enough."

"Come on, you guys, it's always going to be _good enough_," Ash chuckled, opening the gift. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he saw what was inside, and he looked around at his friends with wet eyes as he saw the ecstatic expressions on their faces at having their gift make such an impression on him. "This is amazing—!" he gasped.

"We call it the _Ashapedia,"_ laughed Brock, grinning as Ash pored over his present. It was a small book, fifty-four pages long, and on each page was the picture of someone he knew, along with a message written to him. On the very first page was his mother, on the next two were Brock and Misty, and as he looked, he saw that there were pictures all the Gym Leaders he had ever faced during his life as a Pokémon Trainer, and even some people that weren't, but he knew them just as well.

"Look at this! From Lieutenant Surge – _Hi Ash, congratulations on all your past success as a Pokémon Trainer. I still find it hard to believe that I ever thought you were a baby; your spirit towers above the rest of us. I've never forgotten when you taught me a lesson in humility by showing Raichu and I that power isn't everything, and that attitude will no doubt lead you to even greater heights. Stay the course, and Merry Christmas! Signed, Lt. Surge…_"

"We even got a few Pokémon Champions – _Champions!_ – to contribute," Max squeaked, pointing to a page near the back. "We got letters from Lance of Blackthorn City, Cynthia of Celestic Town, even Wallace of Sootopolis City!"

"Now—all my gifts seem really stupid—after seeing this—" Ash croaked, wiping a tear from his eye as he closed the Ashapedia. "Thanks, guys… this is great, really."

"He likes it!" chorused his friends, high-fiving each other. Ash laughed and sniffed his nose, taking two small boxes from the bags at his side.

"May, Misty, these are for you," he said gentlemanly, holding out the boxes to the girls. "Torkoal helped with yours, May—" Torkoal held back tears as May ripped open her wrapping paper, "and Kingler with yours, Misty—" Kingler clacked its claws happily as Misty tore into hers.

"It's _beautiful_!" they both gasped; Torkoal had chosen a sparkling Torchic brooch for May, and Kingler had picked out a pair of Togepi earrings, having remembered the small Pokémon that Misty had carried around with her during their Kanto journey.

"Thank you so much, Torkoal!" May said breathlessly, hugging the Pokémon around the neck, and Torkoal immediately burst into tears, undone by this show of gratitude, just as Misty gave Kingler the same sentiments and clipped the earrings on, checking her reflection in a large bubble that the Pincer Pokémon had just produced.

"I'll go show these to Leo!" she said loudly, getting to her feet and running across the lawn, to where Ari, Leoric and the Frontier Brains were gathered with Gary and Kaiden. May flushed furiously and got to her feet, her arms swinging at her sides as she marched towards the fence and leant against it. A few moments later, Misty returned to the group, but Ari and Leoric had joined her, Leoric holding a long tube-like object in his hands.

"What's that?" Ash asked, pointing at the strange item, which was emitting a soft beeping noise at regular intervals.

"This… is a… '_Prototype Weather Transformation Funnel_'," he recalled, turning it over in his hands. "Or WTF for short," he chuckled. "This little baby can cancel out any weather effects within five hundred metres, leaving me with nothing but clear, blue skies and healthy sunlight."

"Sweet!" Max yelped, jumping to his feet and hurrying over. "How-does-it-work? Can-you-give-it-a-test-run? Can-I-touch-that-button-right-th—?"

"Max, let me give Leo and Ari their gifts before you touch anything, otherwise something might backfire and we all get _vaporised_," Ash laughed, presenting the two Trainers with their presents. "Ari, here's a Dusk Ball—" he dropped the item into Ari's outstretched hand, and Pikachu gave Ari a thumbs-up, "Leoric, here's a rare Dragon Fang, that I'm told came from one of the first wild Salamence to ever be captured," he explained, watching as Leoric snatched at the gift. Gliscor hissed proudly and bared its own fangs, and Leoric grinned at the Pokémon before tucking the specimen into the tiny pocket of his Santa jacket.

"Sucked in, Ari, you only get a Dusk Ball," Leoric bragged, patting the Dragon Fang hidden inside his jacket. Ari rolled his eyes and dropped down next to Dawn, pulling a round object out of his pocket and handing it to her.

"Merry Christmas, Dawn," he said softly, as the object fell smoothly into Dawn's cupped hands, and it glowed with a bright blue light the moment it touched her skin. "It's called a _Dawn_ Stone," he chuckled. "Those stones are how male Kirlia can evolve into Gallade."

"It's gorgeous…" she gasped, her eyes reflecting the light of the stone as the blue glow began to fade. "Ah, here's my gift for you—!" she took a small, soft package from her coat pocket and gave it to Ari, who felt the weight and laughed.

"Oh, you didn't—" he chuckled, ripping open the wrapping paper. "You did!" he exclaimed, seeing a brown round-brimmed hat lined with orange inside the wrapping. "My hat!" He jammed it over his head and pushed it backwards, grinning from ear to ear as he looked around at Dawn. "It's just my size, too!"

"Merry Christmas," Dawn blushed, kissing him on the lips.

"I can't take much more of this ridiculousness," Leoric growled, pretending to throw up. "Hey, where's May?" he asked, looking around.

"Over there," Max replied, pointing at the fence, where May was leaning over one of the posts. Leoric grunted something inaudible before setting his prototype machine onto the ground and walking over to talk to her.

* * *

May held in a sob as she sprawled her arm over the narrow fence, feeling the rough wood rub against her skin. She felt the cold air biting at her bare legs and arms, and the belt around her waist felt tight against her stomach. But on top of everything she was feeling, she felt lonely; lonely because everyone else had someone special in their lives – someone to spend some quality time with – and she had no-one, especially not the one person she wanted to spend time with.

"This Christmas sucks…" she hissed, punching the fencepost with a gloved fist.

"How come?"

May spun around, her hands gripping the fence as she saw Leoric standing in front of her, his hands in the pockets of his oversized pants. _Why does he have to be wearing that ridiculous jacket?_ she thought to herself, glancing shamelessly at his exposed chest for a brief moment. "Wh-what are—you doing—here?" she asked timidly, trying to look as relaxed as someone could in her attire.

"Well, let's see… it's Christmas Day, I got invited to this party, I'm wearing a Santa suit that looks like it was better suited to a small _Hariyama_," he rambled, and May giggled at his comparison to an Arm Thrust Pokémon. "But apart from that, I have absolutely no business here whatsoever."

"I meant what are you doing _here_, as in right at this spot?" May asked drily.

"Well, I noticed that you weren't with the others, and so I wondered where you were," he answered, stepping shyly forwards. "And, well—I…"

"Ye—yes?" May stuttered, her voice fluttering.

"I wanted to give you your Christmas present away from the others," he mumbled, his eyes looking at the ground as he pulled a large round shape from his bulging pocket and held it out to her. "It's a Pokémon egg."

"Wow…" May gasped, taking the egg into her arms. "It's a Swablu's egg, isn't it?" she asked, rocking it back and forth. Leoric's head shot up, an amazed look on his face as he watched May shift her hold on the egg.

"You figured it out that quickly?! Max took a whole minute, and that was just a rough guess," he muttered, his eyes following the motion of the egg in her arms. "It's, uh—my Salamence's egg—he's my first Pokémon, and he's also the father. His first offspring."

"So you're giving me the very first egg from your very first Pokémon?" May whispered, glancing down at the sky-blue egg. "Was the mother a wild Altaria, or a trained one?"

"Trained. A woman from my home region—_our_ home region—" Leoric stuttered, standing next to May and leaning back on the fence, completely oblivious to the Pokémon behind them. "She's not a bad Trainer herself, actually. I think you might know her," he added, glancing over at her, and May returned his gaze curiously, "name's Winona. Fortree City's Gym Leader."

"Really?!" May exclaimed, her eyes shooting back down to the Swablu egg. "So this little Swablu is the offspring of a Gym Leader's Pokémon, and a World Champion's Pokémon? That's some pretty big footsteps to follow in…"

"I was never World Champion, May. Not on my own, anyways."

"Well, I think you could be one," May smiled, looking back at him, and Leoric gulped nervously.

_Oh boy… Why does she have to be wearing that ridiculous dress?_ he thought, glancing discreetly at the bell-shaped lower half of the dress. Unfortunately for him, May noticed the look and blushed furiously, and to hide this she looked the other way. "Umm…" he muttered awkwardly, moving a hand towards her before hastily withdrawing it, "well… Merry Chris—"

"Hey, you!"

"Who, me?!" Leoric asked, outraged as he spun around to see who had dared to interrupt him, and he saw Misty marching towards him, her face bunched up in anger as she threw her Christmas hat onto the ground. "Look, Misty, I saw the earrings, and they really _are_ fantastic, but—"

"What do you think you're doing?!" she screeched, snatching at May's arm and swinging her around.

"Watch out for Apache's egg!" Leoric shouted, starting forwards as it bobbled in May's grasp. Misty's eyes flashed down towards the egg, before they shot up towards May, burning like fire.

"_Apache_? Leoric's _Salamence_?Where did you get that?" she hissed.

"_Leoric_ gave it to me for Christmas," May said wryly.

"You smart-alecky little—"

"Whoa, time out, you two!" Leoric roared, jumping in between them just as Misty cocked her fist backwards. "May, that egg was a gift for _you_, not something you could rub in Misty's face—" May hung her head in shame, "Misty, just because I gave May a Pokémon egg doesn't mean that you have the right to get angry at _her_! If you're going to be angry at anyone, be angry at _me_ for giving it to her," he said stubbornly, crossing his arms and turning his back to May defensively. Misty looked ready to explode with anger, but Leoric held his ground and stared coldly at her, and she seemed to calm down after a few moments. She craned her head around Leoric's frame and shot one last icy glare at May before turning on her heels and storming back the way she came.

"I'm sorry, Leoric—" May choked, clutching tightly at the egg. "I can't take this—have it back—"

"No. It's my present to you; you keep it," Leoric rebutted, keeping his arms crossed as he turned around to face her.

"But it's not worth it if you and Misty are going to fight about it!"

"Why should that be a problem?!"

"Because you two are an item!" May shrieked, as though admitting the words to herself was as painful as someone driving a knife in between her shoulder blades. She closed her eyes as tears began to form, but she opened them a fraction when she felt Leoric's firm hands on her arms.

"I gave _you_ my Swablu, May," Leoric said finally. He leant forwards and kissed her once on the cheek before turning around and walking back to retrieve his prototype from the others. May stared after him regretfully, but she dashed toward him as though she'd suddenly been stung by an electric shock, crying after him and shouting for him to stop. "May, if you re—" Leoric started, swinging back around, but May shut him up with a passionate kiss. After a few seconds, Leoric pulled himself away and looked blankly at May's wild sapphire eyes.

"Merry Christmas, Leoric," she whispered, smiling weakly. Unknown to either Trainer, Pikachu watched them from the fence where May had been standing seconds earlier, and he dusted his hands before turning back to the other Pokémon, satisfied with his work.

* * *

Ash sat with his arm resting on his knee as he stared up at the star-spangled sky, watching contentedly as the moon began to poke its way from behind a cloud. When he'd woken up this morning, he had been rushed to a point where he had almost collapsed with exhaustion, but now, so many hours later, he felt utterly relaxed and composed, and he leant back so that his back was lying against the ground and closed his eyes.

"Forgetting someone…?" asked a female voice above his head. Ash's eyes snapped open to see Anabel staring down at him upside-down over the rim of her dress, and he smiled softly.

"I'd _never_ forget you, Anabel," he murmured, moving his hands past his head to rest on her tall, black boots. "Well, not _intentionally_, anyways," he added.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Anabel asked sharply, kneeling down next to his head.

"Never mind. You know, that dress is really distracting," he told her, poking at the white lining.

"I know, it's a bit _dazzling_, don't you think?" she asked happily, sliding her hands over it.

"Well, that too, but I was _gonna_ say that you're standing a bit too close to me at the moment, and I can see—" he pointed upwards while making sure to look at her face, and Anabel's face instantly turned as red as her hat, pressing the fabric as closely to her legs as she could, dropping herself onto the ground next to Ash just as he sat up.

"You _could_, or you _were_?!"

"I could. Don't worry, I'm not—anyways, I think it's time for your Christmas present, yes?" Ash sidestepped, reaching for his final gift of the night – a gift-wrapped box the rough size of a large paperback book. "Now _this_ present I'm particularly proud of having," he explained, shuffling backwards so that his body was level with Anabel's as she fumbled with the purple ribbon, "but not because it's expensive. It's because of all the heart and effort that went into _making_ it."

"So you made it yourself?! Ooh, I just want to see what it is even more now!" Anabel said excitedly, going to town on the wrapping paper as she tried to get inside the box. After discarding the paper in a shredded heap onto the grass, she removed the lid and gazed down at the box's contents, her eyes shimmering. "Oh, _Ash_…" she gasped, a tear running down the side of her face.

Inside the box were two tiny, wooden figurines, the same size as the bride and groom that Ash had seen atop the wedding cake in the bakery. But instead of a man wearing a tuxedo, the figure on the right was a boy dressed in an inky blue jacket, adorned with a single yellow stripe running horizontally across the chest, and wearing a pair of long blue jeans. Replacing the bride on the left was a lavender-haired girl in a mauve-coloured shirt with gold trim, and a matching pair of purple trousers.

"It's us…!" she whispered, her eyes drinking in every perfect detail about the figurines, right down to the marks under Ash's large brown eyes, and the rebellious tuft of hair atop her own head. "Ash, it's perfect! Thank you so much!" she exclaimed, gently putting the box onto the grass before she threw her arms around Ash and kissed him repeatedly.

"It was nothing!" Ash said dismissively, casting his mind back to the frantic hour that he had spent in the bakery creating those figurines. Galadriel had painstakingly carved every feature of his and Anabel's likenesses onto two blank manikins using a combination of his blades and a series of Psycho Cuts. Once they had been made, Horazon had – just as difficultly – burned the colours onto the wood using his Will-O-Wisp attack, changing the temperature of the flames for different shades and effects.

"Now it's time for _my_ gift to _you_!" Anabel said happily, standing to her feet and helping Ash to his, making sure to keep her dress against her legs.

"You didn't have to get me _anything_," he interjected, pulling a purple flower out of his pocket and holding it to her nose. "Your first gift to me is more than enough."

"Be that as it may, I have something _else_ for you," she smirked. "Okay, guys, let 'em rip!" she shouted, seemingly at the sky. Ash spun around on the spot, looking for anything about to be 'let rip', but Anabel held his chin and directed it towards the sky, waiting as she heard a soft hiss from beyond the fence, towards the hills. "Just wait, you'll see—" she said soothingly, but a sunburst of colour exploded in the night sky as the firework fizzed out, blasting an image of a Pikachu's face amongst the stars.

"Whoa!" Ash shouted, his eyes lighting up as more fireworks littered the night sky, projecting even more Pokémon – Corphish, Alakazam, Tauros, Metagross and Espeon – next to the Pikachu, whose shape was amazingly holding firm in the air. "Hey, wait a minute—" he pointed at each Pokémon in turn, "those are the Pokémon we used in our Ability Symbol match!"

"The best is yet to come," Anabel winked, looking back up at the firework-strewn sky. There was another colossal flash, and a green message sparkled as the six Pokémon formed a circle around it – "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" – and they slowly rotated around the message as Ash's friends saw it and applauded, staring up in wonder. "Here we go—" Anabel said breathlessly, and a tiny purple firework skimmed across the sky and exploded, a blurry shape lowering itself towards Ash. The shape sharpened into some kind of picture, which fell smoothly into Ash's hands, and he saw a gold-embroidered photo frame, with a picture of he and Anabel kissing each other – something that Ash knew to have come from his post-match interview with Derek, where he had been so brave as to kiss Anabel on live television.

"It's wonderful," Ash grinned, but his smile changed to a look of sadness as he looked at the picture.

"What's wrong?!" Anabel asked, scared witless that there was a problem with the present.

"I don't know…" he frowned. "It's just not as good as the real thing, I suppose," he answered, and as he turned to Anabel, she saw that the grin had returned to his face, wider than ever.

"Don't mess with me about that sort of thing!" she said angrily, punching him in the arm. "But I suppose you're right… so let me make it up to you. After all, it's _Christmas_," she said cheerfully, leaning in towards Ash and kissing him. They held their kiss for a long time, even as the fireworks above their heads exploded for a second time, sending a shower of glowing light around their bodies and fading into the air.

* * *

**Well, I hope you enjoyed this colossal Christmas special! Over 20,000 words, and I wrote it all in two days! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night, as they say!**


	60. Boxing Day Tests

**CHAPTER 60 – BOXING DAY TESTS**

"_Leo, come over here, would you?!"_

"_What for? I just wanna sit here by the—"_

"_Now!"_

"_Alright, alright! Sheesh!" he caved, stumbling to his feet and stumbling forwards. He could see her faint outline shimmering in the invisible heat of a breezy afternoon, but he couldn't see her beautiful face as she ran further away. "Hey, don't make me chase after you!" he cried, reaching a hand out as he quickened his pace._

"_Half of the fun is in the chase, silly…"_

"_Well, I guess the fun's half-over, then!" he shouted, lunging forwards and grabbing at her arms, swinging her around to see him face-to-face. "What the hell…?" he whispered, for the face in front of him was something that he never expected; the left-hand side of the girl's face was that of Misty, whereas her right side bore May's features. His jaw gaped as he saw a moss-green and a sea-blue eye sparkle at him, but just then the Misty-May duo wavered and split apart, turning into two full figures of both the girls, wearing their Christmas dresses from last night's party._

"_I can't believe he's ogling us like that… he looks like such a cute little Growlithe," Misty whispered to May, her voice perfectly audible to him, and the brown-haired girl giggled and pirouetted on the spot, her short dress twirling revealingly about her hips. "Well, I can't believe he's ogling _you_ anyways," she added with a sneer._

"_Hey! What's wrong with me?!" May rebuked, crossing her arms and staring daggers at her orange-haired friend._

"_Yeah, Misty, what's so bad about May?" he asked timidly, looking from one to the other. "You're both good-looking."_

"_I knew you'd take May's side, Leo! Just like you gave her that Pokémon egg!" Misty huffed, her hair standing on end as she tore a PokéBall from her belt, making him stare confusedly at her for the outburst. "May, I'm challenging you to a Pokémon battle, and the winner takes Leoric!" she shrieked, rounding on her._

"_You're on!" May shouted, enlarging a PokéBall of her own, but he jumped between the two girls and threw his hands to the side._

"_You'll do nothing of the sort!" he roared, snatching the PokéBalls out of their grasps. "Settle this—this—_problem_—like civilised people, or I'm outta here!" His head whipped from side to side, and upon seeing the stubborn glares on May and Misty's faces, he shoved the PokéBalls into his pockets and stormed away, muttering curses under his breath. He wasn't watching where he was going, and a few moments later his marching footsteps disappeared as he fell through the open air._

"Whoa, what the hell—?!"

Leoric's head jerked upright with a shout, his brow covered in a sheen of sweat as his eyes stared up at the ceiling from behind a layer of film. Wiping it away and blinking furiously, he felt a sharp, searing pain digging into the small of his back, and he looked down from the roof to find himself lying spread-eagled across the three-seater lounge in his hotel's lounge room. There was a sour taste in his mouth, and he took a deep breath as he tried to sit up, only to have the pain spear up his spine and make him groan and slump back into the couch.

"Ugh… what time is it?" he asked himself, tilting his head to look at the clock on the wall. "Six…thirty…?" he grumbled, squinting at the spindly hands mounted on the clock's face. _Well, that rules out a hangover,_ he thought, rubbing a hand across his forehead._ That time at Silver Town, I didn't wake up until after noon… so what did I get up to last night?!_ "And what the hell is wrong with my back?!" he hissed, arching himself up off the cushions. He saw a long, metal object lying underneath his backside, and he rolled onto the ground, hitting his head on the carpet with a loud thump. "Oh geez… Why do I have to get up today?"

_You have to get up because you've got two matches today,_ a small voice in his groggy head said.

"Oh right, the Tag Team with Ari… but that's not til four…" he mumbled to himself, picking his head up from the floor. "Oh, wait, I've got a Singles match before that!" He smacked himself in the forehead and tried to sit up for the second time, but the metal object he had been sleeping on during the night slid off the lounge and struck him across the nose. "What the fuck _is_ this?!" he shouted, grabbing it and holding it up to the light, where he saw three distinctive silver letters engraved on the side, underneath a small tiled panel.

"WTF indeed," he smirked, throwing it back onto the lounge. Struggling to his feet and rubbing his back, Leoric checked his reflection in the mirror hanging in the hallway as he trudged down it, noting his horribly messy hair. He ruffled it in a vain attempt to style it the way he liked, before turning into the bathroom to take an early morning shower. "Best three words to describe yesterday…" he mused, throwing his clothes onto the ground and stepping into the shower, sliding the door shut and turning the hot water on.

"Ahh… yeah, that feels good…" he moaned, tipping his head backwards and letting the water slide down his chin. "Can't wait to get back into my old clothes… sure beats that hideous Santa costume—" his eyes shot open and swivelled towards the red-and-white mass on the bathroom floor – he'd apparently fallen asleep in his outfit after coming back home, "but I guess it wasn't _too_ bad," he reasoned, running his fingers through his sodden blonde fringe and flicking it away from his green eyes.

"That dream, on the other hand," he thought aloud, shivering despite the heat as he reached for a bar of soap, "had _so_ many things wrong with it. Like I'd ever say '_good-looking_'!" he laughed, swathing himself in soap before reaching for his bottle of shampoo. "Hot – maybe… gorgeous – maybe… good-looking – never…! Hmm… would what I said really be considered taking May's side – giving her my Swablu…? I mean, I gave Misty a pretty good gift too…"

His thoughts about the impact of his present to May occupied him through the rest of his shower, and he was turning the situation over in his mind even after he turned off the water and dried himself off, covering himself up with his towel as he headed for his room. Sneaking a peek inside Ari's room, Leoric saw that his friend was sound asleep, which was hardly surprising to him – he had worked himself out preparing for the Christmas party – but he hid a chuckle when he saw that Ari was wearing his brand-new replacement hat, that Dawn had given to him the night before.

"Ari, you fag," he whispered, testing to see if Ari really was asleep, before sneaking back into the bathroom and grabbing a tube of toothpaste from next to the sink. Making sure not to make a sound, he crept along Ari's bedroom floor – still wearing nothing but his towel – and smeared some of the toothpaste along the back of Ari's hand, tiptoeing back outside just as stealthily and tossing the tube back into the bathroom.

"I am too good…!" he cackled quietly, after reaching the safety of his own room. "Hurry up and wake up, man!" he willed his friend from across the hall, smacking his lips together as he reached for his clothes lying on the bed. He paused as his hands came within inches of his white open-neck shirt, and he moved them upwards to his face, resting the tips of his fingers on his mouth.

"Mago," he murmured, licking his lips. "Hmph… Mago… May-go… subtle," he snorted. "_Mago berries progressively curve as they grow… the curvier the berry, the sweeter and tastier it will be—_subtle again—" he chuckled, bringing long-forgotten facts from the stores of his memory, "—_A_ _Mago can be used to heal an injured Pokémon, but if ingested by one who is brave, quiet, relaxed or sassy by nature, has a tendency to induce a state of severe delirium…"_

"Geez, I wonder if May really knows how accurate that berry _is_, between the sweetness and the confusion and the—I reckon I'll go ask her," he decided, hurriedly dressing himself and slipping his sneakers onto his feet. "Ari, I'm taking the room key! If you don't want me to, speak up now!" he called, knowing full well that Ari was still fast asleep. "Don't say I didn't offer," he chuckled, snatching the card from the coffee table and darting outside, shutting the door behind him with a bang.

_Okay, now to think of what to say,_ he thought, striding down the empty hallway towards the elevator. _What should I tell May? Hey, that rhyme—Ow!_

Leoric's thoughts had distracted him so much that he hadn't noticed where he was walking, and as such he'd collided with someone who had been heading towards the elevator from the hallway to his right. Rubbing the shoulder that had struck the person in the collision, Leoric stood to his feet and turned to face the stranger, who had fallen to the ground as well. It was a young woman – he could tell by the long plait of brown hair that reached down to her legs – dressed in a pair of navy blue jeans and a matching leather jacket, under which there was a zipped-up red shirt, tucked in at the waist. He held back a laugh when she turned around to see him, because her chocolate-coloured fringe looked frighteningly similar to Ari's, and it seemed to suit her much more than the former.

"Sorry about that, I wasn't watching where I was going…" Leoric mumbled, stooping down to help the girl. "Here, let me help you up, miss…?" he offered, extending his hand and waiting for her to latch onto it, as well as giving him her name. But instead of accepting his help, she glared at him with a set of sharp blue eyes, batting his hand away and clambering to her feet, ruffling her jacket and swinging her plait behind her back.

"Who are you calling _miss_?" she fired, and Leoric blinked and stumbled backwards at her voice, because it was, unmistakeably, a man's voice. "Just because I've got long hair don't make me a woman, y'know!"

"Wha—? So you're a _guy_?!" he exclaimed. _Great, first Anabel, now this…_ "Look, sorry about that; I've, uh, just gotten up from the Christmas celebrations, and… I, umm, I've got a bit of a hangover, and—"

"Hangover? How old are you?" the boy asked suspiciously, folding his arms.

"Sixteen, not that it's any of your business," Leoric replied rudely. "How old are _you_?!"

"Seventeen, and likewise," he smirked, glancing at the elevator. "You using the elevator?"

"Elevator?" repeated Leoric blankly, before realising why he was there in the first place. "Uh, yeah, I've got to head over to another hotel to—are you using it, too?"

"Yup, got to get ready for my battle!" he answered cheerily, tapping a PokéBall hidden behind his jacket, just as the elevator chimed and the doors slid apart. Both he and Leoric stepped inside, and waited in an awkward silence as the panels closed again, followed by the whir of the pulleys as the elevator headed for the ground floor.

"I'm Leoric, by the way," Leoric said conversationally, turning to face the boy. "Leoric Reiger. Sorry for thinking you were a girl…"

"Happens a lot, believe me," he said in a bored voice. "Leoric? That's a funny name."

"What's your name then, smart guy?!" Leoric asked hotly, stamping the ground.

"Wynter."

"Got a last name, _Wynter_?!" he teased.

"'Course I do. It's Shinigami," Wynter said proudly.

"Is that anything like Origami?"

"They're two _completely_ different things," Wynter hissed, jabbing a finger towards Leoric.

"If you say so, Origami," Leoric laughed, before being knocked backwards into the wall by Wynter. "What the heck was that for?!" he shouted, pushing himself forwards.

"I felt like it," he shrugged. "But don't call me Origami. Call me Wynter; it's—"

"Yeah, yeah, I wasn't asking for your life story," Leoric said dismissively. "Well, looks like we're here—" he pointed at the doors, which swung open at once, "so if you'll excuse me, I've got things to do."

"Don't think I'm gonna waste my time stopping you, but I'm off here as well," Wynter reminded him, strolling past Leoric and out of the elevator. "See you around, Laurie," he said tauntingly, waving a hand casually over his shoulder as he made for the doors at the end of the lobby.

"It's _Leoric_, you smart-arse!" Leoric shouted, charging forwards and stopping as he came level with Wynter, who was pretending not to have heard. "Hey, are you listening to me?!" he shouted, attracting the attention of the small clusters of people already in the lobby as they walked.

"Yeah, I heard you," Wynter said lazily, putting his hands in his pockets and staring straight ahead. "Wish I hadn't though," he added cheekily, making Leoric clench his fist in anger.

_Just you watch, paper-boy,_ he thought angrily, but then he opened his fist and let his hand fall to his side. _Heh, this guy's a lot like me, I reckon. And he's one of the Trainers competing too… _"Hey… _Wynter_… do you wanna catch a bite to eat later on today?" he suggested, waving a hand towards the doors in front of them.

"I told you—" Wynter turned around, his hair flicking around and almost smacking Leoric in the nose, "I'm not a chick. So stop hitting on me; I don't swing that way."

Leoric laughed at the comment, remembering saying something similar to Brock only a few days ago. _Another thing we've got in common_, he reminded himself as he clapped Wynter on the shoulder. "Nah, the only one in danger of being gay is _you_. I mean, look at that _hair_! You could use it as a back-scratcher!" he observed, and this time it was Wynter who laughed.

"Whatever, Leoric—" Leoric registered the use of his proper name, "—but I'm afraid I can't make arrangements. Battles and everything, you know," he shrugged, walking through the doors and out into the open sunlight of the outdoors. "But hey, I know what floor you're on, so maybe I'll see you around, yeah?"

"Sounds alright," Leoric grinned, extending his hand. Wynter shook it, a rough smile on his face, before turning and walking north towards the mountains, no doubt to train his Pokémon.

"_LLLLLEEEEEOOOOORRRRRIIIIICCCCC!_" screeched a voice above Leoric's head that made Wynter swing around and look upwards. The sound made Loudred, hiding in the scrubland to the north, howl and cover their ears in distress, and, a hundred kilometres above the surface of the earth, an enormous, green, serpentine Pokémon glanced down briefly before continuing its never-ending flight throughout the skies. Leoric's head shot up to see Ari standing on the balcony of their hotel room, a line of toothpaste running from his eye to his chin, and he roared with laughter.

"Hi, Ari! Good to see you woke up!" he cackled, waving at the livid boy glaring at him before turning and running at full pace in the opposite direction, past a bemused Wynter and across the street.

* * *

The sound of Ari's screaming voice didn't just reach the ears of the Rayquaza in the atmosphere; it echoed north-west towards a second hotel, reaching into the sleep of a brown-haired girl lying peacefully in her bed. But the cry of '_Leoric!_' tore her peace to shreds and snapped her awake instantly, the top half of her body flinging upright and sending her bed-sheets flying onto the ground.

"Who said that?!" she whispered frantically, her hands swinging upward to cover her body, as she realised that her sheets were missing. "Maybe… maybe it was just a dream…" she muttered, not believing her own words as she slid off her bed and walked to her clothes, draped over a chair lying nearby. After expertly fastening her green bandana around her head, she opened the door and spied the clock at the far end of the hallway, which read a quarter to seven. "Wow, I'm up early!" she said softly, not wanting to wake any of the room's other occupants, and so she tiptoed down the hall and into the kitchen.

"Ah, Mago juice… my little secret…" she giggled absent-mindedly, reaching into the fridge and extracting a small bottle, filled to the brim with sweet-smelling pink liquid. Taking a sip of her drink, she glanced back down the hall at the two closed doors standing on the left-hand side. _Max and Misty must still be asleep,_ she reasoned, taking another quick drink of juice. _That's probably a good thing… I haven't even seen Misty since last night, and that… wasn't too pleasant…_

"All because of that egg," May mumbled, thinking of Leoric's Christmas present to her, which was still lying in her room, tucked against one of her spare jackets. Running lightly into her room, she retrieved it from amongst the clothes and cradled it in one arm – the other still clutching at her juice – and slowly walked back into the kitchen. Holding the Swablu-to-be reminded her of when her Glaceon had been in the same position, merely an Eevee egg, and she couldn't help but smile as she remembered her Pokémon being born.

_That must have been about two years ago,_ she thought, tapping the top of the egg with the base of her chin. Setting her bottle down on the kitchen counter, she held the egg at eye level with both hands and looked closely at the swirling wisps of white running the length of the sky-blue backdrop. She brought it even closer to her face, almost to the point where her nose was touching the surface, and she jumped and nearly dropped the egg in fright when she heard a faint tapping noise coming from outside the room.

Hastily regaining her composure – and her grip on the egg – May turned around to face the hotel door, and again she heard the almost inaudible tap from the other side. _Who could be here at this time of morning?_ she wondered curiously, softly setting the egg down onto the lounge and striding urgently to the door, leaning on the wood and looking through the peephole. _What the—?_

"_Is anyone there?_" whispered a voice, as quiet as the two knocks that came before it, and May opened the door a fraction, giving her a better view of the voice's owner. "_May?_ I mean—May, is that you?" he asked, raising his voice slightly.

"G-Good morning, Leo," she stammered, watching as Leoric picked himself up from the crouching position he had been in. "I—I, uh… come in—!" she offered, waving an arm inside, to which he hurriedly obliged. "I guess you wanted to see Misty, right? She's, uh, still asleep, I think…" she said, before he even had a chance to talk, as she swooped back down over the Swablu egg and propped it against her chest.

"Good, good…" he muttered, glancing edgily down the hallway before swinging around to face her. "I actually came here to talk to _you_ about a couple of things."

"M-Me? What could you possibly want to talk to _me_ about?" May asked, halfway between sarcasm and hysteria.

"Is Max up yet?" Leoric asked distractedly, shooting another look down the deserted corridor. May shook her head, and he slumped his shoulders in relief before throwing himself down on one of the armchairs in the lounge room. "Oh, that's a relief…" he gasped, closing his eyes, "your brother can be quite the… well, he can be quite defensive of you, anyways."

"He _is_ my brother, after all," May laughed, leaning on the door. "What was he getting "_quite defensive_" of me over?" she inquired, arching her eyebrows at him.

"Just the whole me-you-Misty thing, apparently," he said nonchalantly, his eyes darting towards hers.

"I—Oh…" she murmured, her face turning a slight shade of pink, and to hide this she turned and walked into the kitchen, snatching up her juice and taking a long drink of it.

"Looks yummy. What is it?" Leoric asked, motioning towards the drink, just as May set it back on the counter-top.

"Mago Berry juice," she answered, glancing down at the half-empty bottle. "You want some?"

"I think I _may_ have already been given some…" he winked, placing particular emphasis on '_may_', to which the brunette in the kitchen blinked. "Those berries have a pretty distinctive taste, don't you agree?"

"Uh, yeah—I guess," she answered shakily, trying and failing to sound relaxed as her eyes flashed from the drink below her to Leoric. "Why do you ask?"

Leoric chuckled and stood to his feet, scratching the back of his head and walking over to her. "It's funny, actually… I hadn't had _any_thing with Mago in it during the party last night, and yet, when I woke up this morning, it was all I could taste—!" he moved forwards, so that he was on the other side of the kitchen counter to May, and he leant his elbows on the counter-top, "weird, huh?"

"Definitely sounds weird," she replied, holding the egg a little more tightly as he looked into her eyes. "But I'm sure that there are plenty of reasons why that'd happen," she rallied defensively.

"That's what I was thinking myself at first, but then I developed this _theory_," Leoric said mysteriously, edging around the counter and onto May's side. "Because _Mago_ sounds suspiciously like _May_—" May gulped and edged a fraction backwards, "and just now, you had half a bottle of the stuff… so I'm thinking that it was that kiss last night that got the taste on my lips…"

"What, after you gave me your little Swablu?" May deflected, bouncing the egg up and down. "Why did you give me this egg, anyways?" she challenged, and her question was enough to throw Leoric off-guard and stop his advance, because this time it was he who took a step backwards.

"Uh—well, you see—I only knew about—Swablu over there—" he jerked his head towards the egg in front of May's chest, "—that morning—! Winona, she—sent it to me real quick—and I really wasn't expecting it—her Altaria seemed happy enough with it on her own—but I guess the whole _Gym battle_ thing must've come into it, don't ask me—and I got it couriered to me, and, well—here we are—!"

"You know, you didn't answer my question," she fired coolly, and Leoric took another step backwards. "_Why_ did _you_ give Swablu to _me_?" she pressed.

"Because, well—I thought you'd like it—but I guess I might have been mistaken," he said sourly, hanging his head. "I mean, I nearly had to beg you not to try and give it back to me…"

"Begging? Where did that come into it?"

"Alright, maybe not _begging_, but I still wanted you to have it!" Leoric said fiercely, raising his voice slightly to get his point across. Unbeknownst to either of them, in the first room down the hallway, the noise of their minor argument brought Max out of his slumber, and upon hearing another male's voice in the hotel room, he decided to investigate. Pushing the door open inch by inch, he made a wide enough gap for himself to slip through. He sucked in his stomach and crab-walked into the hallway, before silently shutting the door and crawling into the lounge room, where he heard every word of the conversation between his sister and Leoric.

"—was really something, wasn't it?" May was saying, sipping her drink again.

"Yeah – that performance was amazing, I must say," Leoric said cheerfully, not noticing the flicker of disappointment on May's face as he said it. "You were great. Still_ are_ great," he added, with a cheeky smirk that she returned. "Go-Mago, hehe."

"Ha-ha, very funny," she said dryly, rolling her eyes at his joke.

"Thanks, I thought so too," he laughed, but then his expression turned serious as he looked at her face again. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Uh—okay," May replied, her voice fluttering as she pondered what he was about to ask.

"When we were arguing about Swablu – last night – I told you that I'd given it to _you_, remember?" he recounted, and May nodded blankly. "After that, though… why'd you kiss me?"

"Well—" May turned scarlet for the briefest of moments before calming herself down, "you kissed me first—!"

"—I wouldn't call it that; more like a peck on the cheek," Leoric said agitatedly. "Why, though? I mean… I'm not saying I didn't _like_ it—"

"It was Christmas Night, and if you must know… I was feeling a bit lonely…" she admitted, clutching the egg and turning away from him. "I saw all the couples together during the song – Ari and Dawn, Ash and Anabel… you and Misty—" Leoric heard a tiny sniff escape her, "and I felt so left out… like everyone else was—"

"In on this big secret and you were left in the dark?" he suggested, somewhat darkly.

"…Yeah, exactly like that…" May mumbled, lowering her head, "And, well… I don't know _why_, but—I guess I'm a bit… I might actually… I like you—" she trailed away and screwed her eyes shut, waiting for Leoric to burst into laughter and shoot her down, but it never came. Instead of a harsh rejection, Leoric slowly stepped forwards and put a hand on May's shoulder, and her own hand moved up to meet it, clinging on tightly as though it were her lifeline.

"May…" he murmured. "May, look… I—" he broke off, and his hand slipped from her clutches as he heard a small thump from the lounge room behind him. Both he and May swung around on the spot to see Max leaning on the back of the nearest armchair, a wide smirk planted on his face as he crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows at them.

"Oh please," he said smartly, watching with an odd pleasure as Leoric backed away from him, "don't think you have to stop on account of me."

* * *

Ash swiftly cut his knife across the top-most pancake on his plate, stabbing through it with his fork and shovelling the whole lot hungrily into his mouth. Glancing to his immediate left, he saw Pikachu tucking into a slice of buttered toast, and Brock digging into a bowl of cereal at the end of the dining table. Across from his seat, Dawn was feeding Piplup some of her own pancakes, which the penguin Pokémon seemed to be enjoying quite a lot, but as he watched, Piplup began to choke on an oversized chunk of pancake.

"Careful now," he warned Dawn, who was reaching for another piece of breakfast, completely oblivious to her Pokémon's predicament. Dawn hummed blankly and looked back at Piplup, whose cheeks were turning red, and she immediately dropped her pancake and smacked it across the back. After a few slaps, Piplup finally managed to work its food down properly, and it chirped happily before reaching over for more food.

"You should chew your food a bit more, Piplup," Dawn said motherly, ruffling Piplup's head-feathers before piling syrup over her pancakes. "Remember what happened last night? You tried to have too much Christmas cake, and you got that Cheri berry stuck in your throat," she added, tapping her Pokémon's beak.

"Speaking of Christmas, that party was something, wasn't it?" Brock said conversationally, setting his spoon down.

"Yeah! You, mum and the guys really did a great job getting everything organised," praised Ash, his voice muffled from behind a mouthful of food. "The banner out the front, the huge Christmas tree with the Jirachi at the top, all the delicious food, and—"

"I get the point," he said, squirming with modest embarrassment. "I was actually thinking more about your performance, Dawn," he added, smiling warmly as Dawn blushed and shrugged her shoulders. "Don't be shy about it – it must've taken a lot of practice to get it right!"

"Not as much as you'd think…" she admitted, placing Piplup on her lap. "But thanks anyways. So, did you get any other presents apart from our big gift?" she asked Ash, who swallowed his food and looked away briefly.

"Yeah, I… got one from mum," he answered. "But I don't see why she gave me what she gave me… I'm supposed to change it every day anyways," he chuckled sadly, sticking more pancake into his mouth to avoid having to say any more on the subject. Fortunately for him, both Brock and Dawn caught on, and he was spared any further explanations when they split into laughter, Dawn almost losing her pancakes as she struggled to force them down.

"That's something we really needed to know during _breakfast_," she coughed, fanning her face with her hand.

"Hey, you asked!" Ash rallied, draining his glass of juice and setting it down onto the table.

"Calm down, Ash, you don't need to stress yourself up before the next round," Brock muttered from behind his breakfast. Ash blinked and took another bite of his pancake, glancing discreetly at Dawn, who stuck her tongue out at him before focusing back on Piplup. He grunted indifferently and got to his feet, taking his dishes into the kitchen and washing them up, before snatching his trademark cap from the lounge room and jamming it onto his head.

"Hey, where you going?!" Dawn shouted, watching as he made for the door.

"Getting ready for my match," he replied simply.

"You match isn't for a little while yet," Brock said, still focused on his bowl of cereal. He finished his food and looked up at him, a complacent look in his eye as he stood up. "Seriously, though… which Pokémon are you going to be using in your battle?"

"Pikachu, of course—!" Pikachu hopped up from the dining table and landed on Ash's head, "but… I'm not totally sure what my others will be…" he admitted, his shoulders sagging slightly.

"You know, you really should be more concerned about your team selection," Brock said sternly, folding his arms. "Now, no offence, but you've gotten lucky a couple of times to advance this far, and things are only going to get harder and harder from here on in."

"I've heard the 'step-up-talk' a hundred times before, Brock," Ash reminded him.

"We know, Ash," Dawn interjected. "But you've never gone up against world-class Trainers like this before. And I remember hearing from Ari that the fourth round is a full battle."

"What, like a six-on-six?!" he exclaimed, groaning with anger when Dawn gave him a small nod. "I've got to pick my team, and quick!" And with that he bolted out of the room and into the hallway, slamming the door shut behind him and leaving his two friends to stare at the space where he had just been.

"Always in a hurry to have a battle," Dawn sighed, shaking her head as she turned to walk back to Piplup, who was choking on more pancake.

"Yeah, he didn't even check the tournament tree," muttered Brock, more to himself than to Dawn, who was trying a Heimlich manoeuvre on Piplup. _Oh well, he'll be in for one heck of a shock when he sees who he's going to be going up against…_

* * *

"Look, Max… this, uh… it's not what it looks like…" Leoric stammered, backing further away until he felt his back thump against the lounge room wall.

"Well, what do _you_ think it looks like?" Max asked smugly, his eyes tracking Leoric as May hung her head.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, that isn't it!"

"Okay, so if that isn't… whatever it is—" he snorted doubtfully, "then how about you fill me in on everything? It'll save me being confused."

"I'd actually be more comfortable with telling you nothing, to be honest," Leoric answered sheepishly, but he fell silent with a surprisingly intimidating glare from the young boy. "But I guess that wouldn't be fair, would it?" he added hastily, glancing over at May, who shrugged her shoulders and walked over to stand next to Max. "Well—you see—the situation is that, uh—"

"—_Leoric_… was just comforting me—" she interrupted, turning around to face Max, who rolled his eyes disbelievingly. "I was feeling a bit down—"

"Down about what?"

"About—some stuff that came up during the party—!"

"Like that little message you passed me during the song?" Max pushed, and May slit a finger across her neck in warning.

"Message?" Leoric asked blankly. "There was a message?"

"No, there wasn't—!" May said stubbornly, flicking her brother painfully in the ear and causing him to yelp. "Was there, Max?!"

"Maybe, maybe not," he smirked, sneering at her before turning back to face Leoric. "Hey, how come you were looking for May last night, anyways?"

"Uh, because I wanted to give her the Swablu egg, duh," he said dully. "It was my Christmas present to her."

"Then what did you get Leoric, sis?"

"I g—" May broke off, suddenly realising the answer just as the first words left her mouth. "I, uh, didn't get him anything…" she lied, knowing perfectly well that Max wouldn't take kindly to her telling him about the kiss.

"You're a bad liar, you know that?" Max said tauntingly, making May groan in defeat. "Tell me something, did you feel a little—shock—when you were leaning on the fence last night?" he asked knowingly, the smirk plastered on his face from ear to ear.

"What are you t—?!" she gasped as she remembered; Leoric had kissed her on the cheek and had started walking away, but she had felt a powerful jolt and had run after him. Up until now, she'd thought that it was just a spur-of-the-moment impulse, but now that Max seemed to know all about it, she suddenly wasn't so sure. "How did you know that?" she whispered, much to Leoric's surprise.

"Because I told Pikachu to give you a little… _encouragement_," answered Max, tweaking his glasses habitually. "So Leoric—" he looked over at the still-confused Trainer, "would you count a kiss as a Christmas present?"

"I—" Leoric immediately turned a deep shade of crimson as his eyes flickered from Max, to May, to the egg in her arms. "I—uh—well—I—wouldn't really—know, er…" he struggled to find the right words to answer, but he was spared as Max decided to continue his questions.

"I thought you were going out with Misty," he hissed, his eyes narrowing maliciously. "Should I wake her up and ask her—?" he half-turned towards the hallway.

"Max, just leave him alone!" May shrieked, before she burst into tears and ran to the door, launching it open and floundering down the hallway. Both boys stared open-mouthed at the open door for a long time, trying to take in what just happened, before Leoric regained his senses and rounded on Max, fire in his eyes.

"What'd you do that for?!" he seethed, waving an arm towards the hallway. "Damnit! Can't you see that it's upsetting to her, talking about that stuff?!"

"You're one to talk!" Max roared, jabbing a finger into the air inches in front of Leoric's face. "Like you said yesterday, you _barely know her_! And anyways, all of this is _your_ fault! You just have to drag my sister along while you're fooling around with Misty, don't you?!"

"I'm doing nothing of the sort!" snarled Leoric, his eyes glimmering hatefully. "I—I _hope_ I'm not…" he croaked, and when he blinked, the glimmer was gone. "Look… _Max_… do you remember… when Ari and I came through Hoenn three years ago?" he asked sincerely, lowering himself gingerly onto an armchair. "I was helping Ari with his campaign, and you and May were watching him and your dad duke it out for Ari's Balance Badge, right?"

"Yeah…?"

"Right, well, May was about – what, ten? – yeah, about ten… and I remember seeing a sweet little girl who had _no idea_ about Pokémon battles. She kept asking you about stuff, and you only knew a bit yourself!" he added with a laugh, noting the scowl on Max's face, "but nowadays, when I watch her Contests on the television—"

"You _watch_ her Contests?!"

"Of course I do!" he said assertively. "Like I was saying… when I watch her Contests – appeals, battles, whatever – I see someone who's passionate about her Pokémon, and someone who has real confidence in herself. But I still remember the sweet little girl that I saw so long ago. I guess that the big transformation that she's had has got me star-struck… but—I don't know, maybe it's something more…"

"What about Misty?" Max asked, his tone softening in the slightest at Leoric's words.

"Misty… she's a whole other can of Wurmple…" he chuckled. "Another celebrity – a couple of years older than May, I might add – and she's just got this… _fire_… that goes against all the water-based things that she seems to love so much. And she's independent as well; you know, she takes charge, makes chances for herself, takes risks—!"

"I get the idea," Max said coolly, crossing his arms. "So what, you're saying that you like _both_ of them?!"

"In a word… yes," Leoric sighed, throwing his hands into the air. "I hope you see, now, that I don't want to drag May along if she thinks I'm a definite with Misty… or even the other way around! I'd hate for Misty to think that she has to put me above May," he added, looking at Max.

"Well that's very admirable, but how about you stop telling _me_, and you start telling _them_!" he suggested, staring back at him. Leoric held the boy's gaze for several moments, before he finally blinked in submission and turned to look at the doorway, still left open from May's emotional departure.

"This is another one of those things you could do for a living…" he grunted, a small smirk playing on his mouth. "First Pokémon Egg expert, now counsellor-psychiatrist! Well, I guess you're right—" he got to his feet, "so I'll talk to May first."

"Why not Misty? She's just in there," Max pointed out, gesturing towards the hallway, but Leoric shook his head adamantly and walked towards the exit.

"No, I think I should talk to May first. She deserves to hear it from me, and me alone; not you, not Misty," he said firmly, resting his hand on the doorknob. "I owe her an explanation for—well, being myself, I guess."

"Okay then," smiled Max, heading for the door as well. "I think I'll go see Ash. I want to know what Pokémon he's gonna be using in his next match!"

"You're watching him and not me?" Leoric asked in a condescending voice. "And here I was thinking that our little bonding session would have brought you over to my match. Fine, run along then," he sighed, watching as Max sprinted around the bend and dashed down the hallway.

_I knew it!_ thought Max excitedly, as he ran towards the elevator. _He wanted to talk to May first! He _so_ likes her more than Misty! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!_ His thoughts bubbled away in his mind so much that he didn't even notice that he had raced past his sister, who had been crouching against the wall on the other side of the doorway to which he had gone. Her head jerked up as she saw him tear past, but once she realised that he hadn't seen her, it quickly dropped back to rest against Swablu's egg.

"Alright, Leo, you can do this… it's just three easy words… three easy words… three—easy—words—"

A soft click on May's left made her head snap around and upwards. Leoric was facing away from her, and he was still holding the doorknob even after having closed the door behind him. He seemed to be staring down the hallway, towards the elevator – just as the doors slid shut on Max, who was still facing away from them – and he was muttering under his breath, his words reaching her ears, but they were incoherent and couldn't distinguish themselves.

"Leoric?" she whispered, and he jumped a foot in the air at the sound of her voice, whirling around and staring wildly down the hallway, before lowering his gaze to the floor. Spotting her curled upright on the carpet, his hand flew to his heart as he tried to slow his erratic breathing.

"Geez, May, you nearly scared me to death there!" he laughed, bending double and sitting down next to her, in front of the doorway. "What are you doing down here?" he asked politely, looking up at the ceiling.

"Just thinking about things," she murmured shyly, gazing at her egg before glancing over at him. "You?"

"Thinking too," he agreed, resting his head on the wall. "But, y'know, bout people and not things. Well, just a couple of people in particular…"

"Wh-Who?"

"You, for one," Leoric said bracingly, casting his eyes down to the floor and missing the tinge of pink that passed over May's cheeks. "Look, just to clear—to clear things up… I'm not _officially_ going out with Misty, alright? She likes me, and I like her, but we, uh, we're not an item, as you put it last night…"

"B-But—the date at the hot spring—the song—"

"Were all Misty," he finished. "And Misty never kissed me on the date – Max told me that she left that out when she, uh, bragged to you about it. Besides, I—"

"She didn't?"

"Didn't what? Kiss me, no. Yeah, those two—there were complications," he corrected, wondering if Misty had told them the whole story. "What I'm trying to say is that… well… I know that you like me, and—and, uh—I… I like you as well…"

"So—" May paused to catch her breath as the last minute of conversation sank in, "so you like Misty… but you like _me_ as well…?"

"You make it sound a lot less of a burden than it really is," Leoric observed, hanging his head. "Yeah, I like both of you. Now, if you'll excuse me—" he suddenly stood up, "I'm going to go throw myself from the roof and pray that my Pokémon don't catch on and try to save me," he sighed, stalking off towards the elevator. May registered the sarcasm in his voice, but she decided to play along with his comment, and so she jumped to her feet as well, shouting and chasing him down the hallway.

"May, I was just kidding—" Leoric turned around and rolled his eyes, but May held the egg right in front of his face, so close to his nose that he threw himself backwards and onto the floor to avoiding knocking into it. Blinking furiously he sat up on his hands and looked up at her, shouting, "What on earth did you do _that_ for?!"

"You think that things are gonna be all hunky-dory if you off yourself?" she screeched, still waving the egg about.

"I was being _sarcastic_, May!"

"Good! Because I'd be heartbroken if you died," she said stubbornly. "And this egg would never see its _daddy_."

"I'm pretty sure that Apache would be fine if—" Leoric began to argue, but he suddenly broke off as his eyes widened, "—oh… look, I've got to go and get ready for my matches today, so… umm… I'll see you sometime later, okay? Y'know, provided that I'm still alive," he winked, clambering to his feet and turning to the elevator. Without a backwards glance, he entered the elevator and, without turning around, he waited for the doors to close.

"Don't joke around with stuff like that," May whispered to herself, hoisting the egg back into her arms before returning to her room.

* * *

Ash smiled politely at the Nurse Joy standing at the counter of the Pokémon Center, just as she handed five PokéBalls over the counter to him. Clipping each one to his belt, he memorised the position of each of his Pokémon, knowing that if he got mixed up and sent out the wrong one during his match, it could spell disaster for his chances at victory. Nonetheless, he couldn't help but smile even wider at the kind-hearted look that Joy gave him as he said his thanks and headed outside; he was confident that, no matter what the opponent, no matter what Pokémon he would be facing, he would be able to come out on top.

"You know what, Pikachu? We're gonna win this one," he muttered to Pikachu, giving voice to his thoughts.

"_Pi-ka-chu_," peeped the Pokémon happily, nodding vigorously. _Absolutely._

"I just hope there isn't a Bulbasaur – or any of its evolutions – on the other team," he chuckled, thinking about all the times that one of his roster had tried to be a bit too friendly with the Pokémon. "Well, buddy, off to Stadium… Six?" he frowned, struggling to remember the exact number, but Pikachu tapped him on the ear and held up two fingers. "Oh, Stadium _Two_? Good thing one of us is paying attention," he grinned. "I must be moving up the stadiums… now number two would be close to the Igloo, so we'll just go there and work to it."

Both he and Pikachu strode quickly through the wide lanes towards the towering stadium at the island's centre, ducking around small throngs of people and even smaller groups of fanatical children, most of which seemed to recognise him instantly and ran screaming towards them. Quickly making up excuses and hurriedly signing the occasional cap or t-shirt, he managed to wave the majority of them away, but more and more fans clamoured around.

Memories of his last encounter with his supporters still clung to his mind, and he instinctively raised a hand to make sure that Pikachu was still firmly seated on his shoulder. Feeling his Pokémon's soft, yellow fur calmed him down somewhat, and he allowed himself to be squealed at by the youngsters, and he grinned as he tried to sign the rest of the items that were being shoved in his face.

"Look, I hate to go, but I have to get to my match—!" he gasped, fighting his way out of the centre of the mob, but the tidal wave of people still clustered around him like a horde of insects. "Hey, I'm gonna be late—! Let me go—!"

"You heard the man. Besides, he's mine," said a female voice towards the edge of the crowd, and two pairs of hands dragged him away from the disappointed fans. Once they all dispersed, Ash finally got a good view of the pair that had saved him, even though he knew who one of them was. "Morning, hotshot," Anabel giggled, threading her fingers through his and kissing him lightly on the cheek. "I hope you're ready for your big battle?"

"Hey, Anabel. I think I'm ready, if that answers your question," he smiled, glancing at her companion. "Morning, Ari. Uh… what's that on your face?" he asked, pointing at a small white mark running across the boy's cheek. "Looks like hand soap… or something," he added, squinting as Ari touched the mark.

"Toothpaste, actually. Leoric," he explained, answering the puzzled looks on Ash and Pikachu's faces. "A guy can't sleep soundly in his bed without being targeted…"

"Right, I'll keep that in mind…!" Ash said shiftily, shaking his head. "Where is Leoric, anyways?"

"Last I saw of him, he was running away from me, past this long-haired chick. But he's probably getting ready for his battle; he prefers to do it solo."

"Yeah, I always wondered why he never wanted us to see his matches," Ash sighed. "But hang on—" he turned to Anabel, "what about _your_ matches? Shouldn't you be training your Pokémon?" he asked. Ari hissed inwardly at the question, intentionally looking the other way, and Anabel arched her eyebrows at Ash suspiciously.

"Well, I thought that I'd take some time off training and spend a bit of time with you."

"Sounds great, but my match starts pretty soon," he said, his face falling. "So there probably won't be much time…"

"In that case, you two had better make good use of the time you've got now," Ari suggested, scratching his nose. "I'll leave you two to it, though; my battle is on at the same time as yours, unfortunately, Ash. It's a pity though… I was really looking forward to you clash with your opponent."

"But I'll be there to cheer you on!" Anabel squeaked encouragingly, holding Ash's arm in hers. "Not that you need the support; I know you'll win no matter what!"

"Thanks, Anabel," he said, embarrassed but still pleased as he kissed Anabel on the forehead. Ari gave the couple a quick smile and a wave before stowing his hands in his pockets and walking down the street, where he was soon swallowed up by the thronging crowds clogging the road. Taking Anabel's hand back into his, they strolled down the street that Ari had just turned into, taking in the sights of the scenery around them.

"Ari filled me in on what happened the other night," Anabel chimed, shifting her gaze slightly upwards to Ash's face. "He told me about how you led the search, fought off that Galactic and saved Dawn's life," she added, her eyes twinkling with loving admiration.

"_Ari_ had the idea to find Derek and Jeanne, we _all_ fought Mark at the harbour, and it was _Dusknoir_ that saved Dawn, not me," he grunted, pointing out the inaccuracies as Stadium Two came into view from behind the World's Peak. "Did he tell you what happened after Brock and I got her out of there?"

"Nope, what happened then?"

"Ah, nothing…" he said dismissively. "Hey—" he turned his head to look Anabel full in the eyes, "I've been wondering… how do you _know_ Ari, anyways? I mean, when he told us all the story about that mark on his back, he said that he'd known you before. You two seem really—I dunno—close…" he added in an undertone, which made Anabel stop in her tracks and look at him incredulously. "What?!"

"You wouldn't be getting _insecure_ about Ari and me, would you?"

"No!" Ash exclaimed stubbornly, and Pikachu slapped itself in the forehead. "I'm not insecure; I'm… curious, is all."

"Well if you must know," she sighed, "Ari and I met in Silver Town five or so years ago. It was time for the Johto Conference, and I, uh, accidentally ran into his Duskull on the street, and the rest is history."

"It's a small world," he mused. "I did the same thing on this island, only Duskull was Dusknoir."

"Life's full of little coincidences, isn't it?" Anabel giggled, linking arms with him. "Oh no…" she murmured, looking upwards, because all too soon they were at the entrance to the stadium, its towering structure casting a long shadow over the ground and swallowing Ash, Anabel and Pikachu up. "I guess this is it. I'll be in the stands, supporting you every second of the way, of course!" she said brightly. "Good luck, Ash—" she leant up and kissed him twice, "although I'm sure you don't need it."

"Thanks again, Anabel," smiled Ash, squeezing her hand as she wished Pikachu a similar sentiment. "I'll try not to disappoint," he chuckled, putting an arm around her, and Anabel returned the hug for a long time before waving goodbye and jogging through the archway. "Pikachu, are you ready?!" he asked his Pokémon excitedly, clenching his fists in anticipation of the battle ahead. Pikachu sparked a small wave of electricity from its cheeks, and Ash nodded and ran through the archway, making for the Trainer's Tunnel that would lead him onto the field.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the grounds of Stadium Two, Mr. Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!" roared the ringing voice of the female announcer, booming out of the megaphones as the metal wall slid aside, revealing the stadium to Ash in its entirety. "Contestant Ketchum, please take your place in the centre circle!" she cheered, and Ash, not wanting to delay his match for just a second, strode confidently forwards and took his place on the close side of the ring in the arena's middle.

"_Ash! Ash! Ash! Ash! Ash!_" chanted the crowd, punching the air with their fists as one. Ash felt himself caught up in the jubilation of the moment and flourished his hands through the air, to much more applause and screaming from the thousands upon thousands of fans seated in the stands. Narrowing his eyes against the morning glare, he scanned the crowd for the familiar crests of hair and hat that would tell him where his friends were, and he quickly found them, sitting in a neat line three rows from the front.

_Mum, Brock, Dawn, Max and Anabel…_ he counted in his mind, frowning slightly at the numbers. _I know that Ari had his own match on now, but where are the others? _"Pikachu, where do you think Leoric, May and Misty are?" he wondered. "You think they forgot, or did they have something else on?" Pikachu simply shrugged its shoulders, which did very little to curb his curiosity, and so he contented himself with putting the matter out of his mind until after the battle.

"Good luck, Ash!" shouted Brock, Dawn and Max, waving their arms wildly in the air.

"Do your best, son!" Delia shrieked, cupping her hands over her mouth.

"Show them you're the best there is—!" yelled Anabel, clasping her hands over her heart. Ash heard her cry of encouragement above all the others, and he casually drifted his hand to his cap, tugging on the brim, before allowing it to rest over his chest, flicking the collar of his shirt in the process. Anabel was confused as to why he had fixed his hat, but there was no mistaking the small, purple object pinned to his collar.

The announcer gave the introduction for Ash's opponent, but her words were half-drowned by the swelling noise of the crowd, and even if they hadn't, Ash wasn't paying attention anyways. The door on the far end of the stadium moved away, and a moment later the Trainer stepped out into the light of the stadium. He was a relatively tall young man, dressed in an oversized green coat, under which he was wearing a maroon t-shirt. His pants were a dull green-grey and reached down to his shoes, and as per usual, there were six red-and-white PokéBalls arranged along his belt.

As his face came into the light, Ash staggered forwards with a gasp, and Pikachu's eyes widened with shock. The Trainer had short, fuzzy, mahogany-coloured hair that matched his shirt, and shrewd dark eyes. Despite this, his face – framed by a firm, jutting jaw – held a kind-hearted expression that Ash knew all too well; that same expression had led the team of Pokémon that had eliminated him from Hoenn's Ever Grande Conference in the quarter-finals, two years ago.

It was Tyson.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***My brother Shannon actually did the same prank to me as Leo did to Ari, except – instead of toothpaste – hand soap was used…**

***When Ash is being jostled by the crowd and tries to break free, he uses the same quote as Tidus during the prologue of Final Fantasy X, outside the Zanarkand Dome.**

**Quiz:**

***What is the literal translation for the Japanese term "Shinigami", or "****死神"****?**


	61. An Ever Grande Return

**CHAPTER 61 – AN EVER GRANDE RETURN**

Ash watched in shocked wonder as his new opponent entered the arena and hailed the crowd, with the crowd themselves roaring excitedly in reply. In Ash's mind, it was no wonder that they applauded him; he knew who the man was, and what he had achieved, even defeating Ash in the gauntlet that was Ever Grande to reach it.

"Tyson?!" Ash shouted, starting forwards in his half-circle. "Wh-What are you doing here?!" he asked wildly, waiting hesitantly as Tyson strode to the centre circle. In all honesty, he wasn't surprised to see him here on the world stage – he knew, from personal experience, that Tyson was a world-class Trainer – but he _was_ surprised that he was going to be pitted against one of his own friends at this stage of the tournament.

"Ash! It's been a while," he said cheerily, extending a hand. "Two years, if I remember right?"

"I think so, yeah," Ash muttered, shaking his hand firmly, not wanting to show any sign of nerves. "Wow, this is a bit of a shock, I've got to admit!"

"Didn't you check the tournament tree?" Tyson wondered, slipping his hands into his pockets. "I knew I'd be facing you the moment you beat that Russian girl… Reena; it always helps to know who you're going to be up against."

"Well, good thing I'm facing you then! I already _know_ who you are," Ash replied smartly. "I _know_ that you beat me in the Hoenn Pokémon League, and I _know_ that history isn't going to repeat itself today," he challenged, the trademark glint in his brown eyes, and Tyson laughed.

"We'll see, Ash. We'll see," was his answer, before giving Ash a thumbs-up. "May the best Trainer win, no matter who we think it might be. We'll know in… twelve Pokémon's time, I should think."

"You'd better be ready, too, Tyson," he fired competitively, "because if you're not…" he let his words hang, knowing that they didn't need to be said. Tyson grunted and nodded his head, knowing the same thing, and the two Trainers about-faced and walked to their boxes like two gunmen about to duel to the death. _Crap…_ he thought grimly, taking his place inside the green square. _Tyson was a tough enough opponent when I battled him at Ever Grande… no doubt he's gotten even stronger since then._

"Pikachu, I think it's time for us to bring out all the stops," he muttered to his Pokémon. "Brock was right; luck had a big part in us making it this far. Josef's Bronzong nearly killing itself with that Charge Beam, Kingler getting that ice spear to crack Vespiquen's crown gem…"

"_Pii pika,_" squeaked Pikachu. '_Crack' shot._

"My point is that we really have to step up. Tyson beat us before, but we have to put that battle out of our mind, or else he's going to beat us _this_ time as well," Ash said, his eyes averting to Tyson for a brief moment, where he was methodically picking a PokéBall from his waist just as the starting siren roared to life, deafening the spectators and both Trainers. "Here we go!" he shouted, tearing the first PokéBall from his belt.

"This battle will be a full six-on-six battle!" declared the referee, the same fit redhead that had officiated over Ari and Leoric's Tag Team battle. "Substitutions will not be allowed. Should a Pokémon be withdrawn before being deemed unable to battle, it will be disqualified from the battle. Once the first three Pokémon on a Trainer's roster are defeated, there will be a ten-minute intermission, whilst the arena is swept and cleaned, for the competitors to ready themselves for the rest of the battle. This will not be repeated when the other Trainer is down three Pokémon. Do you understand?" he asked both Trainers, who nodded their heads in reply. "Are both Trainers ready?" he continued. Ash pumped the air with his empty fist, and Tyson gave him a curt nod, so he thrust his flags into the air as one. "Let the battle begin!" he shouted, and the announcer in the stands struck the starting bell.

"Ash, here's someone you might remember!" Tyson yelled, hurling his PokéBall into the arena. "Meowth, take charge!"

_How could I forget this one…?_ Ash mused grimly, watching as the ball split open with a flash of light. Tyson's Meowth pounced onto the ground and extended its claws, and Ash remembered the showdown between it and Pikachu; the one-on-one ending to his battle with Tyson, and the ending to his Hoenn Pokémon League campaign, because Meowth had emerged the victor.

Meowth was still, fittingly enough, dressed in the same clothes that it had been in that match; oddly enough for a Pokémon, Tyson's Meowth was outfitted in a western-style cowboy piece. It wore a blue hat with a large yellow feather adorning the top, a small red scarf around its neck, and a pair of brown fur boots on its feet. The gimmick made Meowth look more like a stage actor than a battler, but Ash knew not to take it lightly. Sensing that Pikachu was looking to even the score from their previous encounter, he had to shake his head and give his Pokémon a stern glare.

"Sorry, Pikachu, but you know what I just said," he sighed, putting a firm hand on Pikachu's back. "We can't let that battle affect our judgement. Besides," he added, "I think Meowth will have its paws full with our first choice, don't you think?" he asked rhetorically, holding his PokéBall aloft. Pikachu hesitated, still wanting to open the battle, but before long he allowed Ash to make his own decision, and relaxed on his Trainer's shoulder.

"We good?" Ash asked, and Pikachu nodded energetically. "Okay. Come on out, Heracross!" he bellowed, launching the PokéBall towards Tyson and Meowth. There was a second burst of white light, and a large blue creature erupted from the ball and thumped its clawed feet onto the hard, smooth ground. It was an enormous beetle-like Pokémon, with a shiny layer of blue shell encasing its entire body, and Heracross habitually opened its wings, showing the pearly, glass-like curves coming out of its back. Its spindly arms were covered in spines from the elbow down, and each hand ended in two sharp claws. Its small antennae waggled in a slight breeze as they sat above the Pokémon's small, elliptical eyes and, branching from the spot between its eyes, was Heracross' most prized possession: its horn. The horn itself made up half of the Single Horn Pokémon's height, and was tipped with a large, fork-like protrusion that curved back towards its body, almost like some sort of strange shovel.

"_Hera-kroh!_" growled Heracross, flicking its powerful horn to and fro as it saw its foe. Meowth lazily picked at its teeth with its claw, seeming not to notice, and Heracross roared indignantly for the Pokémon's rudeness.

"Heracross, let's show everyone what you've got! Kick things off with a good old Horn Attack!" Ash commanded. Heracross dug a gouge in the ground with a clawed foot and leapt into the air, spreading its wings and somersaulting before charging towards Meowth. It thrust its horn in front of its body like a spear, but the Scratch Cat Pokémon stood resolutely on its feet, its hands twitching at its sides as Heracross flew closer.

"Meowth, veronica!" shouted Tyson, throwing his arm forwards. In one swift motion, Meowth ripped the red scarf from its neck and held it at arm's length like a matador's cape, its eyes unblinking as they monitored Heracross' flight. Just as Heracross came within striking range, Meowth twirled away like a dancer, the scarf flapping through the air as Heracross' horn sheared across the length of it, to a chorus of gasps from the people in the stands. Meowth finished its revolution and expertly re-tied the scarf – whole despite the charge – around its neck, and a confused Heracross blundered about in the air above its head as it searched for its foe.

"What an amazing technique by Meowth!" screeched the announcer, jumping up and down in her seat. "A Heracross' horn can send trucks flying, but Meowth stayed cool, calm and collected, and executed a perfect evade with all the grace of a Contest Pokémon! This battle's only just begun, but the bar has already been raised! Let's see how Ash will counter such a dazzling show of agility from his opponent!"

"Damn! Heracross, swing around and hit Meowth with more Horn Attacks!" roared Ash, trying to ignore the announcer's praise. Heracross growled and whipped its body around to face Meowth, who was sneering ever so slightly at it, and once again it lowered its horn menacingly and charged forwards. Meowth performed an acrobatic flip and dodged Heracross' horn, and the Single Horn Pokémon narrowed its eyes and tried again, only to have its foe duck underneath.

Tyson watched proudly as his Pokémon successfully dodged every attack that was being hurled its way, before shouting, "Meowth, clip that Heracross' wings with a Thunderbolt!"

Meowth flipped forwards, dodging yet another thrust of its opponent's horn, and fired a blast of lightning from its body, sizzling Heracross as it was struck by the attack. Heracross grimaced with pain as the attack took its toll, and flew clumsily in the air for a brief moment before falling to the ground in a heap. Meowth watched on emotionlessly as Heracross struggled to its feet, shaking its head from side to side and ruffling its blackened wings.

Ash gritted his teeth as the crowd swelled with noise, cheering on Tyson and his Pokémon. Leoric's words at the opening ceremony echoed back to him; '_this is how they weed out the less skilled Trainers. They get star-struck and they can't handle the crowds. If you want to advance through your matches, you're gonna have to forget that they're there_'. "How can I forget that _this _is here?!" he hissed quietly, his own voice barely audible over the din.

"Move in for an Iron Tail!" Tyson shouted, taking advantage of Ash's hesitation. _He should learn to be quicker on his feet,_ he thought, as Meowth pounced forwards, its curled tail a searing flash of white.

"Heracross, block it!" Ash roared, his mind snapping back to the battle, and Heracross stubbornly threw its horn in the path of Meowth's swinging tail. The Iron Tail knocked it high into the air, and Heracross only just managed to open its wings and hover above the ground before it crashed back down, and now it buzzed like a swarm of angry bees as Meowth raised its claws tauntingly, daring it to come for more.

"Oh, and it looks as though Meowth is displaying a bit of showmanship in this battle! That really would be adding insult to injury to Ash and his Heracross, who already look to be at odds with Tyson's technique!" observed the commentator, to a blast of laughter from the crowd. Neither Trainer on the field joined in the humour, however, as even Tyson thought that the comment was unfair, and Ash felt that the battle was turning against him.

_Okay, so I'm in this on my own now,_ he thought bitterly, clenching his fist as he pondered his next move. _Come on, think back to Ever Grande… Meowth was almost exactly the same as Pikachu in that battle, so maybe I should pretend that Heracross is facing Pikachu…_ "Pikachu," he muttered as the thought came to his mind, "keep an eye out for Meowth, and tell me what you'd do if you were Tyson, alright?" Pikachu looked at him for a moment in puzzlement, wondering what was bringing this strategy on, but he kept silent and nodded eagerly, snapping around to face Tyson.

"Okay, Heracross, we've been up against a wall until now, but now's the time to turn things around!" he cried, punching the air. "Let's fight for our right to battle! Use Thief!"

"_Thief?!_" echoed Brock, his eyebrows flying up into his dark hair. "What on earth would he be using _Thief_ for?!"

"Beats me," murmured Dawn. "This is the first time I've seen Ash's Heracross, let alone in a battle. What do you think, Anabel?"

"Nothing either… Max?" Anabel asked, turning to the small boy to her right. Max pursed his lips for a moment, and then he adjusted his glasses and smirked knowingly.

"I think he's finding Meowth's clothes a bit too distracting," he grinned cunningly, peering forward to watch. Heracross cannoned towards Meowth, horn aloft, and the Scratch Cat Pokémon flicked its red scarf into the air to perform another veronica. Just as the tip of its horn came into contact with the cloth, Heracross barrel-rolled in mid-air and snatched it away from Meowth's grasp, to a round of cheers from the crowd, and its arm followed through and sent Meowth sprawling. Heracross proudly tossed its new find to the side, where it flopped onto the ground, and Meowth's eyes narrowed evilly as they darted from its scarf to its foe.

"_Meow mya!_" it seethed, leaping forwards, but Heracross smirked and jumped to meet it, striking it across the brow with a brutally clenched fist, enjoying the chance to repay the Pokémon some damage. Meowth crashed to the ground with all the grace of a falling piano, and a cloud of dust kicked into the air on impact, hiding it from Heracross' view as the latter hovered above the field.

"Meowth, no!" bellowed a mortified Tyson. A lone yellow feather emerged from the dust, and as Heracross' wings blew the rest away, Meowth could be seen standing limply in the middle of the small crater that its landing had made. "Meowth, don't go back for that scarf! You can battle just fine without it!" he assured his Pokémon, whose eye twitched before accepting the command. "Use another Thunderbolt!"

"Heracross, roll and use Close Combat!" Ash yelled, watching as Meowth loosed a second bolt of electricity at his Pokémon. Heracross swung low through the air and dodged the lightning by a matter of centimetres, before swooping onto its opponent and launching a volley of punches, kicks, and head butts at it. Every available piece of Meowth that was within reach of Heracross' flailing limbs was pummelled, and by the time the Single Horn Pokémon was finished with its assault, all Meowth could do was moan weakly before falling backwards onto the ground, its signature hat rolling off its head and onto the arena's surface.

"Meowth is unable to battle!" declared the referee, raising his green flag at Ash, who thumped the air with his fist, as Heracross tossed its horn proudly at its fallen opponent.

"What an unbelievable turnaround by Ash and Heracross!" the announcer screamed, just as the crowd erupted with cheers and applause for the victorious Pokémon. "To be honest, folks, I thought Meowth was gonna win that one, but Heracross' superior strength allowed it to pull out the win! The pressure's back onto Tyson now; what Pokémon is he going to call out to counter Ash's?!"

Tyson ran onto the field and gathered Meowth – and its clothes – into his arms and recalled them to his Pokémon's ball, before walking back to his box and facing Ash. After clipping Meowth's PokéBall to his waist and taking his second one into his hand, he looked casually at Ash and smiled. "I guess it's only fair… I finished our first battle with Meowth and won, so I start this one with Meowth and lose," he laughed. "Well, you won't remember this Pokémon from that battle, so let's see how you fare! Come on out, Machamp!" he roared, throwing his PokéBall across the field.

A towering, blue, four-armed creature shot out of its PokéBall and stomped a two-toed foot on the ground, shaking the arena itself, and Ash felt his feet leave the ground for the briefest of moments as he eyed it off. It stood well over six feet tall, perhaps more with its arms raised the way they were, and each of those arms was bulging with toned muscle that seemed to be straining against Machamp's body as it flexed. Three caramel-coloured ridges ran along the top of its head and right down to its small, red eyes, which glinted in the morning light. It wore a large golden power-belt around its waist, on top of a pair of small black briefs. It was an image of pure power, and to demonstrate its prowess, the Pokémon boxed in the air, throwing punches faster than Ash's eyes could see, and he pulled out his Pokédex to know more.

_Machamp, the Superpower Pokémon, the final evolutionary stage of Machop and Machoke. Using its extremely well-developed arms, it is capable of pinning its opponent down and then throwing them over the horizon. Its fighting spirit flares up even more when it is facing a tough opponent. A master of every kind of martial arts, it can launch a thousand punches within the space of two seconds. However, work that requires care and dexterity causes its arms to get tangled, as this Pokémon tends to act before thinking. The power-belt around its waist regulates its power and keeps its temper in check._

"A thousand punches in two seconds?!" he muttered in shock, stuffing the Pokédex back into his pants pocket. _I guess that Heracross is going to have to stay away from its arms… but how can he land a hit that way? Hmm…_ "Heracross, try a Horn Attack!" he ordered. Heracross flew into the air and rocketed towards Machamp, its tough carapace glinting in the sunlight.

"Machamp, grab that horn and fire off a Vital Throw!" Tyson shouted, watching as Heracross thrust its horn at his Pokémon. Machamp grunted obediently, and its upper left arm shot forwards like a snake, grabbing the horn with an unbreakable grip. Heracross struggled vainly to release itself from the hold, but its foe closed another hand around the horn and swung it upwards, flailing comically as it looked at the world upside-down. With a loud cheer from the crowd, Machamp threw Heracross like a tennis ball, the beetle Pokémon soaring past Ash's ear and smashing into the boundary wall behind him with the sound of breaking metal. Ash swung around to see that the power behind Machamp's attack had sent Heracross _through_ the wall itself, leaving a twisted black hole in its place.

"Ouch! Did everybody see that?!" asked the announcer, leaning forwards to stare at the void. "Heracross charged in like a Zubat out of hell, and Machamp threw it backwards just as quickly! That was a bad move on Ash's part, and I would be very surprised if that didn't cost him his Heracross!"

"Heracross, are you alright?!" Ash screamed, staring, along with all the other eyes in the stadium, into the gaping circle of black. A tiny buzz of wings made him shout in relief and punch the air victoriously, and after a few tense moments, Heracross stumbled weakly from the hole, bruised and battered, but still able to battle. With a nod from Ash, the match's referee lowered the red flag that he was about to hoist into the air and turned back to face the centre of the arena.

"See, Tyson? My Pokémon can take a few hits now and then if they have to," Ash said cheerfully, as Heracross whirred its way back to stand in front of its Trainer. Tyson smirked at the comment and pointed towards his Machamp, who was flexing its muscles again.

"My Machamp has more than just pure power, Ash!" he shouted proudly, his smirk growing wider. "Show them your Flamethrower attack!"

"_Flamethrower_?!" Ash repeated, his eyes widening in horror as Machamp opened its mouth and blasted a spire of flames at his Pokémon. "Heracross, fly up and dodge that Flamethrower with whatever you can!" he roared, and Heracross flicked its wings and shot into the air in the face of the searing heat of its opponent's attack. Just as it looked as though Heracross would avoid the Flamethrower, Machamp tilted its head upwards at the last moment, and the top of the blazing column struck the Bug-type on the right leg.

The crowd burst with excitement and apprehension as the attack connected, and Ash shouted in fear as Heracross screwed its eyes shut and fell sideways towards the ground. Shouting at it to recover, he watched on, terrified, as Heracross opened its eyes a sliver and saw that it was headed straight for the field. With a final, desperate cry from Ash, Heracross flung its arms, wings, and its one working leg, in a spread-eagled formation and furiously beat the air, slowing its descent and, eventually, keeping it off the ground. Touching down lightly on the surface, Heracross smacked its shell with its arms, only to sag to the right as its weight took its toll on his injured leg.

"Ooh, it looks like that Flamethrower has left a lasting impression on Heracross… he's not going to be able to stand up properly with that nasty burn!" shouted the announcer, to a round of muttering from the stands.

Ash gritted his teeth as he saw his Pokémon begin to struggle with its injury, having to hover above the ground to avoid the worst of the pain. He knew that having to stay airborne for much longer would begin to take its toll on Heracross, and so he had to win this battle quickly, or else he'd be down a Pokémon and the match would be back to a level pegging. "Pikachu, any ideas?" he whispered to the Pokémon on his shoulder.

"_Pii pika pikachu,_" said Pikachu, using its ears to form a horn and pointing at Machamp's mid-section, as the latter cracked its knuckles threateningly.

Ash's eyes twinkled as he smirked at the suggestion. "Genius," he murmured. "Okay, Heracross, keep an eye on those fists if you can, and move in for a Megahorn attack!" he shouted, throwing his arm forwards. Heracross winced slightly at the pain in its leg, but a second later its horn shone with a brilliant light, and it charged forwards to Machamp, who tensed its body and held a fighting stance as its foe came closer.

"What's Ash doing?" Brock wondered, watching as Heracross flew closer to Machamp. "Machamp's just going to counter that Megahorn anyways, and this time it'll probably knock Heracross out for good."

"Something tells me that he knows what's about to happen," Anabel said merrily, even though she was leaning forward worriedly like Brock was.

"Machamp, use Dynamicpunch the moment that Heracross is in range!" Tyson bellowed. Machamp grunted arrogantly and raised its uppermost fist to the sky, where it immediately flashed white, as Heracross came within feet of it.

"Now roll and use Thief again! Aim for the belt!" Ash roared, pointing at Machamp's waist, just as Pikachu had done moments before. Machamp swung its glowing fist around in a hooking action, but Heracross dove down, its shining horn barely skimming the surface of the battlefield, and it banked sharply to the left just as its foe's Dynamicpunch threatened to knock it skywards. The crowd gasped with delight as Machamp's fist whipped past Heracross and wedged itself into the ground, and the latter took advantage of the situation by ramming its Megahorn directly into Machamp's stomach, ripping its power-belt away in the process.

"And Heracross gets a revenge shot for that brutal Vital Throw we all witnessed earlier! I sure don't envy Machamp for taking that hit in the gut, but—hang on—where its belt?!" the commentator asked wildly, noticing that the strip of gold was missing from the Superpower Pokémon. "Wait a second—Ash's Heracross has the belt! Look, there it is, hanging off of its arm! What on earth is it doing over there?! Why would Ash order his Heracross to take it, when a power-save belt _restricts_ Machamp's power?!"

"She's right," Max muttered grimly, his eyes narrowing sceptically. "Those belts ensure that a Machamp's strength levels can be kept in check. Without it, they—"

"—go berserk," Anabel finished, although her tone was much more upbeat than Max's, which made the small boy stare at her incredulously. Meanwhile, back on the field, Ash watched confidently with a smirk on his face as Tyson's Pokémon began to breathe raggedly, its enormous body heaving with the added strain that his Heracross' attack had caused.

"Good, it's working—wait, what?! Power-_save_ belt?! It _restricts_ their power?!" he exclaimed, his eyes darting from Machamp, to Heracross, to the belt in its hands. Tyson bared his teeth and took a precautionary step backwards as Machamp gave a deafening bellow and curled its four hands into fists, and the grin slid from Ash's face as it charged towards Heracross.

"Heracross, take to the sky!" he yelled fearfully. Heracross buzzed its wings and flew into the air, hovering safely above the head of its opponent, which seemed to drive Machamp to further anger. Beating its upper fists against its chest, the Fighting-type crushed its lower hands into the ground and hoisted a collection of large rocks from underground, hurling them at lightning-quick pace at Heracross, who was forced on more than one occasion to somersault in the air to dodge the onslaught. The crowd behind Heracross screamed and ducked for cover as the stones pelted downwards, shattering on impact with the concrete and steel that was the stands.

"Machamp, be careful!" Tyson shouted, but Machamp roared and gouged another boulder from the ground, preparing to hurl it up at its foe. "Machamp, do you hear me?! _Machamp_!"

"All that power has gone to Machamp's head," Brock murmured, "_literally._ It's too strong for its own good; Tyson's orders are getting lost amongst all that pent-up strength. It's going on a rampage…"

"That's bad news, considering Machamp are one of the strongest Pokémon in the world," Max added, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he watched – and heard – Tyson's futile attempts to bring his Pokémon back under control.

"Machamp, I _order_ you to calm down!" he screamed, stepping backwards as Machamp volleyed the boulder at Heracross.

"Heracross, don't let it hit the crowd; stop it with Megahorn!" Ash roared, and Heracross struck the stone with a crushing blow from its horn, destroying the rock and knocking it backwards with the force of the throw. "Quickly, put that belt back onto it before it causes some real damage!" he shouted. _Since when did they change the name from power-belt to power-_save_ belt?!_ he thought desperately, as Heracross dove towards the rampaging Machamp. Machamp wildly swung its fists and lunged towards Heracross every time the latter tried to get near enough to throw the belt around it, and as Heracross whizzed behind its back, the Superpower Pokémon spun on the spot and blasted it with a Flamethrower, launching it across the field and knocking the belt out of its hands.

"Heracross, are you alright?!" Ash yelled. Heracross groaned with pain and, after it took a full ten seconds to rise to its feet, Ash saw that its left eye was closed, and there was a hideous scorch mark on its frontal shell. Just as the Pokémon flicked its horn and lumbered towards the belt on the ground, a beam of red light speared across the air in front of it. Heracross flung itself to the ground, thinking that the beam was another Flamethrower from Machamp, but the light hit Machamp itself, dissolving it into a haze of red.

"What the…?" Ash muttered, his eyes following the beam as it sped backwards to a PokéBall being held in mid-air. "Huh?!" he exclaimed, as Tyson lowered the PokéBall and walked out onto the field, retrieving his Machamp's belt from the side of the arena. "Tyson, what'd you do that for?" he asked.

"Machamp was out of control. He came close to injuring a lot of people. I'd prefer to have my Pokémon disqualified for its actions than have someone hurt by them," he answered, returning to his box. "You should have known what would happen if you took that belt off Machamp, but instead I'm the one who's disadvantaged because of it," he added coldly, and Ash felt a wave of guilt pass over him as he said it.

"Well… uh… the Trainer recalled Machamp, so Machamp is hereby disqualified from the match and unable to battle!" stammered the referee, regaining his composure and raising his green flag at a stunned Ash. The crowd, only just realising what was going on after hiding from Machamp's Rock Slide, murmured amongst themselves, before those that supported Ash began to applaud and cheer, knowing that he was now up two-nil.

"My, that certainly did leave us in the dark for a few moments, didn't it?" the commentator laughed nervously, as the rest of the crowd began to voice their opinions more strongly; Tyson's fans were now crying foul and accusing Ash of cheating. "I wonder if Ash _knew_ that Machamp would go nuts… anyways, whatever it was, it's left Tyson with yet another Pokémon out of the battle! He only has four of his team left, while Ash is yet to lose a Pokémon!"

"That's good news in anybody's books, but still…" Delia sighed, patting her hair down, "I'd have preferred if Ash had won that one a little more _honourably_…"

"I'm sure he didn't know what would happen, Mrs. Ketchum," Anabel reasoned. "I mean, Ash was surprised when he heard that they were called power-_save_ belts; he probably thought that taking it off would make Machamp _less_ powerful…"

"No point dwelling on the past now," Tyson muttered, taking the next PokéBall on his belt as he returned Machamp's. "But—" he looked up at Ash, "the fun ends here! Sceptile, let's go!" he shouted, throwing the ball into the air. His Sceptile – a large, green, lizard-like creature with a large spiny brush of a tail, and two rows of small yellow bulbs running along its back – screeched as it landed on the field, swinging its clawed, leaf-tipped arms in front of its body.

_Sceptile, eh?_ Ash thought, as Pikachu tensed slightly on his shoulder. _He used that as his opening Pokémon in our Hoenn League battle… I didn't see much of it though; it and Glalie were knocked out after the very first move… I might have to take it out just as quickly this time, or else I might be in a spot of trouble. _"Heracross, use Close Combat!" he shouted, urging his Pokémon on. Heracross cringed and spread its wings gingerly, flying at as great a speed it could muster in its condition as it readied its attack on Sceptile.

"Your Heracross is too worn out to go on, Ash! So now I'm going to make sure of it! Sceptile, time to start levelling the field with your Swift attack!" Tyson ordered, eager to give his Pokémon a chance to spread its limbs. Sceptile split its jaws wide open and launched a spread of spinning, golden stars that whizzed through the air as they headed for Heracross, colliding mercilessly into the Pokémon's burnt and battered body. Heracross shrieked in agony as the stars pummelled its stomach, and it fell heavily to the ground with a loud thump, and moved no more.

"Heracross is unable to battle!" the referee shouted, raising his red flag towards Tyson for the first time during the match. Tyson thumped the air with his fist, and Sceptile picked at its teeth with a claw, as the crowd erupted with noise, cheering them both for their team's first victory since the beginning of the battle. Ash shrugged his shoulders at the announcement; Heracross had done more than its fair share of battling, having knocked out his opponent's Meowth – and inadvertently caused the disqualification of his Machamp – and so he deserved a rest.

"Heracross, job well done," he said, giving voice to his thoughts as he raised his Pokémon's PokéBall and recalled Heracross in a flash of red light. "Take it easy, alright? I'll have you healed up in no time," he muttered as he clipped the ball to his waist, running his hands over the remaining four as he pondered which Pokémon to use next. _No, not that one – I still want an aerial Pokémon in case he uses his Donphan… not you, either – Tyson's bound to have his Metagross… Sceptile has a type advantage over you, so you're out as well… _"Sorry, Pikachu, but I'm saving you for later," he added, sensing his Pokémon's restlessness, and he took the final PokéBall from his belt and pressed the centre button, enlarging it his hand. "So… I choose you, Bayleef!" he yelled, tossing the PokéBall onto the field.

The ball opened in a blast of white light, and from the depths of the light came a small, dinosaur-like Pokémon. A lone leaf, chipped at the side, rose from the centre of its yellow forehead, and its huge red eyes sparkled in the sunlight. Eight cigar-like buds formed a ring around its long neck, and its stubby tail swung back and forth as it stomped its four feet on the ground. After taking in its surroundings, Bayleef reared onto its hind legs, and two long green vines came from its body and tickled Ash around the middle, subtly knocking Pikachu onto the ground in the process.

"Uh…?" Tyson grunted, scratching his cheek in confusion.

"Bayleef's very playful," Ash explained, as his Pokémon came in for a hug around the neck. "It's just how she is. But don't let that fool you; she's wickedly strong in battle," he added, one hand patting her leafy forehead whilst the other rubbed her back.

"Well isn't that just adorable?" squealed the commentator, and the crowd sighed accordingly. "Now _that's_ what we like to see! A close bond between Trainer and Pokémon!"

"Alright, Bayleef, that's enough just for now," he grinned, partly because of Bayleef's affection, and partly because her vines were still tickling him. "There's a battle to be fought, and I can't do it without you, yeah?"

"_Bay bay!_" yapped Bayleef, retracting its vines and bounding back onto the arena, where Tyson's Sceptile looked at it lazily, as though bored with the idea of facing it.

"Bayleef, use Magical Leaf!" Ash cried. Bayleef swung her head in a large circle, and a dozen multi-coloured leaves shot forth from the larger leaf on her head, whistling through the air as they travelled towards Sceptile.

"Sceptile, counter with Swift!" Tyson shouted, and Sceptile opened its mouth wide and blasted another volley of golden stars to block the incoming attack. The leaves collided with the stars with enormous power and created a large mid-air explosion that blanketed the centre of the field in dust and smoke, shielding each Pokémon from its foe's vision. "Don't wait for the smoke to clear, Sceptile! Use your Dragon Pulse!"

"Bayleef, use Light Screen to stop it!" Ash bellowed, and Bayleef conjured a thick sheet of blue light from her head-leaf, which spread to form a cube of blue crystal that encased the Leaf Pokémon. From behind her barrier, Bayleef watched on fearlessly as a pillar of pulsing blue fire erupted from behind the smoke cloud and smashed into the cube. Bayleef's Light Screen bent inwards with the crushing force of Sceptile's attack, but after several tense seconds it pushed outwards and repelled the Dragon Pulse, sending it spiralling backwards over the Forest Pokémon's shoulder and exploding against the ground. A shower of dirt and rubble flew into the sky and landed around Sceptile's body, but he took no notice of it and growled menacingly, irritated that its attack had been deflected so easily, and Bayleef smirked as she let her Light Screen fade away.

"Leaf Blade!" Tyson roared, seeing his Pokémon's anger. Sceptile hissed dangerously at Bayleef and leapt forwards, the leaves branching from its arms glowing bright green. Ash shouted for Bayleef to evade the attack, but Sceptile was far too quick, and with a cry it slashed its arms across its foe's body, the glowing leaves raking over Bayleef's exposed underbelly. Bayleef squealed in pain as the attack made contact, and Sceptile grinned savagely and punched the Leaf Pokémon in the face of its own accord, sending Bayleef flying across the arena, and the latter was only spared more pain because she shot her vines out and steadied herself against the boundary wall, softening the blow of her landing.

"Nice work, Bayleef!" Ash shouted encouragingly, and Bayleef tossed her head defiantly, her head-leaf blowing about her face. "See, Tyson? Bayleef knows what she's doing!"

"And Sceptile knows what _he's_ doing!" Tyson countered fiercely, and Ash smirked as an idea sprang into his mind.

"Use Sweet Scent to soften Sceptile's mind, then follow up with a Body Slam!" Ash yelled. Bayleef shook the bulbs on her neck, and they opened slowly, scattering a wave of orange pollen into the air, which shimmered as it sped towards Sceptile and enveloped him whole. Sceptile slashed his arms through the air to try and fan the spores away, but it was to no avail, and within moments he lowered his hands and stared vacantly at Bayleef, a small string of drool hanging from the side of his mouth, which was hanging comically open. As Bayleef stomped the ground and galloped towards him, Sceptile half-closed his eyes and breathed in more of the Sweet Scent, much to the dismay of his Trainer.

"Sceptile, snap out of it and use your Leaf Blade!" bellowed a wild-eyed Tyson, just as Bayleef jumped into the air above his Pokémon's head. Sceptile's eyes lazily moved upwards to see his opponent reach the height of her jump, and the words of his Trainer swam hazily into his mind. With a great effort, the Forest Pokémon dragged his arms above his head and strained his muscles, his leaf-blades shining with a dull green light, but Bayleef thundered down and crushed Sceptile under her weight, his face being driven into the ground by her front feet.

"_Bay bayleef!_" scoffed the Leaf Pokémon, digging the toe of her foot further into Sceptile's cheek before pouncing backwards.

"I think Sceptile got caught napping there, ladies and gents! Bayleef's Sweet Scent dulled him down long enough for her to launch that absolutely _brutal_ Body Slam! We should check if Ash's Pokémon is part Poison-type, because that one had some _sting_ in it!" joked the announcer, receiving a round of excited laughter from the crowd as Sceptile ungainly got to his feet, swaying slightly and shaking his head as he tried to rid himself of Bayleef's pollen.

"Argh…! Sceptile, are you alright?!" Tyson asked loudly, and Sceptile cracked the bones in his neck and gave his Trainer a thumbs-up. "In any case, get your health back with Synthesis!" he ordered, knowing that the last attack from Bayleef would have taken its toll. Sceptile gave a deep, throbbing hiss as the bulbs on his back began to light up with yellow energy, and he tipped his head backwards as he felt the sun's energy flow into him, re-energising him and healing his wounds. After five seconds, the bulbs on his back died down to their dull colour, and Sceptile roared healthily, his leaf-blades flickering with his newly found energy.

"Oh, and Sceptile's just restored his health with a Synthesis attack! Very good strategy from Tyson there, having his Pokémon recover!" the commentator cheered. "Ash and Bayleef are going to have to knock it down all over again if they want _this_ king of the forest to be out of the battle!"

Ash gritted his teeth in anger as he saw Tyson's rejuvenated Pokémon bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet, impatiently eyeing Bayleef off as the latter stood firm. _Great, just great,_ he thought grimly. _Sceptile's just cancelled out anything that Bayleef's Body Slam could have done to him… I'm going to have to stop him the next time he tries to pull off another Synthesis, or Bayleef is going to be in more trouble than she can handle…_ "Bayleef, use another Magical Leaf!" he shouted, pointing forwards.

"Counter with another Swift, Sceptile, then move in for a Leaf Blade!" Tyson yelled, as Bayleef swung her head in a wide circle and launched another collection of spinning, multi-coloured leaves at his Pokémon. Sceptile opened his jaws wide and fired a third spread of golden stars from his mouth, and they too spun in the air as the cannoned towards Bayleef's Swift. Like before, the two attacks met each other at incredible speeds and smashed each other apart, causing another ground-shaking explosion, but even before the smoke had begun to thin, Sceptile charged up its arm-leaves and stampeded forwards, mowing through the haze and jumping straight at Bayleef with his arms crossed like scythes. In one furious motion, the Forest Pokémon swept both his blades in front of his body and into Bayleef's, blasting her across the field and into the boundary wall quicker than she could summon her vines to slow her down.

"_Scep!_" he hissed contentedly, watching savagely as Bayleef slid down the wall and fell limply to the floor. He saw the Pokémon's body twitch, and he started forwards at an order from his Trainer, already readying a Dragon Pulse in front of his cupped hands as he did. But as he launched the column of blue fire towards her, a shimmering row of rainbow objects formed in front of Bayleef's struggling figure and fashioned itself into a resolute wall that absorbed the Dragon Pulse and bounced it back, striking Sceptile squarely in the chest and catapulting him into the centre circle, where he landed roughly on his bush-like tail. Wincing with pain, the Forest Pokémon stood to his feet to see his opponent back on hers and staring daggers at him.

"Way to go, Bayleef!" Ash shouted proudly, and Bayleef looked back at him and beamed. "Now follow it up with another Sweet Scent and Body Slam!"

"But how on earth did your Bayleef _survive_ that attack?!" Tyson screamed, watching on in shocked wonder as Bayleef covered his Pokémon in another curtain of orange spores.

"Considering that you have a fellow Grass-type in play at the moment, I'd have thought the answer would have been obvious," Ash smirked, just as Bayleef charged towards her foe again, her footsteps echoing across the stadium like tiny thunderclaps.

"What are—?! Of course, Overgrow…" grimaced Tyson, hissing inwardly as he remembered the innate power that Bayleef – and his own Sceptile – possessed. "When a Pokémon with Overgrow falls into a weakened state, its Grass-type attacks become extremely powerful… but Light Screen isn't a Grass-type attack!" he shouted, and Ash grinned even wider than he had been before.

"I didn't tell her to use _Light Screen;_ I told Bayleef to make a '_Magical Leaf_'-screen!" he laughed, and Bayleef yelped in response as she jumped into the air, curling up into a ball and bringing her entire weight down upon the drowsy Sceptile underneath her. Once again, the Forest Pokémon found his face being smashed against the rough surface of the ground by his opponent's weight, and his visible eye rolled upwards to see Bayleef stomping her foot onto his chest.

"Sceptile, throw her off you and use Synthesis to get your stamina back!" Tyson roared. Sceptile hissed indignantly at his oppressor before clamping his claws down on her neck and tossing her roughly into the air, where she landed halfway between Ash and himself.

_I'm not letting you do that!_ Ash thought defiantly, searching his mind for a way to stop the attack. _Bayleef… Sceptile… sunlight… eureka…!_ "Bayleef, get up! I know you can do it, girl!" Ash pleaded, willing his Pokémon to her feet as Sceptile gave the same throbbing hiss that he had given before his previous Synthesis. Bayleef stood shakily to her feet and glared hatefully at her foe, stomping the ground and crying out in a harsh tone at him. "Okay, use Light Screen on Sceptile! Refract the sunlight away from him and bounce it back onto you!" he commanded.

Bayleef roared and spewed another sheet of blue light from the leaf on top of her head, but instead of settling around her body and forming a cube, the light sped across the field like a bullet and spread itself over the space above Sceptile's head just as the bulbs on the latter's back began to light up in sequence. The Light Screen formed a colossal square of blue glass, and the ground below was cast into shadow as it reflected the sun's rays away from the Pokémon below, and Sceptile's bulbs were instantly deprived of their light as the Synthesis attack failed.

"What an amazing technique! Ash had his Bayleef block out the sun with a move that is primarily used for _self_-defence! I tell you, tactics like that are the work of a genius, and I think that Ash Ketchum may just be one!" shrieked the announcer, jumping up and down in her seat as the crowd exploded with noise, whether it was ecstatic applause for Ash's masterstroke of an idea, or gasping in amazement at the fact that Sceptile's attack had been so effectively shut down by a simple move.

"Sceptile, knock that Bayleef flying with Dragon Pulse!" Tyson snarled, just as the barrier above his Pokémon's head was extinguished, flooding the space around Sceptile with sunlight.

"Cancel it out with another Magical Leaf, Bayleef!" Ash roared. Sceptile thrust his hands forwards and loosed a sheet of dragon-fire from his palms, and Bayleef countered by launching another volley of spinning leaves from her head. The two attacks met halfway between the two competitors with a furious bang, but Bayleef's attack shredded the Dragon Pulse as though it were nothing more than tissue paper, shearing through the flames and slashing itself against Sceptile's battered hide. The Forest Pokémon shrieked in pain as the leaves forged fierce cuts along his arms and stomach, and he shook wildly in his stance for a moment, before falling sideways and thumping onto the ground, his eyes closed.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Meowth's veronica is taken from Mexican bullfighting.**

***When Pikachu pointed at Machamp's mid-section, it was **_**actually**_** referring to having Heracross use a Megahorn in the stomach. Heracross did this, but it also stole Machamp's power-belt in the process.**

***The idea of Machamp losing control of itself is taken from its pre-evolution's - Machoke's – Pokémon Yellow Pokédex entry, which states that "****the belt around its waist holds back its energy. Without it, this Pokémon would be unstoppable".**

**Quiz:**

***Prior to Pokémon Platinum, which was the only line of Grass-type Starter Pokémon that could **_**not**_** naturally learn Synthesis, and had to resort to breeding?**


	62. Welcome Hoenn

**CHAPTER 62 – WELCOME HOENN**

Sceptile screamed in pain as Bayleef's Magical Leaf gouged searing gashes all over his body, and after several unsteady moments on his feet, he slipped sideways and crashed onto the ground, his eyes closed and his body unmoving. The sideline referee took one look at the fallen Pokémon and thrust his green flag in the air towards Ash and Bayleef, the crowd roaring and clapping the moment he did so.

"Sceptile is unable to battle!" he declared, to a chorus of boos and mutinous mumbling from Tyson's fans in the stands. Tyson frowned and shook his head despondently as he raised Sceptile PokéBall to chest height, and the unconscious Forest Pokémon was recalled to its depths in a flash of red light. "Tyson is now down to three Pokémon, which means that the mandatory intermission will now take place! Both Trainers may now take a ten-minute break to rest their minds before returning for the second half of the battle," the referee continued, looking from one Trainer to another. "Ash, your Bayleef must be summoned at the commencement of the second half," he added sternly to Ash, who nodded silently before returning Bayleef to her PokéBall.

"Okay, so now we're at the halfway point of this _Preuve De Mérite _elimination match, and as it stands as we head to the break, Ash is leading Tyson five-three," stated the announcer, her voice ringing out over the stands. "Summing up the events of the battle so far: Ash's Heracross defeated Tyson's Meowth with a _colossal _Close Combat; Heracross also caused Tyson's next Pokémon, Machamp, to be disqualified by withdrawal, after stealing Machamp's power-belt and forcing Tyson to return it to its PokéBall. Tyson's third Pokémon, a Sceptile, KO'd Heracross with a single Swift attack, and just now, Ash's Bayleef triumphed over Sceptile – with what _I_ consider to be one of the best plays of the tournament so far – by using a Light Screen to block out the sunlight for Sceptile's Synthesis attack, then destroying its Dragon Pulse with an Overgrow-powered Magical Leaf! I tell you, we're set for a great finish to this explosive battle, and during the break I'll be joined by expert Pokémon battlers—"

"Come on, Pikachu, let's take that break," Ash muttered to his Pokémon, just as Tyson turned and walked back through his tunnel. Pikachu nodded happily and hopped up to sit on top of his hat, and Ash laughed merrily and strolled back to the tunnel on his side of the arena, glancing over at the stands as he did and seeing that Brock, Dawn, Max and Anabel had left their seats, no doubt to see him during the break.

* * *

In a large valley in central Johto, the words of the announcer crackled through a small radio, hooked to the inside of a hot-air balloon basket as it was towed through the air. The woman standing inside the basket flicked her spiky, moss-green hair away from her eyes and smiled as she heard the radio say that Ash was three-one up in his battle. Looking over her crimson shoulder-pads, she saw a large, orange, dragon-like Pokémon flying through the air behind her, a large smile on its face, and she signalled for her transporter to slow down and let it catch up.

"So you heard the news?" she asked, and the Pokémon nodded its head and snorted a small plume of fire from its nostrils. "I bet you miss him… it's been nearly two years since you saw him last, isn't it?" she muttered sympathetically, but then her blue eyes twinkled. "Hey, how about we go surprise him! It's only a two-day flight to Ayers Island, and I bet he'd be happy to catch up with you!"

The large Pokémon roared at the sky and flew in a somersault, the flame burning on its tail seeming to light up at the suggestion. After allowing it some time to calm down, she folded her arms and waited for a proper answer. The Pokémon stopped its exuberant display and gave her a humble nod, to which she walked to the edge of the basket and patted it on the head.

"Okay, I'll pack the balloon up and get some supplies for the trip. Meanwhile, you can go get your _girlfriend_—" she grinned as the Pokémon's lips curled into a smirk, "because I still don't like having to fly on your back, and she'll be good company for the trip. Besides, I'm gonna need a way to get back here, and I hate public transport," she giggled, and the Pokémon grunted happily before wheeling in the sky and flying away. "Okay, take me over to the cabin, _hyah_!" she shouted to her current steed, which took off at once and dragged the balloon behind it.

* * *

"That was some amazing battling that you and your Pokémon did, Mr. Ketchum!"

"You've got a great advantage going into the rest of this battle! We're rooting for you!"

"_We love you, Ash!_"

"Don't look at _them;_ look over _here_!"

"Huh? Oh, sorry Anabel," Ash grinned sheepishly, only just noticing the lavender-haired girl trying to force herself through a crowd of people shouting at him from the other side of the tunnel gate. After giving a small group of teenage girls a particularly vicious stare, Anabel pushed her way to the front and smiled warmly at him from behind the mesh fence. "Hang on a sec, I'll see if I can get you guys through," he said quickly, seeing that Brock and the others were only a step or two behind her. "Hey, could you let these four through, please?" he pleaded to a pair of stony-faced security guards standing on either side of the gate.

"They're my friends, so it's okay!" he added desperately. The guards glanced briefly at each other from behind their tinted sunglasses and nodded succinctly, the left one opening the gate and allowing Ash's friends passage, while the right one held back the teeming crowd from bursting through after them. Ash didn't even have time to thank the guards and welcome his friends before Anabel wrapped her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek, and he felt his face grow hot as the people behind the gate wolf-whistled and jeered at him.

"I haven't won the match, Anabel," he pointed out, still blushing after she pulled away. "Remember what happened before my match with Dean?" he added seriously, and Anabel's grin disappeared as she recalled what she had said to him in the tunnel as he had gone out onto the field. "I don't want a repeat of that, as nice as it would sound," he chuckled.

"Yeah, I see your point," Anabel admitted, a little crestfallen, but she perked up and poked him in the arm playfully.

"What _did_ happen before Ash's match with Dean, Anabel?" Brock asked, to which Dawn nodded vigorously. "Dawn and I asked Ash about it later that night, but he never got around to telling us."

"Yeah, spill the beans! I wanna know what you did to make Ash freak out like he did!" Dawn agreed animatedly, gesturing between herself and Anabel. "Y'know, private little girl-girl chat, eh?"

"What _are_ you talking about?!" Max shouted, irritated that he was being left out of the conversation.

"Sorry," Anabel sighed. "But if Ash didn't want to tell you, I don't think I should be the one to—" she leaned her head towards Dawn and muttered, in a whisper that only she could hear, "I'll tell you tomorrow night, 'kay?" Dawn grinned and nodded her head excitedly, and Anabel smiled back before turning to face Ash. "Well in that case, if you lose, you're gonna miss out on all that 'pre-Dean' stuff afterwards because you lost your chance," she said competitively, sticking her tongue out at him.

"What happens if I win?" he asked blankly, ignoring Pikachu as the latter rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Do I get some sort of reward or something?"

"Maybe," winked Anabel. "But enough about _after_ the match; good work on only losing one Pokémon so far!" she congratulated. "Tyson's down to his last three and you've nearly got your full roster to use."

"That's true," Brock said sternly, "but Bayleef looks tired. I'd say she won't last much longer against Tyson's Pokémon. No offence, Ash, but a Wooper could probably knock her out at this stage."

"Hey, that's not true!" Ash retorted, hurt. "Bayleef's still got plenty of fight left in her! She'll take out the next Pokémon Tyson sends out, just you watch! All the better if it _is_ a Wooper, too," he added cheekily.

"Just… don't get ahead of yourself, Ash," Max reminded him, his hands on his hips. "Tyson's beaten you once before, and he can do it again if you're not careful."

"He has? When was that?" Dawn asked curiously, not hearing that fact until just now, but Ash waved her question away, saying that it was a long time ago, and Max decided not to answer either.

"Oh yeah, Max…" Ash muttered, turning to face the boy, "where's May? And Misty? I didn't see them in the stands before the match started."

"I… am not a hundred percent sure…" Max murmured, silently wishing that his glasses could hide his eyes from Ash's sharp gaze. "Misty—was asleep by the time I left to come watch, and I think that May… went to… see Leoric's match. Something about—spying on his battle style for you to learn about—in case you two ever have to battle each other later on—"

"Oh… well that's nice of her," Ash said, scratching his cheek nonchalantly. A loud siren coming from the far end of the tunnel made everyone jump in fright, but Ash quickly realised that it was signalling the continuation of his battle with Tyson. "Right… I guess my match is about to start up again…" he murmured, looking around at his friends.

"Well, you'd better get out there," Dawn said, "and _win_!"

"Yeah, you're on a roll, so keep it going!" Brock said encouragingly, and Max nodded his head and gave Ash a double thumbs-up.

"We're all rooting for you, Ash," Anabel said softly, kissing him again on the cheek and holding his hand. Ash gave it a quick squeeze and pulled his hat lower over his head, grinning as Pikachu took his place atop his shoulder, and he rapped his knuckles on the gates to grab the guards' attention. The two men efficiently performed their task, pushing the crowd back and allowing Brock, Dawn, Max and Anabel to make their way back into the hallway safely, and Ash gave them all a final wave from his spot inside the tunnel before sprinting down the dim passage towards the exit.

* * *

"Welcome back to the second half of our _Preuve De Mérite _showdown between these two Pokémon Champions! That's right, folks, they're _both_ League Champions; Ash is an Orange League Champion from four years ago, and Tyson is, of course, the Hoenn League Champion of two years ago! Both these Trainers have a rich history when it comes to Pokémon battling, and Tyson even trumped Ash on his way to his Ever Grande win! So there's no love lost between these two, which was _more_ than shown during the first half of this battle! We've had bone-crunching physical blows, mind-blowing special attacks, and tactics the likes of which we've never seen before! So don't bother standing up, because you're just going to be forced back to the edge of your seats, as our two gladiators take to the field again! Ash is down one Pokémon, but is – by the rules of the tournament – required to call out his Bayleef to continue. Tyson, however, is on his last three Pokémon, and is the underdog going into the final stages! So let's hand over to Shannon, our commentator, and our match referee, Wesley!"

The announcement blared from the megaphones at the corners of the stadium, echoing across the spacious battlefield and through the tiered stands, to a deafening roar from the crowd as Ash and Tyson made their way back to their respective Trainer boxes at the edge of the arena.

"Are both Trainers ready to continue with the battle?" Wesley asked, after running through the ground rules again.

"You bet I am!" Ash said loudly, unclipping Bayleef's PokéBall from his waist, just as Tyson did the same with his next Pokémon and nodded his head in reply. Wesley nodded as well and raised his flags again, signalling the start of the battle as Shannon struck the starting bell from her spot in the stands. "Come back out, Bayleef!" Ash shouted, hurling his PokéBall onto the arena. Bayleef stomped out and threw her head back, still bearing the marks of her intense battle with Sceptile, but as fiery-eyed as ever as she waited for Tyson to call out her next opponent.

"Here's another new face for you, Ash!" Tyson roared, throwing his PokéBall skyward. "Let's rock 'n roll, Lickilicky!"

The PokéBall split open in a flash, and a huge pink shape thudded onto the arena, to a round of surprised gasps from the crowd. It was an enormous blob of a Pokémon, with a rotund stomach that reached as far forwards as it did to its sides, from which two stubby arms poked out near the top. Three curved yellow stripes ran along the front of its lower belly, and a large, napkin-like marking sat at the top, just below the chin. The chin itself was blocked from view by a gargantuan pink tongue that seemed to be as long as the Pokémon itself, wagging back and forth in the air. Its tiny, beady eyes twinkled expectantly at the sight of its opponent, and the large pink curl atop its head seemed to quiver in delight as it waddled forwards on its stumpy legs.

"A Lickilicky, eh?" Ash muttered upon seeing the Pokémon emerge from the PokéBall, having seen another one recently while he was in Solaceon Town with Angie. _Ah, that was fun… just what I needed after Team Galactic invaded the Celestic museum… but back to the present—! Let's see what Dexter has to say about you— _he thought, allowing himself a moment to reminisce before focusing back on the battle, and he trained his Pokédex on Lickilicky.

_Lickilicky, the Licking Pokémon, the evolved form of Lickitung. Due to the conditions of its evolution, Lickilicky have taken on a spherical body structure, and their tongues have grown even longer, despite maintaining the same length ratio to their unevolved forms. The tongue, which is capable of extending to a length of over ten feet, is the Pokémon's primary tool when used for searching. A tell-tale sign of a Lickilicky moving through an area is a heavy soaking of its distinctive drool over many of the objects that sit at eye-level._

"Well _that_ wasn't very helpful…" he muttered sadly, stuffing the Pokédex back into his pants. "Hmm… Bayleef, start things off with a Magical Leaf!" he ordered, and Bayleef fired a mass of spinning leaves at her foe's massive hide.

"Lickilicky, block it with a Water Pulse, then take Bayleef out with a Rollout!" Tyson shouted. Lickilicky rolled its tongue back into its mouth and opened its jaws wide, collecting a large ball of shimmering water in front of them. With a deep growl, the pink Pokémon pushed the sphere of water into the space in front of its body, and it slowly fell towards the ground as the Magical Leaf whirred towards it. The Water Pulse exploded on contact with the hard surface of the field, and all the water that made it seemed to shoot upwards at once, consuming the rainbow-coloured leaves whole and destroying them, leaving nothing but a few shrivelled fragments to flutter to the sodden ground.

"Whoa—!" Ash exclaimed, but Lickilicky curled itself into a large, pink ball and sped forwards along the field, a spray of water kicking up in its wake as it powered through the puddle that its attack had left behind. "Bayleef, get out of there, _now_!" he roared, but with a hideous bang, Lickilicky's Rollout collided into Bayleef's worn-out body and sent her rocketing through the air. Bayleef hit the weathered metal at the edge of the stadium with a sound that made Ash cringe and Pikachu yelp in fright, and she pitched forwards and fell to the ground head-first, lying on the field in a spread-eagled mess.

"_No!_ Bayleef, are you alright?!" he screamed, taking a fearful step forwards in his box, but then he saw his Pokémon's body twitch violently. "Bayleef? Stay down if you want; it's okay," he said, but Bayleef growled and raised a foot off the ground, setting it down and putting her weight on it as she struggled upright. "You still want to go on?" he asked, and Bayleef jerked her head in a nod, "Okay then, use Sweet Scent and back it up with another Magical Leaf!"

"Lickilicky, keep up your Rollout!" Tyson yelled, as Bayleef opened her bulbs and wafted a cloud of orange pollen in the air towards the charging Licking Pokémon. The wave of spores fell lazily over Lickilicky, and the Pokémon seemed to slow down as it took its effect, but it continued to roll forwards at a frightening pace as it headed for Bayleef, who shot more leaves at it from her head-leaf. The Magical Leaf seared through the air, but with a dull clatter they bounced harmlessly off their target's spinning hide, burying themselves in the field at all angles as Lickilicky ploughed its way across the field. Picking up speed at the last moment, Lickilicky surged forwards and blasted Bayleef high into the sky, and the Leaf Pokémon seemed to hover for a moment in mid-air before plummeting back to earth and shooting a cloud of dust into the air around it.

_This is looking very familiar…_ Ash thought grimly to himself, as the dust cleared and an unconscious Bayleef was revealed to everyone.

"Bayleef is unable to battle!" shouted Wesley, pointing his red flag as Tyson and Lickilicky as the stands swelled with noise and applause. Ash reluctantly recalled his Pokémon to her PokéBall and surveyed Lickilicky closely as it stopped its Rollout attack, slowly clipping the PokéBall to his waist as he wondered which Pokémon he would send out next to counter it. Meanwhile, up in the stands, Brock looked down at the field with concern, pondering the same thing that Ash was.

"That Rollout attack…" he murmured, resting a hand on his chin and frowning.

"Yeah, that was a pretty powerful attack," Max agreed grimly, misunderstanding the comment.

"No, no, it's not that…" Brock said dismissively, pointing towards Lickilicky. "I've seen a Pokémon use that _exact_ style of Rollout before – against Ash's Pokémon, too – but I just can't remember _where_ or _when_ I saw it!"

"You can tell between '_styles_' of Rollout attacks?" Anabel exclaimed, impressed, as Ash took a PokéBall from his belt and weighed it in his hand. "Ooh, I wonder what Pokémon he's going to use," she said excitedly, shuffling forwards in her seat.

"Let's go, Swellow!" Ash cried, throwing the ball high into the air. There was a flash of blinding white light as the PokéBall split open, and a blue bird flew out of the light and gave a screeching caw. It had two long tail-feathers – blue tipped with red – that swished back and forth in the wind, and a V-shaped crest of feathers running down its chest, which it puffed out proudly as it tossed its head backwards, showing the brilliant flash of red on its forehead, and the longer blue feathers sprouting from the back of its head. Swellow opened its magnificent wings wide and flexed its red feet, tipped with razor-sharp black claws, as it wheeled in a large circle above the battlefield.

"What an interesting choice of Pokémon here from Ash!" shouted Shannon, as the crowd's eyes shifted upwards to watch the circling Swallow Pokémon overhead. "A Flying-type Pokémon _is_ weak to Lickilicky's Rollout attack, but I wish it good luck if it wants to use it; an aerial Pokémon is going to have a _huge_ advantage over a ground-based Pokémon! This is looking like quite the matchup!"

"That it is," Tyson muttered to himself, smiling expectantly. "Lickilicky, let's kick things into high gear! Use Power Whip to bring Swellow close, then strike with another Rollout!" he ordered, pointing up at Swellow. Lickilicky smacked its hands against its enormous belly and puffed its cheeks out, a scowl painted on its wide face, and its tongue shot into the air like a snake, glowing a bright green as it headed for Swellow.

"Swellow, dodge it with a Quick Attack!" Ash roared, but Lickilicky was deceptively quick for its size, and as Swellow darted to the side, the tip of the Pokémon's shining tongue wrapped itself around a black-clawed foot and dragged the Flying-type back towards it. "_Swellow_!" Ash shouted, mortified, but the Power Whip held fast, even though Swellow slashed at the strip of white with claw and beak. Lickilicky's eyes narrowed evilly, and with nothing more than a flick of its jaw, it whipped its tongue towards the ground and smashed Swellow on the hard ground below with a shower of dirt. Just as the scene cleared and a dazed Swellow struggled to its feet, Lickilicky retracted its long tongue and curled up for its Rollout attack, spinning lengthways on the field to build up speed.

"Now!" Tyson bellowed, and Lickilicky took off at once, carving a shallow rut in the ground with its movement, and kicking up a rooster-tail of dirt behind its rolling body.

"Swellow, get back in the air!" Ash screamed wildly, his eyes wide as the crowd muttered in anticipation. Swellow ungainly flapped its wings and hovered a foot or so above the field, still dazed by the impact of Lickilicky's Power Whip, and in that moment of hesitation the Licking Pokémon accelerated and struck the bird Pokémon squarely in the stomach. Swellow shrieked in pain as it was catapulted forcefully into the stadium wall and fell back onto the battlefield, and the crowd roared with pleasure.

"That _had_ to hurt!" Shannon squealed. "Even looking at that blow was enough to make me cringe, but I'm just thankful that Tyson had Lickilicky start a new Rollout! Can you imagine what would have happened if Lickilicky had been using the momentum from its _first_ Rollout?! I sure don't want to!"

"Swellow, are you alright?!" Ash shouted, watching as Swellow got to its feet. "Get back in the air before Lickilicky can hit you again!" he commanded, and Swellow stretched its wings wide and flapped them in the air, but then he noticed that his Pokémon's left wing was bent at an odd angle and wasn't stretching or flapping as much as the right one. He heard the crowd whispering amongst themselves, and he knew that they had seen it too, so he glanced briefly at Tyson, and his heart sank as he saw his opponent's eyes narrow towards Swellow's wing.

"Lickilicky, continue your attack," he said calmly, and Lickilicky sped forwards on its relentless path to the injured Pokémon. "Sorry, Ash. As much as I don't like having to take down a crippled Pokémon, I want to make it through this battle as much as you do!" he shouted fiercely.

"I know! I'd do the same thing!" Ash fired, and he cracked a smile even in the face of Lickilicky's attack. "Swellow, if we can't use your wings, we're gonna have to beat Lickilicky _another_ way! First off, avoid that Rollout with Double Team!" he yelled, and Swellow folded its wings and gave a high-pitched trill. Its form wavered in the morning sun, and a second later there were three identical Swellow standing wing-to-wing where the original had been, three sets of eyes watching as their foe rolled closer.

The crowd cheered at the sight of the attack, and Tyson gritted his teeth in irritation; there was no way of telling which copy was the real Swellow. "I'll just have to take them _all_ out," he said to himself. "Lickilicky, aim for the middle one!" he ordered, and Lickilicky kept its line as it charged into the central Swellow, tearing the Pokémon into smoky shreds as it passed through the other side. The crowd gasped as the Swellow-illusion vanished into the air, and Brock was amongst the more enthusiastic fans applauding the miss as Tyson's brow twitched in anger.

"That was a good defensive play by Ash," he said to Dawn as he clapped, "he saw that Swellow wouldn't be able to use its flying capabilities with that wing problem, and so he utilised its _other_ specialty – speed – to keep itself away from Lickilicky's Rollout."

"That might not be such a blessing," Max said seriously, his glasses glinting in the light. "Every consecutive use of Rollout increases its power twofold; every time that Lickilicky misses, its attack is getting stronger and stronger. So the longer and longer that Ash is going to have Swellow keep up this—stalling tactic—the bigger risk he's gonna run of having Swellow knocked out by a lucky hit."

"I think Ash knows what he's doing," said Anabel, leaning over to voice her opinion. "Otherwise he wouldn't have done it!" she added confidently, leaning back in her seat to watch more of the battle, just as Lickilicky tore through a second fake Swellow. "Go Ash!"

"Swellow, stay firm!" Ash shouted, just as Lickilicky turned through a half-circle at terrifying speed and launched itself towards his Pokémon. The manoeuvre registered itself deep in his memory, identical in every way to another Pokémon that he had – years ago – battled. _Years ago… _he thought hurriedly, his attention torn between his thoughts and the battle. _Wait—! I know where I've seen this before!_ Images of a large pink Pokémon rolling across a pasture, riddled with holes and trenches, flashed before his eyes in a second; a flickering reminder of his Plain Badge match against Whitney and her Miltank near Goldenrod City.

"That's it!" he yelled cheerily, and the crowd buzzed with confusion. "Swellow, try and fly again!"

Swellow reluctantly spread its wings wide and flexed them once, and its injured left wing sprang outwards to match the right in breadth. With a cheer from its Trainer and the crowd, Swellow chirped happily and soared upwards, avoiding Lickilicky's high-powered Rollout with a second to spare. Tyson and his fans groaned with disbelief, knowing that the Flying-type had dodged a bullet that it couldn't have recovered from, and Lickilicky slowed to a stop and glared at its elusive prey, which was now circling joyfully in the skies with its restored wings.

"Curses!" Tyson hissed, clenching a fist at his sides. "Lickilicky, bring that bird back with Power Whip!"

"Swellow, let's go on the evasive! Use another Double Team!" Ash roared, Pikachu squinting up at its fellow Pokémon in the air. Swellow cawed and shimmered again, splitting not into three, but _five_ identical Swallow Pokémon, each one beating their wings in unison with the other four as Lickilicky puffed out its cheeks and shot its glowing tongue towards them. The Pokémon on the ground narrowed its eyes and twitched its jaw, directing its Power Whip towards the second Swellow from the left, and with a roar of disappointment from the crowd, it passed right through as the illusion wavered and dissolved into nothingness.

"Good job, Swellow; now power up a Steel Wing! Run it along the ground a few times before you knock that Lickilicky off its feet!" Ash commanded, and three of the remaining Swellow collapsed in on themselves, revealing the Swellow on the far right to be the real one as its wings shone with brilliant white light.

"Why is Ash having Swellow do that?" Max asked blankly, his eyes tracking Swellow as the latter nose-dived towards the ground. Brock pondered the question for a moment, then smacked himself in the forehead as the answer came to him.

"He's doing what he did against Whitney in Johto!" he exclaimed, just as Swellow dipped its wing against the ground and carved a deep gouge in the surface of the arena before wheeling upwards. "The Goldenrod Gym Leader – Whitney - had a Miltank that would use Rollout to charge up power and knock out her opponent. She absolutely decimated Ash's Pokémon the first time around, but the second time they battled, Ash figured that he'd put obstacles in the ground to trip Miltank up. His Totodile dug trenches with Water Gun, and then he had Pikachu knock her out once she'd gotten tired!"

"So he's going to try and wear Lickilicky out by digging ditches…?" Max asked dubiously, raising his eyebrows at Brock. "That's all well and good for a _ground_-based Pokémon, but what about an _aerial_ Pokémon like Swellow?!"

"I think Ash realises that Swellow isn't going to win this one, Max," Dawn interjected, a grim look on her face. "It hasn't even landed a hit on Lickilicky yet, and it's already been pummelled by Rollouts and Power Whips. He's thinking laterally by planning for the next Pokémon he's going to send out. He can afford to, after all; he's got a one-Pokémon advantage over Tyson at the moment," she added happily, watching Swellow dig four more deep trenches in the field with its iron-hard wings.

"Lickilicky, stop that Swellow with a Water Pulse, would you?!" Tyson shouted, beginning to get annoyed at the Swallow Pokémon, which hadn't come close to Lickilicky during its Steel Wing display. Lickilicky stomped the ground and pushed its hands forward, gathering a huge ball of water in front of them which grew in size the longer that Swellow continued to dive and wheel across the field.

_Just a little bit longer…!_ Ash thought bracingly, as Swellow dug another scar into the ground. The Water Pulse that Lickilicky was charging was now twice the size of its foe, and Ash knew that if it grew any larger, it could do a lot more than just knock Swellow unconscious. "Okay Swellow, soar and use Quick Attack to gain speed, then dodge Water Pulse with an Aerial Ace!"

"_Swe-Swellow!_" screeched the bird Pokémon, its wings returning to their natural colour as it banked steeply upwards, feathers blowing about in the wind as it climbed above the stadium's open roof. A column of white light trailed from behind Swellow's open wings and tail, and it instantly doubled its speed and dived towards Lickilicky, who boomed and threw its sphere of water upwards at the incoming Pokémon. Swellow's form flickered and disappeared just as the Water Pulse drew closer, and the burst of white that was behind it carried on and collided with the attack, cancelling each other out with an intense flash as the light was reflected hundredfold within the water.

Ash, Pikachu, Tyson and Lickilicky all shielded their eyes with their hands, having been the closest ones to the blast, but a shriek made them lower their arms and squint at the brightly lit scene before them. A blurry, blue bullet dive-bombed Lickilicky with glowing white wings and knocked the Pokémon onto its back, its stubby limbs flailing comically in the air. Tyson knew what the bullet was, but it took his eyes a few moments to readjust themselves and see Ash's Swellow beating its wings proudly as it hovered above his own Pokémon, who seemed to be trapped on its back.

"Lickilicky, use Water Pulse to push yourself into the air, then come down with an Iron Tail!" he bellowed, not wanting to give Ash any opportunity to gain the upper hand. Lickilicky steadied itself as much as it could on the arena floor and formed two balls of water in front of each fist, swinging them around to strike the ground next to its rotund body. The resulting splash and shockwave was enough to catapult even Lickilicky's enormous weight high into the air, and Swellow squawked and ducked to the side to avoid being hit by the Pokémon as it rose higher and higher above the field.

As soon as the pink Pokémon reached the height of its short skyward climb, its curvy tail flashed with white light, and Lickilicky swung its Iron Tail into Swellow's beak at full strength, knocking the hapless Flying-type back towards the arena at tremendous speed, its fall brutally cut short by the sheer resistance of the ground below. With a feeble, shrill cry Swellow kicked up a cloud of dust as it was crushed against the surface of the field, and as the dust cleared, everyone could see that it had fallen unconscious from the blow.

"And Swellow is unable to battle!" Shannon declared. Tyson thumped the air with his fist as a communal cheer rose from the crowd behind him, and Wesley disdainfully looked up at the commentator from his spot on the sidelines. "Oh—sorry, Wes! I just got so caught up in the last few minutes that—I'll make it up to you, alright?! Anyways, that was _some _move by Tyson's Lickilicky! Using a Water Pulse as a defensive move then using the power of gravity to pull off the finishing blow! With that superb Iron Tail, Lickilicky has levelled the scores at three apiece! It looks like Tyson has taken full advantage of the break to review his battling style!"

A wide-eyed Ash looked across the field at his fainted Pokémon, fittingly lying spread-eagled in the middle of its small crater, and he took Swellow's PokéBall from his waist and held it at arm's length. "Good work, Swellow. Rest up while I beat this Pokémon for you," he muttered darkly, and the Swallow Pokémon was returned to its ball by a pencil-thin laser beam of red light. "We're back to level pegging for the first time, eh?!" he called out to Tyson, who smirked and folded his arms in agreement. "Well, my next Pokémon may not be a _flyer_, but you can bet your life he's a _fighter_!"

"I wouldn't expect any less from you, Ash!" he shouted, and Ash pulled the second PokéBall from the right off his belt and enlarged it with the central button. "Bring it on!"

"Buizel, I choose you!" Ash cried, hurling the PokéBall onto the arena floor. Buizel was a small, orange, weasel-like Pokémon with a sleek, streamlined body and fin-tipped arms that helped him to travel through water, and there was a large, ring-like collar around him neck that Ash knew to be a floatation device. There were two small, white stripes of fur running along the Pokémon's back which matched his lighter underbelly, which went all the way up to his lower jaw, and he twitched his small, black nose habitually. Buizel's twin tails were also tipped with the lighter-coloured fur, and they swished from side to side as the Sea Weasel Pokémon saw his opponent for the first time and snarled at it, showing two small but sharp fangs lining the inside of his mouth.

"So Ash's fourth Pokémon is a Buizel! Ooh, it looks so cute!" Shannon shrieked delightedly, her eyes sparkling at the Pokémon. "But looks can be deceiving, as Ash has certainly shown in previous battles, and Tyson's Meowth did in its second-round battle! So let's see what happens between these two fierce competitors!"

"Buizel—!"

"Lickilicky—!"

"—_Use Water Pulse_!" roared both Trainers, throwing their arms forward as though mirroring each other's moves completely. Lickilicky charged a sphere of water as Buizel created one of his own, holding it firmly between his hands as it gathered in volume. With a roar from both sides, the two Water Pulses were launched from opposite sides of the arena, twinkling in the sunlight shining down on the arena. As the crowd watched the two attacks speed towards each other, they could see that Lickilicky's attack was easily twice the size of Buizel's, but they jumped to their feet and cheered when the two spheres collided with a colossal splash, Buizel's Water Pulse seemingly holding off Lickilicky's as they collapsed into a huge pool of water in the centre of the field.

"Buizel, keep it up with an Aqua Jet!" Ash commanded. Buizel nodded and enshrouded himself with a pulsing veil of water, and the Water-type leapt forwards and whipped his twin tails about, acting like a corkscrew as they propelled him through the air. Buizel flew forwards over the low ground, the shimmering water around him rippling and swirling as he came closer to his target.

"Counter with an Iron Tail, Lickilicky!" bellowed Tyson, and Lickilicky's tail instantly turned a harsh white. As Buizel came closer, the Normal-type pivoted on its small legs and swung its glowing tail full-circle, striking its foe in the side and sending him sprawling across the field with a thud and a splash of water. "Excellent work! Now move in for another Rollout!" he ordered, pointing at Buizel just as the latter sprang lithely to his feet. Lickilicky nodded its vast head and tucked itself into a ball once again, kicking up a spray of wet dirt as it took off along the arena, Buizel dead-middle in its line of fire.

"Use Water Gun to push yourself above Lickilicky's attack!" Ash yelled. Buizel's eyes locked onto his charging opponent, and he puffed up his cheeks and cannoned a spire of water from his jaws into the ground. The force of the water shot Buizel upwards like a cork from a champagne bottle, and he soared gracefully over Lickilicky as the latter drove itself into the space where he had been moments before. Lickilicky tried to swerve around and charge at Buizel for a second time, but it had rolled right into the spray of water that Buizel had just blasted onto the ground, and it lost control of its attack on the wet surface.

A squealing Lickilicky was helpless to do anything as it slid across the field and was crushed against the boundary wall at the far side with a loud bang. The fans above the wall jumped up and shrank back in fright at the noise, before leaning over the wall and trying to see Tyson's Pokémon again, but they couldn't see anything. The crowd behind Tyson, however, could see Lickilicky's trapped body wedged inside an enormous dent in the wall, completely hiding it from the people above it.

"Lickilicky, get out of there…!" Tyson groaned irately, and his Pokémon squeezed its stomach in and fell backwards onto the stadium floor, allowing its momentum to roll it upright. Ash grinned when he saw that Lickilicky's front was covered in a dark red mark that had come from its collision with the wall, and one of its eyes was half-shut in pain. As he watched, he also observed that the Licking Pokémon seemed to be favouring its right-hand side, leaning heavily on its right leg as it positioned itself facing against Buizel.

"Power Whip!" Tyson shouted aggressively.

"Block it with SonicBoom!" bellowed Ash, as Lickilicky's cheeks began to swell with the power of its attack. Buizel stomped a foot against the ground and jumped into the air, and its two sleek tails shone with pearly white light. Lickilicky opened its mouth wide, its glowing tongue shooting towards him, but Buizel timed his move to perfection and back-flipped in mid-air, its tails spinning furiously and firing a shockwave of sound to meet his foe's assault. The power of the wave struck Lickilicky's Power Whip head-on and sent it jerking to the side, sailing past Buizel's outstretched arm as the latter landed lightly on the ground.

"Now use Aqua Jet, and speed yourself up with another SonicBoom!" Ash shouted fiercely, not wanting to wait for Lickilicky to recover from its Power Whip. Buizel's mouth split into a grin, showing his fangs again, before he hopped upwards and twisted in mid-air, covering himself with a watery shield just as his tails flashed bright white. The Water-type bounded forward even before his feet had touched the ground, and he smacked his tails firmly against the ground, kicking up a colossal wave of dust and doubling his speed instantly.

Lickilicky's tongue curled backwards towards its owner, and for a few seconds the two were side-by-side as Buizel raced against it. With a sideways glance, Buizel twitched his nose and put on an extra spurt of pace, edging ahead of it and leaping towards Lickilicky's head with a ferocious growl. The crowd gasped in shock as Buizel's Aqua Jet rocketed into Lickilicky's face, sending its head snapping backwards, its tongue swinging aimlessly over its shoulder as its foe drove the attack home by delivering a Water Gun – of his own free will – directly between the eyes. Lickilicky seemed frozen in time, feeling the single moment of weightlessness between being hit and losing balance, before Buizel's dual-attack pushed it backwards. Almost in slow motion, the enormous pink Pokémon fell towards the arena and hit the ground with a dull thud, the resistance of the surface making its body bounce twice before coming to a final stop. Buizel touched down lightly on the ground in front of his Trainer, and after a full five seconds of tense waiting – in which Lickilicky didn't stir – all eyes turned to the referee standing resolutely at the battlefield's edge.

"Lickilicky is unable to battle!" Wesley shouted, aiming the green flag at Buizel, who hopped joyously on the spot at the announcement.

"Great job, Buizel!" cheered Ash, giving his victorious Pokémon a thumbs-up, and the crowd roared with excitement at the fact that the small Water-type had defeated his much larger opponent. Tyson's left eye twitched agitatedly as he reached for Lickilicky's PokéBall and returned his fallen battler with a flash of red light, muttering comforting words to it as he shrunk it down to miniature size and clipped it to his belt. Ash's eyes warily flew to his mahogany-haired opponent, knowing that the battle was about to reach the next level.

_Here we go…_he thought bracingly. _Tyson's first four Pokémon were no pushovers, but he's bound to have saved these two for a reason… I mean, _I _saved Pikachu… and his Metagross is definitely one of the two spots left on his team; there's no way he'd leave a powerhouse like _that_ out of his team…_ "I'd say that the match is about to tip one way or the other, Tyson!" he shouted, trying to break his opponent's concentration.

An eager smile formed on Tyson's lips as his fingers wrapped around the PokéBall at the far side of his belt. _You have no idea_…

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Although Swellow carved the trenches with Steel Wing, Lickilicky still didn't run over them; it hit the boundary wall because of Buizel's Water Gun.**

***Buizel's tactic of using a Water Gun to push itself above his opponent's Rollout is a parallel to Totodile using the same manoeuvre in Ash's match against Whitney, which was mentioned earlier in the chapter.**

**Quiz:**

***Who is the only human character to have been transformed into a Lickilicky?**


	63. Induction Eruption

**CHAPTER 63 – INDUCTION ERUPTION**

_Come on, Tyson… what Pokémon are you gonna send out next?_ Ash thought edgily, his eyes narrowing as Tyson took the PokéBall from his belt and tossed it lightly in his hand.

"Let's see how you handle _this_ Pokémon!" he roared, throwing the PokéBall towards the centre of the arena. "Let's kick things into high gear, Metagross!"

_So it _is_ his Metagross, just like I thought,_ Ash said silently, his face blanching ever so slightly in the sunlight as Tyson's PokéBall burst open in a flash of light. A huge, blue, spider-like Pokémon roared and thundered down onto the ground, scuttling on the spot on its four sturdy legs, each of which ended in three silver claws. The legs met at the top of Metagross' body, and the main body looked somewhat like a land-mine, with a thick strip of blue running around the bottom. There was a large X-shaped mark at the front of the body, the same silver colour as its sharp claws, and beneath the upper arms of the cross were two tiny red eyes. The crowd whispered to themselves, impressed by Tyson's choice of Pokémon, and Iron Leg Pokémon opened its mouth – which was actually _underneath_ its body – and roared, showing a craggy black hole lined with two sharp fangs of metal.

_This won't be easy…_ Ash thought. He had battled this Metagross before at the Hoenn League, and it had taken his Swellow, Grovyle and Pikachu to knock it out.

Brock and Max were well aware of this fact, too, and the latter hissed as Metagross roared at Buizel, having only just noticed its foe standing on the other side of the stadium. "This… could be bad…" he murmured, earning himself a suspicious stare from Dawn. "Metagross is one of Tyson's Ever Grande Pokémon. When Tyson and Ash battled each other, it took half of Ash's team to bring it down."

"Yeah, I'm thinking that he keeps his Metagross at fifth because it acts as his roster's anchor," Brock said analytically, scratching his chin. "Being a third-stage and a Steel-type, it can help Tyson out of a tight squeeze – like the one he's in now – and turn the tables. And even if it _does_ get knocked out, he's still got his final Pokémon to bring it home…"

"Wow, that's some pretty good tactics if you're right," Dawn said, visibly awed not just by Brock's statement, but by the intimidating appearance of Tyson's Pokémon, just as its Trainer decided to give it its first command.

"Metagross, let's begin with a blast! Use Psychic!" Tyson bellowed, throwing his arm forwards. Metagross gave a low, screeching cry as its entire body was covered in a faint pink glow, and suddenly the Iron Leg Pokémon disappeared behind a swirling bubble of psychic energy that billowed outwards, seeming to feed on the air around it. With another shriek from Metagross, the bubble bent in mid-swell and bowed forwards, its figure distorting into an egg-shaped cloud, its creator struggling to focus its enormous power towards Buizel. After a moment of silence, in which everyone present at the arena was looking at the pale tip of the attack, it flashed deepest black and sped forwards on invisible wings, cleaving a deep tunnel in the arena's surface as it raced through the air.

"_What the—?!_" Ash exclaimed, his eyes snapping wide open.

"Metagross and I have worked on its psychic powers over the last two years, Ash! This is the result!" Tyson shouted proudly, and Metagross' attack continued its destructive path towards its target.

"Buizel, block it with your strongest Water Gun!" Ash screamed frightfully, and Buizel expelled a wide cannon of water from his open mouth to meet his opponent's attack head-on. The Water Gun smashed into the face of the oncoming blast, but the Psychic pushed relentlessly forwards against it, and within a fraction of a second Buizel's attack was all but destroyed, a few meagre trickles of water coursing past the edge of the swirling bullet. Ash's eyes flew open in shock and horror as Metagross' opening attack continued towards Buizel and crushed his body against its sheer power, driving the Sea Weasel Pokémon through the air and above the crowd's head.

"_Twist away, Buizel_!" he roared desperately, cupping his hands and shouting at the top of his voice. Buizel heard his Trainer's order, through the pain of the attack that was pulverising his pale stomach, and reflexively jerked his body to the side. Groaning weakly in relief, the Water-type felt the pain in his body lessen as the Psychic slid to the side and sailed past his arm, shooting into the sky with the bright twinkle of a star.

"Now use SonicBoom to cushion your fall!" cried Ash, watching helplessly as Buizel spun loosely in the air and began a slow nose-dive towards the ground, his eyes shut peacefully. The crowd gasped and whispered worriedly as the Pokémon continued his inexorable fall towards earth, and even Tyson doubted that his foe would be able to recover from such an attack as his Metagross'. Buizel's eyes fluttered open just in time to see himself plummeting face-first towards the scarred ground, Ash's screams of '_use SonicBoom_' finally registering themselves in his brain.

"_Bwi…zel… Buizel_!" he roared, his tails sparking with blinding white light. In one deft motion, he swung himself around in mid-air and concentrated the energy of his SonicBoom, releasing it all at once in a straight line directly below him. The ground underneath Buizel shuddered and broke apart as the immense power of the Pokémon's shockwave was brought down upon it, and the vibrations slowed Buizel enough to land safely on the loose ground, his head bowed.

"_WOW!_ Talk about theatrics! Buizel, if you _wanted_ to give us all a heart attack, I'd say you did just _that_!" shouted Shannon breathlessly, clutching at her chest. "Metagross' Psychic looked like it absolutely wiped the floor with Buizel, but at the last moment it recovers and pulls out an ace! Smart thinking by Ash on calling a SonicBoom; more amazing tactics from the Prince of Pallet Town!"

"'_Prince'_…?" Ash repeated weakly, an embarrassed blush working its way across his cheeks. _Oh great, I'm gonna get hit with so many jokes because of that…_

"Metagross, smack Buizel _up_ with Bullet Punch, and take it _down_ with Hyper Beam!" Tyson yelled. Metagross raised its front right leg and pointed it squarely at Buizel, the three silver claws at the end of the leg pulsing with fierce orange light. Buizel's hands twitched at his sides as he crouched, preparing to jump away the moment that Metagross effected its attack, but in the blink of an eye the Iron Leg Pokémon disappeared from its position on the arena, reappearing less than a foot in front of its foe.

"_Metaaa!_" it boomed, swiping its claw viciously at Buizel and catching the Pokémon in the abdomen, tearing upwards at his exposed belly. For the second time in two minutes, the Water-type was hurled skywards, his eyes screwed tightly shut in agony, and Metagross responded by charging an intensely-lit ball of orange light – this time in front of its jagged mouth – and titled its head towards its arcing opponent.

"Buizel, cover yourself in an Aqua Jet and spin during your fall!" Ash screamed, his words all but lost to the roar of Metagross as the latter's Hyper Beam exploded with power, shooting up towards Buizel in a thick torrent of orange energy. Buizel's eyes stayed shut, but his keen ears heard his master's words, because the next moment he was wrapped in the familiar cocoon of glittering water that was his Aqua Jet. Metagross' Hyper Beam streaked upwards at extreme speed, and Buizel countered by twisting his tails this way and that, the force of the motion sending the Pokémon into a fierce clockwise spin.

"Have Aqua Jet blunt the power of that Hyper Beam!" instructed Ash, his and all eyes shooting towards the slowly falling Sea Weasel Pokémon. Buizel braced himself and growled, and the veil of water surrounding him was pushed forwards, forming a large shield in the face of the incoming jet of light. There was a deep, growling echo as the two attacks clashed with each other, but the geyser of orange was far stronger than Buizel's Aqua Jet, and the Water-type was quickly enveloped whole by the light as it blasted through his flimsy defences. The stands erupted with screams of happiness and concern as the space where Buizel was seen moments before started to bulge, the orange light around it coursing through into a funnel shape the higher it went.

"Great shot, Metagross!" Tyson cheered, and the Iron Leg Pokémon stopped its attack, the remains of the Hyper Beam streaming through the sky. The last of the light disappeared, and in its place was a shimmering blue bullet. "_No way!_" he screeched hysterically.

"_Buizel_!" Ash yelled happily, punching the air as he saw his Pokémon lower its Aqua Jet and fall lightly towards the ground.

"Oh, I get it!" Brock shouted, seeing everything from his seat in the crowd. "Ash had Buizel only use _some _of his Aqua Jet as a buffer to soften Metagross' Hyper Beam, but the _rest_ was still spinning around with him, creating a drill—!"

"And the _drill_ deferred the energy from the Hyper Beam into the air around Buizel, which was that bulging funnel-thing!" Max finished excitedly, applauding Ash for his innovative move. "Wow!"

"Good work, Buizel! I knew you had it in you!" Ash said with a huge grin, but his smile faded as Buizel hit the ground and pitched forwards, landing flatly on his stomach. "Buizel?! Come on, get up!" he pleaded desperately. Buizel's body shuddered all over as he tried to pick himself up, and it took ten agonising seconds for the Pokémon to stand on his hind feet, panting with effort and covered in scratches and bruises as his foe glared fiercely at him. But the next moment, Buizel closed his eyes and allowed himself to return to the ground, lying in a heap on the dusty arena floor, as still as could be.

"Buizel is unable to battle!" Wesley roared, his arm and red flag shooting into the sky.

"No…" Ash muttered, shell-shocked.

"_Yes!_" Tyson shouted, tucking his arm against his side victoriously.

_I thought that my strategy worked a wonder…! But it wasn't enough to keep Buizel in the game… _Ash thought miserably, heaving a sigh as his hand fumbled around for the Water-type's PokéBall. _Damnit! Now I'm just down to Pikachu and—_

"Well, Ash—!" Tyson roared, his voice carrying over Shannon's excited voice as she gave her comment, and breaking Ash's concentration, "—we're back to even ground!"

"You don't need to tell _me_ that, Tyson," Ash said loudly, pointing the PokéBall towards Buizel. "Buizel, return!" he shouted, and Buizel dissolved into a haze of red light that shot back inside the ball. "Good job, buddy. You took down Lickilicky and put up a good fight. Take a nice nap," he whispered to the PokéBall, shrinking it and clipping it to his belt.

"So are you going to use Pikachu, or the other Pokémon you brought along for the battle?!" Tyson yelled curiously, whilst his Metagross shifted impatiently on its clawed feet, waiting for its next opponent.

"You _know_ I'm gonna use Pikachu!" Ash jeered, his eyes shifting to look at his yellow companion. "Pikachu beat your Metagross last time, and he can do it again _this_ time! Come on, buddy, let's show him—again—what you're made of!"

"_Pii pikachu!_" Pikachu hissed competitively, jumping agilely from his Trainer's shoulder and landing on the battlefield on all fours. Metagross' cold, red eyes focused on the Mouse Pokémon, and its hideous mouth reared open in a terrifying snarl, as though it couldn't wait to tear into Pikachu. "_Pii pika! Pika!_" Pikachu shouted tauntingly, sparks flying from the red pouches on his cheeks.

"It looks both our Pokémon are edging to get this show on the road," Tyson observed excitedly, while the crowd all around him began to raise its voice in anticipation of the clash. "Who are we to make them wait?!"

"Couldn't agree more!" Ash agreed, throwing his arm forwards. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" he roared, opting to begin with his Pokémon's signature move.

"_Pii…kaa…chuuu_!" Pikachu growled, launching a sizzling bolt of electricity from his body that arced through the air, instantly drawn to Metagross because of its metal structure. The Iron Leg Pokémon groaned in distress as the lightning crackled through its sturdy body, but with a furious glare it broke the offensive with a shield of psychic energy, smacking its claws further into the field to ground the excess electricity that was shooting through itself.

_Darn, that didn't seem to faze it in the slightest… _Ash thought with a grimace, his eyes hardening as Metagross roared again.

"Metagross, you recovered from that Hyper Beam?!" Tyson yelled, and Metagross stiffly nodded its round head. "Good," he smiled, "now use Psychic!"

"Pikachu, Agility! Get away from the blast!" Ash roared hastily, just as the Steel-type in front of Pikachu was wrapped in pink light once again. Pikachu quickly nodded his small head and leapt into action at once, streaking across the ground at lightning speed as the psychic bubble formed around Metagross and contorted into the egg-shape that it had before. With a bass-deep growl, Metagross launched its attack across the ground towards the speeding Pikachu, the psychic blast carving another deep scar in the battlefield.

"Take cover!" screamed Ash, and Pikachu quickly leapt to the side to avoid the incoming barrage, landing in the shallow trench that Metagross' first Psychic had created. As he heard the attack closing in, Pikachu continued his Agility and sped along the rut without turning his head to look back, because he could hear the ground being torn up from the power of the Psychic. But as the small Pokémon kept running, he heard a terrible screech of destroyed metal and knew that Metagross' attack had collided with the boundary wall at the far end of the stadium. Pikachu lightly sprang out of the trench and landed on all fours with fierce joy, only to find that he was standing feet away from his opponent, the latter unfazed by Pikachu's evasion of its blast.

"Not bad, Pikachu…" Tyson said softly, ignoring the crowd's screams and applause as he glanced at the far boundary, the newly-formed hole in it still smoking from his Pokémon's assault.

"Pikachu, give Metagross an Iron Tail to the head!" Ash commanded, pointing squarely at his foe.

"_Iron Tail_?" Dawn repeated stupidly, and Pikachu leapt into the air at once, his tail glowing white as it charged with power. "But—Iron Tail, that's a Steel-type move, isn't it? Why's he using it on Metagross when _it's_ a Steel-type too?!" she asked, her head snapping around to face Brock.

"He's doing it—" Max interrupted, his glasses shining in the sunlight, "because that's how Pikachu beat Tyson's Metagross before. You see," he continued, despite the open-mouthed stare that Dawn was giving him, "the last time Ash battle Metagross, he was able to chip a crack in Metagross' head, and after a few Thunderbolts and Iron Tails he was able to build up enough static charge in the crack to knock Metagross out. I'd say that—"

"—He's going to do the same thing here!" Anabel finished excitedly, clapping her hands together gleefully.

Tyson eye's narrowed, and his mouth curved into a smile, as he came to the same conclusion as Anabel; he wasn't going to let Pikachu do the same thing to his team's anchor _twice_. Throwing his arm forwards, he roared, "Metagross, cut Pikachu down with Signal Beam!" Metagross opened its mouth wide in a snarl, and a pinprick of soft blue light flickered in front of the centre of its silvery cross.

_A Signal Beam at _that_ close range?!_ Ash thought, just as Pikachu began to fall back to earth with his tail still brightly lit. "Pikachu, block that Signal Beam with your Iron Tail—!" But it was too late; even before Ash could issue his order, the spot of light widened into a huge ball of pink, yellow and blue, which then erupted into a wide column of energy. The beam shot upwards towards Pikachu, and the Electric-type barely had time to shout in shock before he was struck with the attack's full power.

"Pikachu, no!" Ash yelled, as his Pokémon was sent flying high into the air.

"Metagross, let's not slow down now!" Tyson shouted encouragingly. "You know what to do; get up there and finish Pikachu with another Bullet Punch!"

"How the heck is Metagross gonna get up _there_?!" Ash shouted angrily as he pointed upwards at Pikachu, who was reaching the height of his pained climb. A moment later his mouth gaped open in amazement, because Metagross tucked its sturdy legs upwards, positioned flush with the plane of its body, and raised itself off the ground, hovering level with its Trainer's head.

"Like that!" Tyson retorted arrogantly, just as his Pokémon flew higher into the air to meet its opponent, all four claws glowing with silver light as its eyes flashed blue with psychic energy.

_Of course, like that Metagross in the Tag Team tournament when I was battling with Paul! How could I have forgotten that?! _Ash reminded himself, his fist clenched. "When Metagross gets close enough, latch onto it and use Thunderbolt!" he shouted desperately to Pikachu, who curled himself into a ball and began to spin with his descent. Metagross continued to float up towards him, beginning to spin along its front, and the top of its body looked like a glowing disc of white light as its Bullet Punch swung around in circles, en route to its target.

But just as the spinning Iron Leg Pokémon was about to make contact with Pikachu, the latter stretched himself to full length and allowed his tail to be caught by the attack. The force behind Metagross' blow spun Pikachu away, below the line of its claws, but as Pikachu's head revolved upwards in the spin, he released an intense blast of electricity at his opponent's exposed underbelly. Metagross shrieked; a deep, wailing cry that tore at the air, its body shuddering with pain as Pikachu's Thunderbolt surged through every corner, and when the attack was called off, the blue glow disappeared from its eyes along with the electricity. Pikachu touched down on the ground, panting with exertion and pain as the crowd took notice of the scratches and bruises that had appeared on his body.

"Great shot, Pikachu!" Ash cheered, and Pikachu howled triumphantly as Metagross tilted sideways and hurtled towards the ground like a stone, landing sideways and burying itself up to the mouth as it crashed into the battlefield. "What do you say we keep going?! Hit Metagross in the head with your Iron Tail, before it can escape!" he ordered.

Pikachu curled his tiny paws into fists and bounded forwards, towards the prey that couldn't get away, and with the sound of axe on stone he brought his glowing tail down on the middle of Metagross' blue forehead, in the space right between its eyes. Metagross was abruptly dislodged from the ground as the power of Pikachu's Iron Tail knocked it backwards, but the Iron Leg Pokémon steadied itself in mid-air and landed with a loud thump on the ground.

"_Grooohhhssss!_" it screeched, and Ash's heart sank when he saw that its head was still in pristine condition; there wasn't so much as a scratch on its surface to signify that Pikachu's attack had done anything besides free it from its short burial.

"Not this time, Ash! Not again!" Tyson shouted triumphantly, pointing at Pikachu. "Metagross, Hyper Beam!"

"_Meh…tah…"_ growled the Steel-type, a shining ball of orange light forming in front of its gaping mouth. Ash roared for Pikachu to leap out of the way, but once again Metagross was too quick for its foe. The ball of light exploded into a colossal beam of energy that spiralled through the air, sizzling and spitting as it shot towards Pikachu and smashed into his chest, blasting the Electric-type backwards with the force of the blow. Pikachu squealed in agony as the Hyper Beam pushed him all the way across the arena, its flight only ended when he was mercilessly battered against the wall behind Ash's shoulder, and Metagross suddenly stopped its attack and allowed its foe to slide limply onto the battlefield, his small limbs spread about at all angles in defeat.

"No…" Ash whispered, mouth agape in complete shock.

"Pikachu is unable to battle!" declared Wesley from his spot on the sidelines, and, for the second time in a row, the crowd cheered and clapped their hands together as Tyson's red flag was swung above the referee's head. "Mr. Ketchum now has only one Pokémon remaining!" he added, lowering his flag as Ash stumbled from his green box and made his way towards his fallen Pokémon, still lying bruised and battered on the ground.

"Pikachu, are you alright?" he asked softly, gently lifting Pikachu off the ground and holding the small Pokémon in his hands. Pikachu's eyes fluttered open, and he gave Ash a weak smile, which in turn made Ash's face light up.

"_Pii…_"

"You did well, buddy. Just wait a moment and I'll get you up to Brock and Anabel. Then you can watch the rest of the battle without having to be _part_ of it," he joked, striding to the edge of the arena and signalling for Brock to make his way to the front row.

"Mr. Ketchum, the official Championship rules dictate—" Wesley stuttered.

"—Pikachu doesn't stay inside a PokéBall," Ash interrupted, sensing the official's objection, and Wesley promptly closed his mouth and nodded his head. Ash turned around and saw a familiar dark-skinned Trainer leaning over the boundary wall, arms reaching down towards him, and so he lifted Pikachu in his hands and put them in his. "There you go, Brock—" he called out, making sure that Brock had a firm grip on his Pokémon before letting his hands fall to his sides, and Brock gave him a knowing smile, before balancing himself on the wall and joining Anabel, Dawn and Max in their seats.

"You did a great job, Pikachu," Anabel said sweetly, stroking a hand on Pikachu's head as Brock sat in his seat.

"Great job or no, Ash is down to his last Pokémon," Max reasoned seriously, a frown etched on his face. "I sure hope he's got a Fire-type Pokémon left on his roster; anything else could spell serious trouble for him, knowing what Tyson's Metagross is capable of."

"What about a Ground-type?" Dawn asked. "They're good against Steel, right?"

"If Ash sends out a Ground-type, Tyson will just have Metagross hover in mid-air like it did with that spinning Bullet Punch. A Fire-type would be the _only_ way to go," Brock answered, his expression mirroring Max's. "If only Charizard was still with Ash…"

"This looks pretty familiar, doesn't it, Ash?!" Tyson shouted, just as Ash retook his place in the green Trainer box. "I've got Metagross and one more Pokémon left up my sleeve, and you're down to your last Pokémon!" he taunted, which only made his opponent smirk.

"In that battle, you knew that my last Pokémon would be Pikachu!" Ash retorted, his hand reaching under his shirt for the final PokéBall he would use. "_This_ time, you've got no idea what you're gonna be messing with—" he unclipped the PokéBall from his belt and held it proudly in his hand, "and trust me, when you mess with _this_ Pokémon, you're playing with fire!" he roared, hurling the red-and-white ball across the field.

With a blinding flash of white light, the PokéBall split open and revealed Ash's final Pokémon to the world. It was a small creature, standing only two feet tall on its hind legs, and certainly not the most intimidating Pokémon that its opposing Trainer had ever laid eyes upon. Soft, blue fur ran along the Pokémon's back and across the bridge of its long, anteater-like snout, and its underbelly was predominantly a soft beige. There were four small, red patches arranged in a square on its blue back, and its narrow, squinting eyes looked on as the enormous Pokémon in front of it gave an unmistakeably arrogant growl.

"Ooh, it's so _cute_!" Dawn and Anabel both squealed, their eyes lighting up instantly.

"Ash went with a Cyndaquil?!" Max gasped, slapping his forehead. "Oh no, he's done for…"

"Cyndaquil?" Dawn repeated, shuffling through her pocket for her Pokédex. She fished it out after a few difficult moments and opened it up, training it on the tiny Pokémon currently yawning on the arena floor.

_Cyndaquil, the Fire Mouse Pokémon. Cyndaquil are timid by nature, and spend most of their time either hunched over or curled up into a ball. However, if attacked or angry, it flares up the flames on its back for protection or as a way of intimidation, as the flames usually scare away predators. These fires tend to burn brightest and hottest when Cyndaquil is angry, but when it is tired, the flames splutter fitfully with incomplete combustion._

"Flame on, Cyndaquil!" Ash shouted.

"_Cynda!_" squeaked the Fire-type, and its back instantly erupted into a crown of fire, the crests of orange and red clashing fiercely with its dark blue fur.

"Going with the type advantage, I see," Tyson observed, his hands on his hips as if mocking Ash's choice of Pokémon – knowing that Ash indeed had _no_ choice with this one. "A Fire-type against my Meta—"

"Oh no, I'm not letting you stall me while your Metagross recharges!" Ash interjected, throwing his arm forwards. "Cyndaquil, let's roll! Flame Wheel, and aim for the face!" he bellowed, and Cyndaquil curled itself into a ball, whilst the bright red flames on its back spread to cover its entire body. Cyndaquil sped forwards at once, a spinning, searing ball of living flame, and Metagross was powerless to stop the small Pokémon as it cannoned into the centre of its silver cross, howling with pain as Cyndaquil's Flame Wheel burned away at its body.

"Great job, Cyndaquil!" cheered Ash, and Cyndaquil, in its over-excitement, fell away from Metagross and jumped on the spot, smacking its still-flaming body against the underside of its foe. Metagross screeched in pain again, but what made Ash suddenly stop his encouragement was that the Iron Leg Pokémon seemed more distressed this time around. _I wonder what _that_ was about…_ he thought analytically, his eyes narrowing,_ Cyndaquil hit Metagross with a full-power Flame Wheel to the face, and it seemed worse for wear when it got hit by a relatively easy shot in the belly… Just like with Pikachu's Thunderbolt at—! That's it! Its belly must be Metagross' weak spot!_

"Cyndaquil, now! Use Eruption, straight upwards!" he screamed eagerly, the moment he came to the realisation.

"Metagross, tuck in and crush Cyndaquil!" Tyson shouted hastily, and Metagross swung its legs around to rest above the line of its head, but this time – instead of hovering in the air – it allowed its enormous weight to drop it swiftly onto the ground, completely obscuring Cyndaquil from view with its hefty bulk.

All ears and eyes focused on that single spot in the arena for what seemed like an eternity, but Ash's spirits soared as he felt a low rumble in the ground beneath his feet, the noise of it barely audible over the murmurings coming from the stands. Tyson felt and heard it too, because he yelled for Metagross to get away, but the next moment it was shot high into the air, screeching an unearthly cry as it rode atop a colossal column of fire, with Cyndaquil at the core of it all.

"Wow! Look at that _power_!" Max gasped; he could _feel_ the heat emanating from Cyndaquil's Eruption, and, by the expressions of those either side of him, they were experiencing the exact same thing.

"_No_! Metagross, block it with your Psychic!" ordered Tyson, but Metagross either couldn't, or wasn't able to, obey the command, because there was no bright purple bubble that formed around its sturdy blue body, continually blackened and charred by the molten flames that licked at every corner and threatened to melt the Pokémon itself. After five excruciating seconds, Cyndaquil ceased its attack and rolled weakly away, the last of the flaming fountain dying out and leaving Metagross with nothing but to fall gracelessly towards earth. The Iron Leg Pokémon was unconscious and unmoving even before it crashed into the battlefield, a gargantuan spire of dust and synthetic field spewing into the air from the force of the landing and showering the competitors with rubble. The dust took a long time to clear, and even though everyone knew the result, a huge cheer still arose from the crowd as Metagross' still body was revealed in the centre of the gaping crater it had left.

"Metagross is unable to battle!" Wesley's announcement was welcomed with more cheers from the stands, as the fans realised that both Trainers were down to their last Pokémon. Those that supported Ash were shouting their faith in Cyndaquil, while those on Tyson's side were eagerly awaiting him to announce his last Pokémon. "As it stands, both Trainers are down to their last Pokémon! Now we enter what is known as the 'Sudden Death Clause' of the _Preuve De Mérite_ stage! If any Pokémon is struck down by an attack and does not rise within five seconds of impact with the battlefield's surface, it will be deemed unable to battle, and its Trainer will be eliminated from the tournament!"

"Sudden death, eh? Sounds interesting!" Ash said cheerfully, the exhilaration and adrenaline of Cyndaquil's dominating victory still pumping in his veins. "Hey, Tyson! Didn't you _not_ make it this far last year?! I heard that you got caught out by one of these little _clauses_ and got knocked out in the third round!"

"What, are you trying to psych me out?! It's not gonna work on _me_!" Tyson challenged, holding a PokéBall aloft. "Metagross, return!" he snapped, and Metagross disappeared in a haze of red light and was recalled to the confines of its ball. "I hope you weren't expecting me to pick an easy Pokémon as my last resort!" he laughed, switching his fallen Pokémon's PokéBall for another one; a blue ball with a yellow X-shape running outwards from the central button. "I think you've got a Pokémon that might one day turn into him, too!"

"Oh yeah, who?" Ash asked blankly.

"You'll see!" Tyson shouted, shifting the Quick Ball in his hands before lobbing it high. "We're at the business end of this battle, so let's turn up the heat! I'm calling on ya, Infernape!"

"_Infernape?!_" Dawn shouted, cringing in her seat as the blue PokéBall burst open in mid-air, a white figure of light forming on the field in front of Tyson. The light condensed and dimmed from top to bottom, and the first thing that the crowd saw was a wavering crown of red flames, reaching at least four feet above the rest of the Pokémon's body. As the rest of the light disappeared, the Pokémon's entire figure was revealed. Two dark blue hands, clenched into fists, beating against a snow-white chest framed by two golden swirls of fur. A long, clay-coloured, whip-like tail that swung back and forth behind the Pokémon's wiry body. Golden plates adorning its shoulders, knees and wrists, all glinting in the firelight of the crown perched atop its head. A pair of small, sapphire-blue eyes, looking out from under a crimson brow, and a large pair of red-and-blue ears poking out from either side of the Pokémon's snowy, simian face.

"And Tyson's final Pokémon in this battle is an Infernape!" shrieked Shannon, having been so caught up in the action that she hadn't even been able to commentate until now. "This certainly looks like an exciting final showdown between our two rivalling Trainers; it's an all-Fire-type battle! So let's watch Cyndaquil and Infernape clash for glory, because only one of them can stay standing at the end!"

"_Fer fernape!_" howled Infernape proudly, opening its mouth wide and showing a pair of razor fangs hanging from its upper jaw. Ash flinched at the sight of the Pokémon; he had seen its kind only once before – in Alamos Town – but had never battled one, and to him the Pokémon was the image of fitness and Pokémon battling; everything about it screamed agility and power. Making sure not to enter this sudden-death battle underhanded, Ash quickly retrieved his Pokédex and pointed it at Infernape, who was busy bouncing up and down on the balls of its five-toed feet.

_Infernape, the Flame Pokémon, the final evolutionary stage of Chimchar and Monferno. The crown of fire atop its head can never be extinguished, and the height of the flames is indicative of its nature and level of aggression towards its foe,_ buzzed the Pokédex._ It uses a special kind of martial arts that makes full use of all its limbs, including its tail, and it is beaten by none in terms of physical speed and agility._

"Martial arts… Fire-Fighting type, then…" Ash murmured, stowing the device back into his pants pocket. "This is gonna be a tough battle, so I'd better make full use of my first move and take it by surprise! Cyndaquil, Rollout attack!" he roared.

"_Da!_" squeaked the Fire Mouse Pokémon, skipping once on the spot before tucking itself into another ball, although this time its flame was put out, leaving Cyndaquil bare as it kicked up a cloud of dust, shooting across the ground towards the newly-summoned Infernape.

"Infernape, kick it away," Tyson ordered his Pokémon, pointing lazily at the rolling Cyndaquil as it sped closer to his own Fire-type. Infernape's mouth curled into a wicked smirk, and it lashed out at blinding speed with its extended leg that sparked with flames, striking its foe and sending it spinning away. Cyndaquil wheezed from the impact of the blow, having been hit squarely in the stomach by Infernape's foot, but it continued to roll in a straight line as it kept up its Rollout attack, slipping away from the field and weaving through one of the trenches gouged out in the arena.

"Are you alright, Cyndaquil?! Use the curves in the trench to launch yourself back onto the battlefield, and try Infernape again!" Ash commanded, his eyes tracking his Pokémon's progress through the half-pipe. _Hmm… those trenches… _he thought shrewdly, watching as Cyndaquil rolled past Metagross' knockout-crater. _They look like pipes for a snowboard circuit… and that hole could be useful later on…_

"Infernape, Fire Spin! Flush Cyndaquil out of that trench!" screeched Tyson, pointing at the wide tunnel that Cyndaquil was speeding along.

"_Infern!_" roared the Flame Pokémon, puffing out its cheeks as the crown of fire atop its head swelled, doubling in size almost instantly. Clenching its fist in front of its body, Infernape leant forwards and blew an intense jet of spiralling orange flames from its maw, blasting the crowd with searing air as it sped towards Cyndaquil, a tiny blue ball in the face of the massive wave of fire.

"Use the slope to outrace it, Cyndaquil! Turn your flames back on!" Ash shouted hurriedly, sweating in the overwhelming heat as Infernape's attack homed in on his Pokémon. Cyndaquil continued to race along the wide tunnel, and before long its rolling figure was covered in the yellow-red flames that spewed from its back. The small fireball sped through the tunnel, swinging from side to side, as the huge spear of fire gained ground, bearing down with all the force of Infernape's pent-up energy and power.

"It was a bad idea having your Cyndaquil scamper away in a _bullet-straight_ trench!" Tyson jeered. "He's got nowhere to run, so now it's only a matter of—!" he was cut off mid-sentence by his dropping jaw, because Cyndaquil – only moments away from being overcome by the Fire Spin – suddenly jerked in mid-roll and was launched sideways, skimming over the lip of the trench and charging across the field. "How—?!" he spluttered, his eyes swivelling to stare at Ash, who immediately knew that Cyndaquil had struck one of the deep lines in the trench caused by his Swellow's Steel Wing.

"Cyndaquil, power your Rollout up for Flame Wheel!" he roared, and Cyndaquil responded immediately, picking up speed as the flames covering its body flared and bulged, so that the Pokémon was completely hidden behind a raging boulder of searing fire. Cyndaquil seamlessly swung itself around in a half-circle and accelerated once more, ploughing through the arena with a huge tail of dust as it headed for Infernape, whose blue eyes narrowed as its fingers twitched expectantly.

"Fire a Grass Knot at Cyndaquil to slow it down, then knock it flying with Iron Tail!" Tyson bellowed.

"_Fer…nape!_" Infernape growled, digging its fur-laden hands into the ground in front of it, seeming to ignore Cyndaquil's offensive as the latter moved in. But the next moment, two huge veins of green grass shot out from the corners the battlefield, whipping through the air and fastening themselves around each other, the centre of the knot lying ten feet in front of Infernape, just as the monkey's long tail shone a fierce white. Cyndaquil charged on regardless, its flaming body thudding into the Grass Knot, and for a moment the thick green rope managed to subdue the Pokémon's relentless force, before withering in the heat of the Flame Wheel and crumbling to dust as Cyndaquil tore through it.

But on the other side of the obstacle, Infernape was waiting for its foe, tail perfectly poised to strike. As Cyndaquil sped ever closer, its foe felt the first cinder of heat reach across from the Flame Wheel and touch it on the face, and like lightning the Flame Pokémon dipped to the left, using its hands to flip itself around in a half-somersault, and with a howling screech it swept its shining tail around in one fluid motion, smashing into Cyndaquil's flaming body with the sound of a sonic wave. Infernape hissed with pain as it felt its foe's searing hide connect with its tail, but Cyndaquil was flung sideways instead of backwards, landing on its head and panting with exertion as the flames on its back flickered and died.

"Wow! That was an intense passage of play on _both_ sides of the field!" Shannon shouted excitedly. "First we had Cyndaquil's deceptive power and agility with a Rollout and Flame Wheel combination, but Infernape was more than up to the task, countering the offensive with a Fire Spin – that we could all feel in the _stands!_ – and _then_ with a defensive Grass Knot followed by Iron Tail! Ash and Tyson really want to beat each other badly, and their Pokémon are pulling out _all_ the stops to get the win! Speaking of which, Cyndaquil seems to be having trouble _getting_ itself back on its feet!" she added with a giggle, watching Cyndaquil's legs flail weakly in the air.

"Cyndaquil, get up!" Ash shouted worriedly, edging forwards in his box. Cyndaquil shifted its weight backwards and flopped to the floor, hastily picking itself back up and onto its hind legs, which earned it a chorus of cheers from the fans in the stands. "You still good to go?"

"_Quiil!_" yelped Cyndaquil vehemently, its back-flames rearing up again defiantly as though it was offended by the question.

"Alright, alright," Ash laughed, sheepishly scratching the back of his head, "use Flamethrower, then!" The fire on Cyndaquil's back rose up in response to its Trainer's command, and a moment later Cyndaquil opened its small mouth and blasted a thick stream of flames, identical to those on its back, towards Infernape, who performed an agile sideways roll to avoid the attack.

"Infernape, close in for Close Combat!" Tyson shouted, unfazed as Cyndaquil's Flamethrower sailed harmlessly past his left shoulder. Infernape flexed its fingers savagely, a crooked smile passing briefly over its face, before it gave a roaring battle cry and pounced forwards with its arms outstretched, its fiery crown making it look like a blurred, flaming arrow as it surged across the battlefield quicker than Ash had time to order a counter-attack. Cyndaquil didn't even have time to blink before Infernape knocked all the wind out of its tiny body with a swinging left kick to the stomach, sending it arcing across the sky.

But the Fighting-type wasn't close to finished, and it speedily leapt after its prey, skidding its blue feet along the ground before striking again, this time with a vicious karate chop over Cyndaquil's long nose. Cyndaquil shrieked in pain as the force of the blow sent it crashing back into the battlefield with a cloud of dust, and after the dust cleared it tottered feebly to its feet, the bruise of Infernape's kick already forming on its front as the latter bounded forwards for a third time, both fists clenched together for what was undoubtedly its finishing move.

"_Cyn…da…quiiiiiiiiiiiiil!_" roared the Fire Mouse Pokémon, the flames on its back exploding with fierce orange light and Infernape, whose hands were knotted together, was instantly blinded by the brilliance of it. Cyndaquil threw itself vainly to the left, and Infernape sightlessly brought its fists down on the ground, its mind filling with rage as it felt the hard arena's surface shatter beneath them. Furiously blinking its sapphire eyes, the monkey Pokémon whipped its head around to see Cyndaquil standing tall despite the ruby-red marks on its stomach and face. Its tiny hands were curled up into fists, and the flames on its back burning more strongly than ever, the tips of the fire reaching several feet into the air, giving the illusion that Cyndaquil was more fire than Pokémon.

"What's happened to Cyndaquil?!" Ash wondered aloud, his eyes flicking between the two Pokémon on the field. He was dimly aware that the crowd was silent, and both he and Tyson allowed their eyes to wander for a split-second as he heard a familiar, childish voice call out from the stands.

"Ash, Cyndaquil's special ability! It's using Blaze!" Max shouted at the top of his voice, cupping his hands over his mouth and jumping up and down in his seat.

"Blaze, of course!" Ash said to himself. He gave a quick thumbs-up to Max, before clenching his fist and turning back to face Cyndaquil, a plan already forming in his mind as he did so. "Cyndaquil, use Flamethrower on Infernape! Push it backwards!" he roared. Cyndaquil launched a jet of searing white flames from its open maw, and Infernape winced as the enormous temperatures blew past it, throwing its arms protectively across its face as it retreated backwards, much to Tyson's chagrin.

"Infernape, fight back with your Fire Spin!" he commanded his Pokémon, but Infernape was in too much distress to even think about attacking; all it could do was back away from the amazing power that its undersized foe was volleying against it. "Infernape! _Infernape!_"

"Just a little more, Cyndaquil!" Ash yelled supportively, watching fiercely as Infernape took five more steps backwards, towards the one spot in the arena he needed it to be; the large crater that Metagross' fall had created when Cyndaquil's Eruption had knocked it out earlier in the match. His spirits soared inside of him as he saw Tyson's Pokémon take the first step over the rim of the crater, its frenzied eyes darting to the ground as it saw the trap it was being led into. "Now, Cyndaquil, keep up the Flamethrower, and use Rollout around the rim of the crater! Fence Infernape inside a circle of flames!"

"_Daaaaa!_" shrieked Cyndaquil, curling itself into a massive ball of fire, whilst the enormous sheath of white flames continued to hold Infernape back. As Cyndaquil shot across the arena and reached the edge of the crater, a towering spire of flame reached into the sky from the point where Cyndaquil had touched, pushing Infernape even further back; the intensity of the flames was extraordinary. The Flame Pokémon tried to turn and jump out the other side, but it was still being restrained by Cyndaquil's Flamethrower even as the latter continued its blazing circle, and soon it was helpless to do anything but stand still as it was surrounded on all sides by a raging inferno of a prison.

"Infernape, no!" Tyson screamed, his eyes wide and fearful.

"Cyndaquil, Eruption!" Ash bellowed, pointing to the sky. Cyndaquil stopped its Rollout and fired a second jet of white flame, this time aiming straight at the ground, and it propelled itself high into the air, reaching even over the towering tops of its Flamethrower-ring. Infernape saw a small shadow pass over its simian face for the briefest of moments, and its head snapped upwards to see Cyndaquil, as if in slow motion, reach the spot directly over its head and open its mouth wide.

"_QUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLLL!_"

A colossal beam of red-green flames, as wide as the crater itself, was blasted out of Cyndaquil's mouth and spiralled downwards, consuming the entirety of the flame-ring and jetting outwards as it hit the ground, like a twelve-pointed star with Infernape at the centre of it all. There was a sound like massing thunder, and the next moment an enormous explosion rocked the stadium to its foundations as the entire arena was covered in a thick blanket of smoke, dust and debris from the force of Cyndaquil's Eruption.

"_Cyndaquil_!"

"_Infernape_!"

"Wh-Wh-What just happened?!" asked Shannon shakily, tightly clutching her microphone and staring – along with ten thousand other pairs of eyes in the stands, and two pairs on the stadium floor itself – at the scorched space in the middle of the battlefield, where a charred Pokémon's figure was lying face-down on the battlefield, as the other Pokémon stood only feet away, supporting its failing legs with a tiny, cream-coloured front paw.

"Cyndaquil?! Y-You're okay!" Ash stuttered, his voice filling with joy as he said the last two words. Cyndaquil wheezed a weak noise of happiness in reply, but, on the other side of the stadium, Tyson was staring, flabbergasted, at his Infernape, who was weakly twitching on the ground as though trying to stand up.

"Infernape! You can do it, buddy; I know you can! Come on, get up!" he pleaded desperately. Infernape's long arms shook wildly, before it clenched its fists together and crashed them on the ground, struggling onto all fours with agonising effort.

"One!" shouted Wesley. Infernape's dull blue eyes sparked with fury as it tried to pull out the last reserves of its energy, all to stand on its two feet to continue the fight against Cyndaquil, who had proved itself a powerful foe. At that moment, the only thought going through Infernape's ailing mind was '_Get up and fight'_.

"Two!"

"_I…n…f…e…r…n…a—!_" hissed Infernape, but all at once, what was left of its strength left it, and it closed its eyes and fell forwards onto the ground, the flames on its head reduced to burning cinders in an instant.

"Three! Four! Five! Infernape is unable to battle! Victory goes to Cyndaquil! Ash Ketchum progresses to the fifth round!" declared Wesley, throwing his green flag high into the air, for the last time in the match. The crowd performed an eruption of its own as soon as he did, shouting and cheering and clapping and crying, whether out of jubilation for Ash's against-the-odds victory, admiration for Cyndaquil's brave spirit, or that their idol and favourite, Tyson, had just been eliminated from the world stage in extraordinary fashion. But there were no spectators that were as excited as the five people sitting in the third row from the front, particularly the lavender-haired girl who was holding an ecstatic Pikachu in her arms, screaming with joy at the top of her lungs as Ash walked onto the blackened battlefield towards Cyndaquil.

"Hey, Cyndaquil," Ash said smoothly, kneeling down next to his victorious Pokémon. "You can put your flames out now," he joked, and Cyndaquil nodded its head happily and extinguished its back-fire, hopping up and snuggling itself next to Ash's face. "I'm proud of you, too!" he laughed, rubbing Cyndaquil's head caringly before hoisting it onto his shoulder and looking over at Tyson, who had just recalled his unconscious Infernape and was clipping its PokéBall to his belt, a warm smile stretching from ear to ear. The smile was infectious, and Ash found himself grinning just as widely as he made his way to the centre circle, which was missing a large portion of it due to Cyndaquil's final attack.

"Congratulations, Ash," Tyson said formally, extending his hand to which Ash shook enthusiastically. "I threw my best at you, but your throw was better than mine was."

"Thunderbolts never strike the same place twice," Ash riddled, letting his hand fall to his side. "Now we're one and one," he added.

"Yeah, I guess we are, aren't we?" Tyson laughed, running a hand through his mahogany hair. "But like you said at the start of our match; history won't repeat itself. I'll be even stronger the next time we battle each other, whether tomorrow or in ten years, and—"

"—I'll be ready for you then," Ash finished, nodding his head knowingly. "So should you."

"Well until then, I hope your endeavours lead you to greater things than you've already achieved," Tyson said wisely, before turning away and walking towards his exit. After five or so steps, however, he stopped and turned back to Ash. "Oh, and Ash?"

"What is it, Tyson?" Ash asked blankly, while Cyndaquil looked on innocently from its perch.

"You haven't lost a battle yet in this tournament, and you'd better not start after now," he answered seriously, but he couldn't hide the smirk on his face. "I don't want to lose to anyone other than the World Champion. It's bad for my reputation, you hear?"

Ash laughed heartily at the notion. "Right, I'll be sure to win. Just for your _reputation_," he added mockingly, to which Tyson smirked even wider.

"Good to know," he added, before turning back to the gates and walking out of the stadium, passing the camera-crew already rushing onto the field for the post-match interview. "He's all yours."

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Pikachu is the only Pokémon in this chapter to use a non-offensive attack, Agility; Metagross, Infernape, Buizel and Cyndaquil all used damage-dealing moves.**

***In "The Rise Of Darkrai", **_**Brock**_** is the one who battles the Infernape, whilst Ash's Pikachu battles a Torterra.**

**Quiz:**

***Of the three abilities unique to starter Pokémon, only one was not activated over the course of the battle. Which is the only one of Ash's Pokémon **_**still purely in his possession**_** that has this ability?**


	64. An Adverse Reaction

**CHAPTER 64 – AN ADVERSE REACTION**

"Ash, I think Pikachu wants to be down there with you for the interview!" Anabel shouted, the yellow Pokémon waving at Ash from his perch on her shoulder. Ash looked around from his stance in the battlefield's centre and smiled, walking over to the boundary wall where they were standing. "And Cyndaquil looks like he wants someone else to talk to," she added sweetly, winking at the Fire Mouse Pokémon, and Cyndaquil gave a happy squeak as Pikachu hopped down into Ash's outstretched arms.

"Hiya, buddy. Sleep well?" he laughed, and Pikachu nodded before jumping onto Ash's free shoulder, tapping Cyndaquil's back with his lightning-shaped tail.

"Mr. Ketchum! A word, please?!" called a female voice behind him. Ash turned around and saw the trio of news reporters waiting impatiently for their interview, the diminutive cameraman fixing his hair.

"I'll see you outside the stadium, okay?" Anabel said, reaching an arm down towards him. Ash grasped it warmly for a moment, smiling foolishly, before it fell back to his side as he strolled over to join the news team. As he walked closer, he saw a familiar group of faces looking back at him. The interviewer - he could tell by the large microphone at hand – was a tall woman with a large curl of red-purple hair that curved down to her lower back, and a large pair of round, black spectacles over her blue eyes. She was dressed in a white collared shirt underneath a rose-pink jacket, a short black dress with matching shoes, and a set of blood-red stockings.

"It's good to see you again, twe—I mean, Mr. Ketchum!" she said brightly, formally extending her hand to Ash, who shook it briefly. "It's Jessalina, remember?"

"Jessalina…" Ash repeated, turning his attention to the larger of the two men to her left. He wore glasses, too, but unlike Jessalina's they were small and golden, which were framed by a sheet of pale blue hair that ran past his ears, and there was a straw hat atop his head. The man was dressed a little more lucratively than his companion, with a two-toned caramel jacket over a long-sleeved lavender shirt, although his blue jeans seemed to match the whole outfit in Ash's opinion. "And… you're… Jameson, right?"

"That's me!" he said assertively, adjusting his glasses.

"Yeah, I saw you guys at Alamos Town and the Wallace Cup, way back in Sinnoh…" Ash murmured, his mind flickering back to the events of those two places briefly. "I didn't know you were covering the Championships as well!" he added with a smile.

"Yeah, well, we always like ta go where da news is willing ta take us!" said the cameraman, squinting up at Ash despite wearing thick sunglasses of his own. Like Jameson, he also wore a hat, although it was green rather than light, and he had a thick bush of dull brown hair that clashed with the green scarf around his neck. "So whaddaya say we get dis interview on da road, Jessalina? Dis camera's gonna give me a hernia!" he complained, pushing the camera further across his shoulder.

"Absolutely. If you're ready, Ash?" Jameson suggested hurriedly, taking a step backwards so as to be out of the camera shot. "In three, two, one…"

"Good morning and welcome to Trainer Spotlight, coming at you _live_ from Stadium Two! I'm Jessalina, standing here with the newest addition to the Singles Division Top Sixty-Four, Ash Ketchum!" Jessalina said formally, shaking Ash's hand again. "Welcome back to the show, Ash! And welcome to your Cyndaquil and _Pikachu…_" she added, her eyes glinting at the mention of the latter.

"_Quil!_" yelped Cyndaquil, shyness forgotten as it waved at the camera.

"Well, tw—_Ash_, it certainly was another enthralling match that you and your opponent Tyson gave us," she continued. "I think I speak for all of us when I say you're emerging as a favourite for the title!"

"Really? _All of us_?!" Ash said humbly, the crowd laughing as they saw his cheeks turn red with modesty. "I—I'm just doing the best I can, really…"

"Well your best has just dispatched a previous Hoenn region Champion…" Jessalina reminded him. "But I'm sure that you'll be eagerly looking forwards to your next match tomorrow, is that right?"

"I haven't even thought that far ahead yet!" Ash laughed, scratching his forehead. "I'm just happy to have pulled out the win. Even saying that, my Pokémon are the ones who should be happy—" he patted Cyndaquil and Pikachu lovingly on their heads, "they battled their hearts out."

"Yes, having seen you in the past, I can vouch for the strength of your Pikachu!" Jessalina agreed, but Ash missed the edge of resentment in her voice in the comment. "But as for the other Pokémon we can see—" she motioned towards Cyndaquil, whose head perked upwards happily, "that was quite the finishing move! I'm sure Tyson wasn't expecting such _power_ to come from such a small Pokémon!"

"_Cynda!_" huffed Cyndaquil, beating its chest with a paw before nearly losing its balance.

"A Pokémon like that would certainly be a valuable asset to _any _team!" she said greedily, before flicking her eyes back to the camera. "But anyways—how long has it taken the two of you to perfect that move? I don't recall seeing your Cyndaquil; at least not in Sinnoh anyways."

"Well to be honest, we didn't actually get _any_ time to train before this match," Ash admitted seriously. "There was—a lot of other things I had to deal with."

"Twerp thin—?" blurted Jameson, clapping a hand over his mouth. "I mean—carry on!" he rushed, because Ash was giving him a suspicious stare.

"I'm sure you don't want to be burdened here with any more questions, t—_Ash_," Jessalina interjected, silently cursing herself for a brief second, "so I'll finish by saying congratulations on your win, and we look forward to seeing you – and your _Pikachu_ – in the battles ahead!"

"Thanks, Jessalina," Ash grinned.

"And dat's a wrap!" chirped the cameraman, flicking the switch on his camera. "Cheers for da interview, twoip!"

"Huh?!" Ash exclaimed, his head snapping downwards to look at him. Pikachu tapped him lightly on the back of the neck with his tail, but he ignored it as he raised his eyebrows at the man.

"Thanks again for the interview, Mr. Ketchum!" Jessalina shouted, putting her hand out for the third time. Ash hesitantly shook it, still looking warily at the small cameraman, but the three reporters quickly about-faced and ran from the stadium, weaving between the haphazard holes and gouges in the ground on their way to the exit tunnel.

"What just happened?" Ash asked his two Pokémon blankly. Pikachu and Cyndaquil both shrugged their shoulders, not having much more of an idea than he himself did, and so he shrugged along with them and looked towards the tunnel he had walked out of after intermission. "What do you say we get out of here and meet up with Anabel and the others? Cyndaquil, you can rest up at the Pokémon Center for a bit, and then I'll come back for you, yeah?"

"_Quil quil!_" cheered the Fire-type, looking forward to the idea of a nice rest.

"Alright then, let's go!" Ash said brightly, and he and his Pokémon made their way to the tunnel at the near edge of the stadium, each one waving gratefully at the crowd as they cheered their favourites from the field.

* * *

Ash walked out of the stadium and into the open, where he was greeted by a welcoming flash of sunlight; the tunnels and walkways inside the stadium were dim compared to the bright light beaming down on him from the outside. Not that it mattered to him; he was through to the next stage of the Championships – thanks to his Pokémon – and that was all that mattered for the moment.

"Where do you think they are?" he asked Pikachu, having recalled Cyndaquil to its PokéBall on their way to the exit.

"_Pika…_" said Pikachu confusedly, looking this way and that for a sign of their friends. "_Pika-pi!_" he squeaked, pointing at a large huddle of people over to Ash's left. A bushy, brown-haired girl looked over towards his voice, and upon seeing them both, she shrieked and ran over to greet them.

"Congratulations, Ash!" May cheered. "Anabel and Max told us all about the battle; you guys were pretty incredible by the sound of it!" she added, to which Max gave Ash a knowing grin, and Anabel slipped her hand through Ash's.

"'_Us all_'?" Ash repeated, looking past May's shoulders to see the group of people walking up behind her. "Ah, right. How'd you two go in your battles?" he asked the two boys at the front.

"Both won, six-four," Leoric said proudly, shaking Ash's hand merrily. "So now, all three of us are in the top sixty-four! Five wins to the final, six to take the crown!"

"Wow, so that means that we're about halfway there, aren't we?" Ash asked, counting numbers off his fingers. "There were the two in the first round, one in the second, two in the third, and one just now—"

"Six battles down, six to go," Ari finished, nodding his head before turning to the others. "Who wants to go grab a bite to eat? We can talk about the battles while we walk," he suggested, to a round of enthusiastic nods and growling stomachs.

"Come on, then; I'm sure that the girls would like to do a bit of shopping, too. Give us guys some room," Leoric added in an undertone to Brock, who smirked. "On the way, we can drop our Pokémon off at the Pokémon Center; what do you think, Ash?"

"Didn't you do that after your match?" Ash asked curiously.

Leoric shook his head. "No, Misty said I should come straight here to see if we could catch the rest of your match," he answered, nodding his head at the orange-haired girl to his right. "Pity the battle was already over, though. I wanted to see that Cyndaquil of yours in action!" he laughed. "Speaking of the little tyke, we should probably get going, eh?"

"Yeah, you're right," Ash agreed, glancing over at Anabel. "Shall we?" he asked suavely, waving his hand towards the street. "You guys can tag along, too," he joked to the others from over his shoulder, walking off with Anabel across the pavement.

"Coming!" was the shouted reply from all of them, who ran forwards to keep up with the couple.

"So Tyson used his Infernape, did he?" Ari asked conversationally after several silent minutes, walking on Anabel's other side. "You've got a Chimchar, so did you use the same kind of attacks you would have against it?"

"Well, Chimchar was the only Fire-type I had in Sinnoh, so there wasn't much chance to try a Fire-versus-Fire tactic… I kind of made things up as I went!" Ash laughed. "But you heard about my battle; how'd yours go?"

"Some girl from France, I think… she had some pretty strong Pokémon with her. Pretty, too…" he added, laughing as Dawn scowled at him. "But yeah, my Cottnal took care of her Hitmonlee in the last round, and the rest is history, I suppose."

"Cottnal?" Dawn murmured, her hands holding Piplup against her chest.

"She's a Flaaffy; Electric-type. I'd bring her out now, but she's still pretty tired."

"Oh, right," she said, flashing him a smile. "What about _you_, Leoric?" she yelled to Leoric, who was walking a few feet in front of the foursome, flanked by Misty and May.

"Apache versus a Pidgeot. Piece of cake," he answered dismissively, not bothering to turn his head around. "This year's Australian Champion, too," he added drily. "Sooner or later the competition's gonna get really tough, and we've just got to rise to the challenge, no matter what it might be. Oh that reminds me—" he turned around to look at Ash and Ari, "Paul's through to the fifth round as well, just so you know," he told them, before turning back and walking down the street, where he could see the roof of the Pokémon Center peeking out from above the other buildings.

"Pikachu, do you need a nap, or are you fine to stay with me?" Ash asked his Pokémon, who answered by sparking electricity from his cheeks. "Okay then, with me it is," he chuckled, patting Pikachu's back as the group reached the double doors to the Pokémon Center. "How many of your Pokémon need to be healed?" he asked Ari and Leoric, who were busy fumbling with the PokéBalls at their waists.

"Four," muttered Leoric. "Apache's fine, and I didn't need to use my Luxray, Liger."

"Four. Dullahan was disqualified for accidentally injuring the referee—" Ari grimaced, "but Calli – my Magby – didn't have to see any battling, so she's fine," he finished, unclipping the third ball from his hip and holding it up to the light. It was a pure white PokéBall as opposed to the normal red-and-white style, and the grooves around the halves and capsule button were red. "It's called a Premier Ball. Made in Hoenn by the Devon Corporation. Anyways, you see that little marking?" he said, pointing to a lone scratch running up the top half of the PokéBall. "That tells me that the Pokémon is unevolved. Two markings means that it's evolved once, and three means it's evolved twice. Helps me remember which is which," he added with a sheepish smile.

"Can I see her?" Dawn asked excitedly, her eyes poring over the rare ball as she walked backwards to the counter.

"Maybe later," Ari said teasingly, putting the Premier Ball back on his belt. "Good morning, Nurse Joy," he said politely, smiling at the pink-haired woman standing behind the counter. "Umm… Shuckle, Flaaffy, Umbreon, and… Poliwhirl," he muttered, tipping each PokéBall onto a tray on the counter as he recited their inhabitants' names. "Leo!" he barked, turning his head to his friend, who was still struggling to hold his PokéBalls in place as he stumbled to the counter.

"Yeah, yeah!" Leoric said irritably, stepping forwards. "Let's see, I've got a Nuzleaf, Slaking, Vibrava, and Huntail," he grunted, placing the balls on the tray in front of him. "Cheers," he added, as a Chansey appeared at Nurse Joy's side and took the two trays into the room behind the counter.

"My turn? Okay," Ash said, taking his PokéBalls from his belt. "Cyndaquil, Swellow, Buizel, Heracross, and Bayleef…" he chanted, dropping them onto a third tray just as Chansey reappeared from the rear door.

"Okay, we'll take good care of your Pokémon for you!" chirped Nurse Joy, with her family's trademark smile. "Come back in an hour or so, and they'll be a treat!"

"Speaking of treats, how about I treat _you_ to a lovely romantic dinner this evening?" Brock declared, throwing himself between Ari and Ash and leaning arrogantly on the counter, snatching at Joy's hands and holding them in his. Ash shook his head and waited for Brock to get dragged – or Jabbed – away, but to his amazement Brock continued his advance on Joy. Looking around, he saw that Croagunk, Max _and_ Misty were all vying to be the one to snap Brock to his senses, but somehow they had all ended up squabbling between themselves.

"—beautiful and romantic restaurant would be something to match the beauty that you possess!" Brock was rambling, while Joy looked on at a loss to what was happening. "I'd be nothing short of hon—"

"—I think what Brock _means_, Miss Joy," Leoric interrupted, pulling Brock away from her and putting an arm around his shoulder, "is that my friend here would like to take you out to dinner tonight. He's a Pokémon Breeder, you know," he added devilishly, whilst Croagunk groaned at being restrained by the efforts of Misty and Max, whose jaws dropped.

"Well, I'm certainly flattered—" Joy replied, blushing slightly as she fixed her curly hair, "but all the Trainers need their Pokémon in tip-top condition for the Championships! Maybe once the tournament is over, Brock?" she offered.

"Absolutely!" Brock said, literally jumping at the chance as he grabbed Joy's hand again. "I'll be counting the seconds until I'm pleasured with your presence again—!" he proclaimed, but he was mercifully cut down by Croagunk's Poison Jab, the small blue Pokémon finally breaking away from his oppressors. "What's…your…number…?" he rasped weakly, being dragged away by his Poison-type.

"Your friend certainly is sweet," Joy giggled, her eyes following Brock as he was taken away. Leoric smirked and nodded his head as if to say 'yeah, he's a real charmer'. Ash, May and Dawn, on the other hand, exchanged stunned looks with each other. "Well, I'd best be off; plenty of Pokémon to tend to!" she added hurriedly, her cheeks still a slight tinge of pink as she and her Chansey backed into the medical room behind the counter.

"…What just happened…?" Ash managed to ask, once they were all outside the building.

"I'll tell you what just happened!" Brock shouted, leaping to his feet and brandishing his fist triumphantly. "I just got a date with Nurse Joy! Finally, all my efforts are coming to fruition!"

"What's he going on about?" Ari asked Dawn. "_His_ _efforts coming to fruition_?"

"It's a _very_ long story," Ash answered, shaking his head as he watched Brock whoop with celebration. "Brock, calm down!" he shouted, rushing over to stop his friend from making a bigger scene than he already was, where he was quickly assisted by Misty, May and Leoric.

"Brock, seriously—!"

"—stop being such an idiot—!"

"—grab his legs so he can't jump around anymore—!"

"_Croooooaaaa—!_"

"While they're all occupied," Dawn whispered to Ari, "can you _please_ show me your Magby?" she asked, winking sweetly at him. "Me and Piplup really wanna see her!"

"_Pip lup!_" chirped the Penguin Pokémon, waving her fins about.

"Righto then," Ari chortled, unclipping the Premier Ball from his belt. "Come on, Calli, I want to introduce you to a couple of people," he said, opening the ball in his hand.

A mass of white light spilled out of the PokéBall and onto the ground, forming into a small, human-shaped figure as the light faded to red. Ari's Magby had several hair-like lumps on top of her head, which partially hid her bright, obsidian-coloured eyes. She had a duck-like mouth, and her neck was a shining black ring that separated her head from the rest of her body. Touching the base of this ring was the crest of a yellow, flame-shaped spot on her stomach, and on the other side of her body was a single, tiny spike branching from her back. Calli's stubby arms each ended in three pointed claws – her feet only ended in two – and her slick red tail swung behind her like a lizard's.

"Calli—" Ari knelt beside the baby Pokémon on the ground and tilted her head towards Dawn; "this is Dawn and Piplup. Say hello."

"_Bu!_" hooted the Magby, a tiny flame spurting from her mouth. Piplup jumped out of Dawn's grasp and waddled over to the Fire-type, who was standing at the same height. "_Bu…?"_

"_Pip! Piplup!_" chirped Piplup, holding out a fin. Calli tentatively put out a hand, and the two tiny Pokémon shook hands.

"Aw, that's so cute!" May said, her eyes shining as she and Max walked over. Ari glanced around and saw Brock lying in a crumpled heap on the floor, with Croagunk squatting next to him contentedly, so he tickled Calli under the chin and lifted her up. "So you've got a Magmortar and a Magby, eh? What about a Magmar?" she inquired.

"Nope, just Colenzo and Calli…" Ari answered happily, but just then his stomach gave a huge lurch. "Man, I'm so hungry… I didn't have breakfast this morning—"

"Don't say breakfast—!" Ash whined, his stomach rumbling as he caught his breath from calming Brock down.

"Breakfast? Why didn't you say so?!" called a female voice behind him.

Ash and Ari both turned their heads to see three people wheeling a large vendor cart towards them. As they came closer, Ash saw that it was filled with a large selection of pastries –ranging from croissants to apple pies – along one row, and the second row was lined with jars of spreads, including jams, butter, bean dip, and even a strange black one called Vegemite.

"Oh man, I died and went to heaven…" Ash said dreamily, his eyes and mouth watering at the intoxicating smell of the food.

"Hey, what's that smell?" Brock asked curiously, having recovered from his Poison Jab. "Ooh, a breakfast stall!" he shouted, running over to stand in front of it. "You guys could really make a fortune selling all this food at this time of day!" he added to the crimson-haired woman standing to the side.

"Yes, it _is_ one of our better ideas," said the blue-haired man leaning on the cart. "And you Trainers all look so famished… so please, help yourself to whatever it is you want! Half price!"

"Wow, thanks!" Ash exclaimed, not hesitating to snatch an apple strudel that had been attracting his attention. "Cm on geiz… its delishish!" he managed to say through a mouthful of pastry. The others looked at each other briefly, but then quickly moved forwards and took what they wanted, save for Ari, who was tending to his Magby since she had slipped onto the ground.

"Hey, Pikachu—" Ash swallowed his food and held up a piece of strudel to his Pokémon, "want some?"

"_Pika…_" Pikachu shook his head, pointing towards a large red bottle at the side of the cart with a love-struck look in his eyes.

"Pikachu, ketchup doesn't go with apples!" Ash laughed, watching as Ari fed his Magby a tiny piece of baklava that Dawn had handed to him. "Hey, can my Pikachu have some of your ketchup?" he asked the vendors.

"Absolutely! In fact, he can have da whole bottle!" squeaked the smallest of the salespeople, a sharp-faced man with a red cap and matching jacket. "Here ya go, Pikachu!" he said cheerfully, holding the bottle up to the mouse Pokémon.

"_Pikachu!_" cheered Pikachu, unscrewing the top and tipping the bottle towards his face. But instead of ketchup, a large, pink bubble fell out of the bottle and swallowed Pikachu whole. "_Pika?! Piikaachuuuuuuuu!_" he growled, instinctively blasting the bubble with a Thunderbolt, but the cage held fast.

"Pikachu?!" Ash shouted, but all of a sudden Pikachu was gone with the flash of glass. "What—?!" A peal of evil laughter reached his ears, and he whipped his head around to see the three breakfast salesman standing victoriously behind their stall, Pikachu imprisoned within a glass shell being held by the smallest of them. "What do you think you're doing?!" he roared.

"Listen, did I just hear a stomach groan?" cackled the woman.

"It just got replaced by a despairing moan!" the blue-haired man sneered.

"The food is good…"

"We're just so bad…"

"The worst you've known!" hissed the small man holding Pikachu.

"We'll fill your bellies at a breakneck pace!"

"Then leave a _different_ emptiness in its place!"

"Jessie!" she said, ripping off her outfit. In its place was a short white shirt emblazoned with a scarlet 'R' and a matching skirt, while the blue-haired man tore away his clothes to reveal the same 'R' imprinted on his shirt.

"James!"

"And Meowth, now dat's a name!" said the last person, who revealed himself to be a feline Pokémon.

"First we knead the dough…"

"We're Team Rocket!"

"…and now we go!" they shouted, and in an instant their cart collapsed into a large green basket, with an enormous Meowth-like balloon spiralling above their heads.

"_Wobbuffet!_" rasped a large blue Pokémon, appearing at Jessie's side as Team Rocket escaped into the sky.

"_Mime!_" said James' tiny pink Pokémon.

"Team Rocket!" chorused Ash and his friends.

"Give me back my Pikachu!" Ash shrieked, reaching for his belt. His fingers brushed through the empty air, and with a pang he realised that all his PokéBalls were still at the Pokémon Center with Nurse Joy.

"Who _are_ those guys?!" Ari shouted, running over to join them, Dawn at his side and Calli in his arms. "Wait a minute… they're those Team Rocket grunts who stole Pikachu before, aren't they?!" he demanded, his hand reaching for a PokéBall at his waist as he lowered Calli to the ground.

"Yeah, but Ari—" Leoric said warningly, but Ari had already taken the ball from his belt.

"_Give that Pikachu back now, Team Rocket! Do it now or I will bring you down and pry Pikachu from your lifeless fingers!"_ he bellowed, his voice sending shivers down Ash's spine as it echoed upwards to Team Rocket in their balloon. Meowth heard the voice first because of his keen hearing, and he looked over the side of the balloon to see Ari's minute figure pointing up at him.

"Guys, it's dat Ari twoip! The one dat hates us Rockets!" Meowth squeaked fearfully. James and Jessie swore and rushed over to see for themselves, but their motion rocked the balloon and swung Pikachu's container out of Meowth's hands, plummeting towards the ground below. "_Now_ look wot yous've done!"

"Pikachu!" Ash shouted, running forwards to catch his falling Pokémon. "Don't worry, buddy, I've got you—! _Ah—!_" He dived forwards and caught Pikachu's cage in the tips of his fingers, grazing his face on the concrete while trying to keep his Pokémon from smashing onto the ground. Softly setting it down on the ground, he unscrewed the lid and watched with joyous relief as Pikachu bounded out of the container and into his chest, hugging each other and grinning from ear to ear.

"_Dullahan, go!_" Ari snarled, hurling his PokéBall high into the air. His Garchomp soared out of the ball in a flash of light and roared as it awaited an order from its Trainer. "_Dullahan, use Hyper Beam! Destroy that balloon and everyone in it!"_ he commanded, watching savagely as Garchomp gathered an enormous ball of orange energy in front of its mouth, clawed wings spread wide. The three Rockets scrambled inside their balloon, but there was nothing they could do to stop the Hyper Beam as Garchomp launched it towards them, bearing down on them as straight as a laser beam.

"_Wobba!_" croaked Wobbuffet, seeming to salute the attack, but it was really launching a Mirror Coat to deflect the blast. A pale bubble-like shield appeared around Wobbuffet, and it managed to dissipate some of the beam back into itself, but the rest pushed on mercilessly and tore the balloon to smithereens, catapulting the criminals high into the air.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" they all wailed, flying away until they were nothing more than a bright sparkle in the morning sky.

"Damn, their Wobbuffet got in the way," Ari muttered irately, recalling his Garchomp to its PokéBall and turning away in disgust. Unbeknownst to him, a purple-haired boy watched from the shadows of the Pokémon Center and smirked, uncrossing his arms and stalking away down the alleyway, but not before he laughed knowingly at the display.

"Thanks for getting rid of Team Rocket, Ari," Ash said gratefully, holding out his hand for Ari to shake.

Ari looked down at Ash's hand, but made no effort to return the gesture, instead looking away. "If I _had_ gotten rid of them…" he growled murderously, and Ash's hand fell to his side in confusion.

"Look, Pikachu's back, we're all fine, Team Rocket's gone… stop being so down, yeah?" he suggested, raising an eyebrow at the boy.

"They'll be back. They're like a plague; they need to be eradicated before they can spread their disease," he hissed venomously, and Ash took a step backwards at the anger in his voice.

"Intervention!" cried Leoric and Anabel, running forward and grabbing Ari under the armpits, dragging him away. Ash, Dawn and May all looked worriedly at Ari's back as he was led off, and they turned to face Brock, Misty and Max.

"What was _that_ all about?!" Ash asked, offended by Ari's behaviour towards him.

"You remember when you woke up in the department store after the fire?" Misty reminded him. "Leoric said that Ari hated Team Rocket, like a lot more than we hate them. He said that Ari "_seems to make it his mission to teach every last one of them a lesson_"…"

"So you're saying that Ari just had his Garchomp launch a Hyper Beam at them purely for being Rockets?!" May shouted.

"Hey, would you hate Rockets on sight if they killed Ash?!" Dawn argued. "Remember, they got Tina when she and Ari were in the Ice Path! If that happened to you with one of your best friends, wouldn't you harbour a grudge?!"

Brock listened and considered both sides of the argument, before finally saying, "I think it's safe to say that Ari at least hates Team Rocket as much as we do. He's got different reasons to hold a grudge than we do; I'm sure that any one of us would be looking for revenge if one of us died in similar circumstances."

"Yeah, I see your point," May caved, looking over at Leoric, who seemed to be yelling at Ari. _I'd sure be out for revenge if that happened to Max… or Leoric…_

* * *

"—Intervention!" cried Anabel and Leoric, rushing forwards towards Ari and snatching at him from under the armpits.

"You need a time out, man," Leoric whispered, he and Anabel directing him towards a quiet spot out of the others' earshot. "Ari, don't get so riled up about this shit, yeah?"

"Mind your language—" Anabel slapped him in the arm, "but he _is_ right, Ari… I know that Team Rocket aren't the most pleasant people around—"

"They're the _least_ pleasant," Ari fired stubbornly, before being silenced by a punch from Leoric. "_Ow!_"

"Don't interrupt. You don't want to get so psychotic just because of a Rocket here and there. Remember what happened to that guy in Saffron City? It took him four months to get out of hospital, all because you lost your cool."

"I know!" Ari groaned, looking away. "Look, that was a mistake on my part, but those guys are real _criminals_!"

"And you're lowering yourself to their level by taking out your revenge on them!" Leoric said coldly. "Do you want to end up like Paul?! Do you want to hunt down every Rocket alive, just like he hunts Galactics?! All because you won't forgive yourself; all because you hold his father responsible, just like he holds _your_ dad responsible for his mother!"

"He's lying!" Ari roared. "My dad would _never_ hurt _anyone_! You know that, Leo!"

"No I don't! _You_ don't either! You've never met him; you don't even know who he _is_! You don't know his _name_—!" Leoric yelled, but he broke off and spread his hands wide, feeling that the conversation was drifting too far away from the real issue. "That's not my point; my point is that you can't go around hurting people because of some obscure connection they don't even have with the guy who killed Tina."

"If not for yourself, at least for Dawn," Anabel added, sincere concern in her lavender eyes. "Remember what happened the last time you lost your cool over Paul and Tina? I hate to admit it, but from what Delia told me, it almost split you guys up…"

"You would've had a great start to relationships," Leoric smirked. "Just one in fifteen years, and it only lasted a week!"

"Shut up," Ari frowned, but he relaxed his jaw and hung his head slightly. "I see your point, though…" he admitted, casting his eyes to the huddle still standing in front of the Center. "Come on, I think Calli's getting impatient with you two dragging me away," he grunted, shaking their hands away and walking back to his baby Pokémon.

* * *

"Look, guys…" Ari mumbled, holding Calli with one hand as she rested on his hat, "I—I just wanna say that I'm sorry for… well, y'know—losing my cool back there," he apologised, his eyes flicking from one person to the next, finally resting between Ash and Dawn; the former's mouth twitching as he considered the apology, the latter smiling sweetly back at him, her Piplup waving brightly at Calli from on top of her Trainer's own hat.

"No need to worry," she said warmly, stepping over to stand by his side. Piplup and Calli high-fived each other, and their Trainers focused their gazes on Ash, albeit for different reasons. "Right, Ash?" she pressed.

"Nah, I think that—ah, I'm just kidding!" Ash laughed, unable to keep a straight face any longer. "Of course it's alright! My Snorlax once knocked them over the horizon for stealing his food!" he reminisced, holding his hand out to Ari again, and this time the two shook.

"Thanks, Ash…"

"Thanks for getting Pikachu back, however you did it," Ash smiled, and Pikachu yapped contentedly from his spot on Ash's shoulder.

"Great, now that we've gone all mushy over here in the peanut gallery, how about we get outta here and do something worthwhile, like a little bit of shopping?" Leoric said in a bored voice, his hands on his head. "The girls can do whatever it is they do, and Brock can pick out something for his date with the Nurse next week—" he made an over-dramatic impression of a man checking his reflection in a mirror, "'_Will this shirt make me look too forward? I wonder if I should colour-coordinate my socks…'_ and such…" he joked, earning him a jab in the ribs from Misty.

"Don't be so demeaning about it," she tittered. "Brock's a very romantic kind of guy; he _should_ put a lot of thought into it. Would you put a lot of thought into your clothes when you go on a date with _me_?" she asked, pretending to be innocent.

"_If_ the occasion calls for it," he said half-heartedly. "But you'll have to remember that the last date we went on had me wearing just a baggy pair of trousers, and that quite literally got me into hot water," he laughed.

"Well '_just a baggy pair of trousers_' is just the way I like it," Misty said in honeyed tones, running a finger along his side and making Leoric blush ever so slightly.

"So—yeah, shopping sound good for you, too?" he asked the others, stepping away and looking around.

"Sounds good!" May, Anabel and Dawn cheered, whilst Brock nodded eagerly at the thought of trying out some flashy suits. Max shrugged his shoulders, and Ari, after some silent persuasion from Dawn, agreed to the idea and nodded his head.

"Ash, what about you?" Anabel asked, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"I think I'm gonna do some training," he replied, looking north towards the mountains towering over the skyline. "I've hardly been able to get any preparations in, not since before my first-round match! And the fifth round is gonna be hard, I can tell; I'll need to brush up with my Pokémon and make sure that we can handle whatever gets thrown at us!" he added confidently, pumping the air with his fist.

"_Pii pika!_" agreed Pikachu, a competitive look on his face.

"I'll catch up with you all later, if that's okay?" he said to his somewhat disappointed friends. "Anywhere we can all meet up in the afternoon?"

"Ari and I have our Tag Team battle at four o'clock," Leoric suggested, glancing at Ari as if for confirmation. "You can all watch the match from the front row, and catch up with everyone else while we're duking it out with our opponents."

"Which stadium, though?" Ash asked.

"It's the final eight, so it's going to be at the Igloo," Ari answered excitedly, his eyes lighting up with memories of the stadium. "If Leo and I win three more battles, we'll be the first duo to win back-to-back titles!"

"How did you _win_ that match last year, anyways?" Brock asked curiously. Leoric flashed him a mischievous smile and held his Salamence's PokéBall in his hand.

"Do you remember when we battled Mark at the southern harbour?" he said cheekily. "Apache and Ari's Galadriel used that same tactic in the final last year; it was our trump card. Actually, if your Pokémon hadn't distracted Galadriel that night, Rhyperior would've been out like a light quicker than you could flick a real one off…"

"I hope the two of you have another _trump card_ planned for this afternoon's match!" Anabel said happily, pinching Ari on the cheek. "Ash, does that sound alright?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah, right. Yeah, that sounds fine," Ash said, blinking foolishly. "Come on, Pikachu. Let's wait for Joy to finish up with our Pokémon. I'll, uh, see you all at the Igloo then!" he said cheerily to his friends, who all waved and smiled at him as he walked through the Pokémon Center's double doors. "And don't forget to save me a good seat!" he shouted as the doors closed behind him.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***All of Ari's Pokémon deposited at the Center can be found in the Johto region; likewise, Leoric's Pokémon come from Hoenn.**

***Although this is Team Rocket's second attempt to steal Pikachu, their motto (albeit an altered one) is only said here for the first time.**

**Quiz:**

***Before Croagunk made its way onto Brock's roster, who was responsible for incapacitating Brock if he fell in love with a girl?**


	65. Seventh Wheel, Summer Feel

**CHAPTER 65 – SEVENTH WHEEL, SUMMER FEEL**

Ash sat down on a fallen log lying across the scrubland, feeling the sun beating down on his skin from the highest point in the sky. Even after a week on Ayers Island, he still wasn't used to the tropical weather, and he could almost hear himself crackling in the heat of the day. But he'd made a promise to himself, to train his Pokémon for the afternoon so that he would finally be prepared for his next match, and so with a heavy sigh he picked himself up from his seat, Pikachu's ears drooping slightly in fatigue on his shoulder, and moved higher up the mountainside, hoping to catch a sparse patch of shade amongst the tall outcrops ahead.

"I'm amazed that… there aren't more Trainers… up here getting _their_ Pokémon… ready…" he panted, pushing his hands against his thighs as he worked his way up the landscape. "I mean… sixty-four is still a fair few people… and they'd all be super-tough like us…" he added with a groan of a laugh, his knees trembling. "Let's stop here—" he looked up and saw a small grove of trees close to his right, their long shadows fluttering temptingly, "on second thought… I can walk ten more steps…"

"_Piiiii…_" squeaked Pikachu, hopping down and scampering into the cool shade of the tall trees. "_Piikaa…_" he sighed contentedly, letting himself fall backwards onto the grassy ground.

"Don't get too comfortable, buddy," Ash said, squatting down next to him, "because we came up here to train, and train is what we're gonna do! Now I think we should get the whole team out here so we can work out how to do things—" he pulled five PokéBalls from his belt and tossed them lightly in his hand, "so… come on out, you guys!" he shouted, throwing them into the air.

"_Sceptile!_" hissed Ash's Forest Pokémon, standing away from the shade as the bulbs on his back glowed faintly with the intense sunlight. Next to Sceptile, a small red monkey appeared in a flash and hopped around on the spot, the flame on its rear dancing about and heating the air even more. Staravia cawed and ruffled its wings, glad to have a chance to stretch them at last, before wheeling around and settling on Sceptile's arm, which seemed to be a new roost for it. Before long, though, it was jerked away from its perch by a jet of water that came from Totodile, who laughed and clapped its tiny hands together in glee at the faces that the bird Pokémon made at it. Ash's final Pokémon landed with a loud thud that shook the ground all around it, and with an even louder thud Snorlax dropped itself down onto the ground and laid in the same position as Pikachu, giving out a huge yawn to the others.

"_Snor…_" rumbled the huge Pokémon, scratching its ear nonchalantly.

"Okay guys, we've got some work to do before our next match tomorrow!" Ash said authoritatively, standing straight and placing his hands on his hips. "Pikachu, get up and set a good example," he joked to his first Pokémon, who grinned and hopped to his feet, standing next to his fellows as they looked up – or in Snorlax's case, across – at Ash. "Now I did a little research at the Pokémon Center while I waited for Cyndaquil and the others to get healed, and I found out a bit about our next opponent."

"_To-to-to-to-to-to!_" growled Totodile, stamping a foot on the ground excitedly.

"Right. From what the local Nurse Joy told me, he goes by the name of '_Warbird'—_stop laughing, Pikachu—" he scolded, and Pikachu zipped his mouth shut,_ "—_and the region he comes from is actually a lot hotter than it is here in the Orange Islands—" he dabbed a hand at his temple to dry the sweat from it, "—so in my opinion, we should expect Pokémon that are used to heat; Fire-types, Pokémon that are used to desert conditions, and so on. Apparently, his main Pokémon is a Psychic-type as well, so that means ranged attacks and that irritating Psychic… so I'm gonna split you into two groups of three and have you go through some evasive tactics."

"_Pii pika!_" Pikachu shouted, moving towards Snorlax.

"Good thinking, Pikachu. Sceptile, you can go with Pikachu and Snorlax; I want to test our big boy's speed and agility," Ash grinned, and Sceptile dutifully joined the other two Pokémon, Staravia squawking in irritation and hopping down to stand next to Chimchar and Totodile. "Staravia, I want _you_ to fly past through this grove as often as you can—" he gestured along the long line of trees around him, "and dodge everything that comes your way. Now get going," he smiled.

"_Staravia!_" trilled the Flying-type, spreading its wings and soaring into the sky.

Ash followed its progress for a moment or so, then kneeled down and put a hand on both of his remaining Pokémon. "Chimchar, Totodile—" he glanced from one to the other, "I want you to aim your Ember and Water Gun attacks at Staravia whenever she makes a pass through the grove, okay? But be sure to tone them down so that you don't injure her; we don't want one of our fighters going in under-handed, do we?"

"_Chim!_" said Chimchar, giving Ash a polite salute, as Totodile vigorously nodded its head and jogged towards the trees, clawing its way up the nearest one. Ash patted Chimchar's head caringly and watched as the primate Pokémon swung itself up into the trees to join its teammate, then turned his attention to the other half of his roster, who were taking up positions on the open hillside.

"Okay, Pikachu, I want you to start out by using an Iron Tail on Snorlax! Snorlax, stop Pikachu from landing the hit, okay?!" he commanded, walking over to monitor them more closely. "Sceptile, jump in when one of them wins to stop the other from getting hurt," he advised, and Sceptile nodded his head, slowly chewing on the twig in his mouth as his eyes tracked Pikachu, who jumped into the air towards Snorlax with his tail shining bright.

"_Snorrrlaaaax!"_ growled the Sleeping Pokémon, shuffling on its feet and swinging its weight to the right, and Pikachu's Iron Tail grazed the side of its vast stomach on the way through. As Pikachu spun on the spot and readied his attack for the second time, a pair of slanted, shadowy eyes peered out from between a craggy rock and a leafy bush, watching as Pikachu launched himself at Snorlax again.

* * *

"Are all these clothes _really_ necessary?!" Leoric shouted, his complaint muffled by a mountain of folded shirts and pants piled upon his arms. "I'm never gonna wear all this anyways!"

"Well that's why _we're_ here to help decide which ones are the ones worth wearing!" Misty replied in a bubbly voice, throwing a cream buttoned shirt over Leoric's face. "Found anything else for Leo to try on, May?" she called over her shoulder, where May was busy rummaging through a turnstile of sleeveless tops.

"I'm still looking!" she yelled, her hands deftly flicking through the clothes. "Leoric, just go into the change rooms and try on what you feel like; Misty and I can tell you how you look in it," she added, looking up and smiling at Leoric, his head still hidden behind the shirt.

"_Fanks…_" he muttered, shaking his head wildly to drop the shirt away from his eyes. With a grin and a nod to Misty, he turned and walked through the doorway into the change rooms near the edge of the store, his blonde fringe disappearing behind a door that swung shut with the click of a lock. Misty smirked and turned around to see May scowling at her from behind an emerald-green singlet hanging on a coat-hanger, so she tauntingly stuck her tongue out and arched her eyebrows, before snickering and walking over to join Ari and Dawn in the next aisle, Calli and Piplup bouncing on the balls of their feet as their Trainers consulted the designer labels.

"Hey there, you two," she said sweetly, clapping a hand down on their shoulders.

"Misty…" Dawn began, holding a lime-green skirt against her thin frame as she stared wistfully at the mirror in front of her, "what do you think of _this_?"

"Umm…? I reckon it's a bit—" she replied edgily, a braced look on her face.

"—A bit too soft of a colour," Ari finished, eyeing off an expensive tuxedo adorning a tall mannequin. "It draws attention to your waistline instead of your eyes; they're both beautiful, but I think you'd rather have guys looking back at your face if you were talking to them, eh?" he added cheekily, earning him a look of surprise from all the females present; Dawn, Misty, Piplup and Calli. "What? I'm just telling it how I see it…"

"I was wondering more about how you _know_ that kind of thing," Misty giggled, her eyes focusing on him.

"Well _someone_ had to know how to shop for good clothes, and I wasn't going to trust Leo with my wardrobe even if my life depended on it," he chuckled, shaking his head and walking over to stand in front of the mannequin, just as Leoric re-emerged from his change room wearing a rose-pink shirt and peach-coloured pants. Completely oblivious to his friend's attire, Ari's eyes continued to trail over the tuxedo's fabric as the former slunk behind Misty and grabbed at her arm, making her squeal with fright.

"I think you've been intentionally picking these out for me," he muttered softly, swinging her around to face him. Ignoring the comment, Misty looked Leoric up and down, finding something extremely attractive about the way the shirt's colour defined his muscle tone, and her cheeks soon matched it in colour the longer she stared at his chest. "Hey, my eyes are up here!" he said, a little louder, and Misty snapped out of her trance and grinned as her gaze worked its way up to his face.

"I admit it, I picked _this_—" she flicker her fingers over the collar of his shirt, but she let her hand rest on his collarbone, "but it's because I love a guy who can wear pink and still look as sexy as you do right now…"

"Flattery or ass-kissing?" he smirked, leaning his head to one side. But his new line of vision meant that he could see Ari from over Misty's slim shoulders, and Ari could have seen him too if he had turned around, so he quickly straightened his head and raised a hand to rub his neck, pretending that he'd pulled a muscle in it. "Ooh… that twinged something," he lied, pretending to wince.

"Here, want me to help?" Misty winked, her hand sliding up to meet his. Leoric quickly moved his hand away and let hers rest on his neck, but she could feel his muscles move erratically as his breathing quickened and he swallowed nervously.

"Geez, Leo, I never thought I'd see living proof that you were gay, but now I've got it!" Ari cackled, having only just turned around and seen his friend's choice of clothing. "What on earth were you thinking, darling?" he said in an effeminate voice, shaking with silent laughter as he clapped a hand on Leoric's other shoulder. "Hey, what's up with his neck, Misty?" he asked, seeing her hand on his body for the first time.

"She was just helping out with this twinge I've got—" Leoric hissed, swiftly pulling Misty's arm away from him, "and now that she's worked her magic, I can do _this_!" he exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Ari's neck and pulling him into a headlock. "Who's the fag now, biatch?!" he laughed, provokingly rapping Ari on the head with his knuckles as the latter's hat fluttered onto the ground.

"Quit being such a pain, Leo!" Ari yelped, his hands waving above his head as he tried to loosen Leoric's grip on him.

"Cut that out—you two!" chorused Anabel and May. Until they had heard Ari's pained shout, they and Max had been busy helping Brock choose outfits for his date with Nurse Joy, even though it was a week away. Despite Brock's frantic pleading for fashion advice, the group of four paced over to Misty and the boys, who instantly separated; Leoric grinned arrogantly, and Ari shook his shoulders as he stooped down and snatched his hat from the carpeted floor.

"Are you done acting like a pair of little kids?" Max asked patronisingly.

"Ow, we just got served by Max!" Leoric chuckled, looking around at him. "Stop being such a sooky little Sentret, Ari…" he muttered, since Ari was gingerly patting the back of his neck and cursing under his breath. At his feet, Calli reached up with her small arms, wanting Ari to pick her up, whilst Piplup stood next to her, peering across the room confusedly. "Hey, where'd Dawn run off to—?" There was a ripple amongst the group as their heads collectively turned around, trying to spot the blue-haired girl that had seemingly disappeared into thin air.

"That's actually a very good question…" Brock grunted, all thought of clothes momentarily gone from his mind as he looked around for his friend. "Where could she have gone, I wonder?"

"Well wherever she is, I'm sure she's looking for something stylish," May said brightly, running a hand through her thick brown hair.

"_Pip! Lup! Pip!_" chirped Piplup, waving her fins excitedly through the air. "_Pip pip!_" she squeaked, pointing towards the change rooms that Leo had come out of a minute or so ago, and all eyes turned towards them just as Dawn stepped gracefully out, wearing the same lime green dress that she had shown Misty and Ari earlier. Anabel and May clapped their hands together and sighed, Brock and Max wolf-whistled at her, and Misty had to admit that Ari had been spot-on with his comment on it; the dress filled out all of her curves in a way that was elegant and innocent at the same time, and she even began to feel jealous of it all.

Leoric, however, merely raised an eyebrow at his companions' star-struck expressions – suppressing an urge to smack the stupid smile from Ari's face – and pointed a lazy finger towards Dawn's waist. "Just turn left, would you?" he asked politely, and Dawn swung around to face the clothes rack to her side, Piplup leaping up into her arms and tweeting cheerfully at her owner's new look. "Just as I thought," he snickered.

"What's just as you thought?" Dawn asked, somewhat suspiciously.

"That dress makes you look like you're trying to smuggle a Wailmer from behind," he said dryly, patting a hand on his backside and pointing at hers with his other. Dawn stretched her back and looked down her back, and a moment later her face was screwed up in a look of pure rage as she glared at Leoric, who could have sworn he just heard a far-off volcano suddenly erupt. He heard soft footsteps behind him, and his eyes flickered left and right to see everyone else backing away from him in fear. "Sooks…" he laughed, knowing that Dawn couldn't do anything that could come close to hurting him.

Unfortunately for him, he hadn't taken into consideration the two Pokémon present in the department store. Piplup puffed out her chest in anger and jumped up into the air before slapping Leoric senseless with more than a dozen Pound attacks, finishing her wicked assault with a Bubblebeam to the face. As she landed on the ground and hopped back to Dawn satisfied, Leoric stood where he was struck, his face beet red from the attacks, and sodden from hairline to chin.

"Go on, it's alright," Ari whispered to his Magby, who waddled up to the soaked Trainer with an almost pitying expression on her tiny face, and she brought her clawed hand up to touch the leg of his pants. Calli hit Leoric with a ThunderPunch attack that was quite powerful for a Pokémon of her size, and Leoric was sizzled by the electricity being strengthened by Piplup's Bubblebeam. "Good work, Calli," chuckled Ari, scooping up the baby just as Leoric crashed backwards onto the floor, the hint of his laughter still etched on his face.

"Is he gonna be alright?" Anabel asked worriedly, looking down at him.

"Ash has taken shocks a hundred times worse than that and come out like nothing ever happened!" Misty giggled, leaning down and brushing the hair out of Leoric's eyes.

"Yeah, Leo's a pretty tough Lava Cookie anyways, so I wouldn't worry about him," Ari sighed, before giving a bark of laughter. "He wrestles with his Swampert for training and actually wins sometimes!"

"Wow, he'd have to be pretty strong to be able to do that…" said May.

"Strong or no, _I'm_ not carrying _him_ out of here—" Ari said gruffly, lowering Calli towards him, "so could you wake him up, please?" he smiled, and Calli hooted happily before clawing Leoric in the back with a sparked fist. Leoric groaned as the electricity coursed through his body and snapped him awake, and a moment later he sprang to his feet with wild eyes and an even wilder set of hair.

"I swear I'm up! Don't take away my Poké—!" he stammered, then he blinked and looked around sheepishly, only just remembering where he was. "Hey, this isn't my bedroom…" he said, as though stumbling upon some great secret, which made his friends crack with laughter. "Who the heck shocked me anyways?!"

"_Bu! Buu! Mag-bu!"_ cooed Calli, blowing a puff of smoke from her mouth.

* * *

"Okay Sceptile, counter it with your Leaf Blade!" Ash shouted, as Snorlax thundered in with its fist shimmering underneath a covering of frost. Sceptile swung his arms in a cross-formation and leapt forwards to meet Snorlax head-on, the leaves on his arms turning whitish-green. The two attacks impacted each other with enough power to blow Ash back several feet, and the two Pokémon struggled against each other mid-motion for superiority as tiny beams of blue and green energy speared away and struck the grass around them.

Both Pokémon jumped backwards at once, the glow on their arms disappearing, as delicate spindles of ice formed on the patches of ground where the blue light had struck. Sceptile landed on top of a large, craggy rock and raised his claws eagerly, wanting Snorlax to attack it with more power, but the Sleeping Pokémon yawned and plonked itself back down on the ground with a loud thump. The Grass-type blinked and slapped a hand to his face as his foe started to snore loudly, and so he turned to Pikachu and pounced towards him instead.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt! Sceptile, use Agility to dodge!" Ash ordered, throwing his arm forwards. Sceptile chewed the twig in his mouth and smirked, instantly shuffling to the side like a blur, but Pikachu expected the move and blasted a spear of electricity towards the Forest Pokémon. Even with Sceptile moving at the speed he was, the Thunderbolt was headed straight towards him, and so his mouth gaped open in honest surprise as the attack arced away from him and struck a leafy bush next to the rock he had been standing on.

"_Pika?!_" gasped Pikachu, just as the twig fell out of Sceptile's mouth and fell to the ground, its owner's eyes narrowing suspiciously as the bush rustled.

"What's going on, Pikachu?" Ash asked, just as perplexed about the attack as his Pokémon. "Sceptile, is there something—?" he began, but before he could finish his question, a blue-grey shape fell out of the bush and hit the ground with a dull noise. Ash ran across the clearing and knelt down next to it, and as he did he got a closer look at it; it was undoubtedly a Pokémon – and a very blocky-looking one at that, he thought – with an enormous, bright red nose jutting out from the front of its body. Right away he knew that the Pokémon was a Nosepass; his first victory in the Hoenn Gym circuit had been against Roxanne, a Gym Leader who had used a Nosepass as her signature Pokémon in their battle.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked it softly, his hands digging underneath its body and straining to lift it upright. "_Ugh_…! Weighs a ton—!" he panted, still trying to heave the Compass Pokémon to its feet. Suddenly, the Nosepass jerked under his arms and righted itself, and as its nose glowed white it blasted Ash backwards with a shockwave of invisible energy. Scrambling to his feet, Ash pulled out his Pokédex, trained it on the Nosepass and pressed the large green button on the right-hand side, hoping to gain some information on what attack it had used on him.

_Nosepass, the Compass Pokémon,_ buzzed the Pokédex, beginning its profile mode._ Type – Rock. Ability can be either Sturdy or Magnet Pull. Average height – 1.00 metres or 3 feet 3 inches; average weight – 97.0 kilograms or 214 pounds. Lives in mountainous and subterranean caves with strong electromagnetic structures. Attacks are primarily ground-based, also include magnetism and certain kinds of electrical energy. The nose is also a strong electromagnet and tends to point north._

"It must have knocked me over with its magnetism, like that Magnet Pull," Ash muttered, stowing the Pokédex. "That must have been why its nose lit up!" he grinned, but Nosepass' nose flashed again, and the next moment a small red circle flew into the air and headed towards Pikachu, landing directly in the middle of his yellow forehead and blinking once before disappearing. "What the—? _Oh no_!" he shouted, backing away as he suddenly realised what the strange circle was. "It's Lock-On!"

"_Nooooohhhhzzz_…" hummed Nosepass, and a hexagonal red light shone from in front of its glowing nose. Ash turned around and ran towards Pikachu, his feet thumping over the soft grass, and he was quickly followed by the Power Gem attack that shot forth from Nosepass, the six-sided beam of light curving over the mountainside as it sped towards Pikachu with precise accuracy, even as a large green Pokémon jumped in the way of the attack and opened its mouth wide.

"_Sceeeep…tiiile!_" roared Sceptile, blasting an intense torrent of white-yellow from his jaws. His Solarbeam met Nosepass' Power Gem dead-on, ripping the red jet to shreds and spearing over the Compass Pokémon's shoulder, knocking it sideways onto the ground with the force of his superior attack. Ash stumbled and turned back to face the wild Pokémon, relieved to see that Sceptile had saved Pikachu from the attack, and he jumped forwards to stand behind his Pokémon, Pikachu running across and leaping on his shoulder; all three were looking forward to a Pokémon battle.

"Let's go, Sceptile! Use Bullet Seed!" he yelled. Sceptile's mouth swelled, then the Grass-type spewed a volley of shining green missiles towards Nosepass, whistling through the air as they made their way towards their mark. Nosepass growled as its nose glowed yellow this time, and a wave of crackling electricity erupted from around it, moving rapidly outwards in all directions and clashing with Sceptile's Bullet Seed. The pulsing missiles were brutally cut down by Nosepass' electrical attack, which blasted them into nothingness before disappearing itself, leaving both Pokémon unharmed and eager to continue the battle.

"I wonder what that attack was…" Ash murmured, grabbing his Pokédex once more and holding down a button. "_Shock Wave_… Sceptile, return!" he shouted, aiming a PokéBall at Sceptile, who was instantly dissolved into red light and recalled to the ball. "Pikachu, you're up!" he said brightly to the Pokémon on his shoulder.

"_Pii pikachu!_" shouted Pikachu fiercely, leaping onto the ground and charging his electrical sacs as he glared at Nosepass, thirsting for a chance to repay it for the attempted Power Gem attack.

"Pikachu, since Nosepass is a Rock-type, give it an Iron Tail!" Ash commanded. Pikachu nodded and bounded towards his foe, his tail glinting before bursting with brilliant white light, and with a cry he leapt high into the air and curled into a ball, spinning like a top as he readied himself for the attack. Nosepass tilted its sturdy head ever so slightly upwards, and with another pulsating glow of its nose it fired another wave of electromagnetic energy outwards, striking Pikachu and freezing him in mid-air. Pikachu yelped out in shock and struggled against his bonds, even launching a Thunderbolt down at Nosepass, but the latter flung both it and Pikachu across the ground with another blast of magnetism.

"_Whoa_, what the h—?! Of course, Nosepass controlled Pikachu's Iron Tail with its nose!" Ash roared, smacking himself in the forehead. _But that means that Pikachu's Steel- and Electric-type attacks are all useless…! And his physical attacks won't do much to a Rock-type…_ "Pikachu, come back," he sighed, and Pikachu growled angrily at Nosepass before obeying his Trainer's instruction. Nosepass thudded towards Ash, seemingly disappointed by the sudden retreat, and Ash bit his lip as he turned to the massive Pokémon still lying on the ground some distance away. "Snorlax! _Snorlax!_" he bellowed, but it was still soundly asleep, so he resorted to recalling it to its PokéBall and taking Sceptile's from its clip again.

"_Chim!_" "_Totototodile!_" "_Staraaa~!"_

Ash wheeled around, his hand slowly stowing Sceptile's PokéBall back on his waist as he saw his three other Pokémon fly over; Totodile dancing happily on Staravia's back whilst Chimchar was complacently lying in the grip of the Flying-type's firm talons. "Staravia, drop Chimchar down onto the grass! I need his help to catch this wild Nosepass!" he shouted eagerly, and Chimchar squealed with competitive joy as he was released into the clearing, rolling as he hit the ground.

"_Nosepassss…_" boomed the Compass Pokémon, firing another blast of magnetism towards Chimchar, but the Chimp Pokémon felt nothing from the attack and jumped towards his new challenge.

"Chimchar, Fire Spin!" Ash shouted, and Chimchar launched a spiralling twister of flames from his mouth in mid-air, the attack crushing down on Nosepass and enveloping it whole. "Great shot!" he applauded, watching as the flame and smoke disappeared with a flap of Staravia's wings and a spray of Totodile's Water Gun. Nosepass was standing upright, amazingly, but its head was lilting from side to side as though it was in a daze; Ash saw this as his chance and snatched a PokéBall from his pocket, enlarging it in his hand and hurling it towards the wild Pokémon.

"PokéBall, go!" he called. The PokéBall flew straight and true, hitting the stunned Nosepass squarely on the forehead, and without so much as a twitch of resistance, the Rock-type was sucked into the PokéBall with a flash of red light. Ash crossed his fingers as the PokéBall hit the ground and started shaking crazily about, the Pokémon inside struggling to break free.

_Come on, come on, come on…!_ The PokéBall shook and jumped about from its spot on the ground, the button in the centre as bright-red as the nose of the Pokémon trapped inside.

_Come on, stay in the PokéBall!_ The light was as strong as ever, the ball still jerking about while Nosepass fought for freedom.

_Stay in the ball!_ The PokéBall had stopped jumping about and was now just rolling gently on the soft grass, and Ash could see that the red light had faded a fraction.

_Yes, yes, yes…!_ With a dull, echoing clunk, the light on the button faded away, and the PokéBall stopped rolling and was still.

"_Alright!_" Ash shouted triumphantly, running over to collect the ball, Pikachu squeaking ecstatically on his shoulder. Picking up the PokéBall, he raised it high above his head, and Chimchar, Totodile and Staravia all crowded around him happily as he cried, "I caught a Nosepass!"

"_Pika!_"

"Wow, this is the first Pokémon I've had to actually _battle_ to capture since… well, since Grotle when he was a Turtwig…!" Ash muttered, lowering his new Pokémon's ball down to eye level and admiring it. "That was way back when we were first in the Sinnoh region, remember?" he asked Pikachu, sitting down on the ground and crossing his legs as his other Pokémon hopped onto his lap. Totodile started sniffing the PokéBall, and Chimchar tapped the ball's shell with his knuckles curiously. "Do you want to see your new team-mate?" he asked them all, and Staravia cawed excitedly and flapped her wings in reply.

"_Pii pikachu!_" Pikachu yelped, pointing to the PokéBall. Ash's eyes shot down and widened as they saw the PokéBall flash with white light and fade away in his hand, but his heart rate slowed when he realised what had just happened; Nosepass was a seventh Pokémon on his roster, and because of the limits on a Trainer's party size, any new Pokémon caught were transferred back to their Trainer's laboratory for safe-keeping.

"Guess he's at Professor Oak's now," Ash mused. "I wonder how far he and Tracey are from reaching Pallet Town…" he trailed off, lost in his thoughts. Pikachu's ears twitched as he heard a second rustle in the bushes at the edge of the clearing, this time at the far side from where Ash's new Nosepass had appeared. But as he turned around to see the bushes, they were completely still, and Pikachu shrugged the idea away and climbed back onto Ash's shoulder, just as the latter returned his other three Pokémon to their PokéBalls.

"What do you say we head back into town, Pikachu?" Ash suggested brightly, bursting with happiness at his recent capture. "It can't be more than a couple of hours until four o'clock… I want to catch up with Brock and the others, and we said we'd watch Ari and Leoric's Tag Team battle!"

"_Pii…_" Pikachu mumbled uncertainly, his eyes lingering on the bushes._ "Pika!_" he piped up, flashing Ash a cheeky smile. Ash grinned and scratched his Pokémon behind the ears, strolling towards the edge of the clearing and beginning to make his way back down the mountainside, extremely satisfied with how his training session had ended up.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Leoric's supposed wrestling matches with his Swampert are similar to the way Cianwood City's Gym Leader, Chuck, trained with his Machoke in the anime.**

***Although Nosepass can use magnetism from its nose, in the games it cannot learn Magnet Bomb like its evolution, Probopass.**

****Also, Ash's Nosepass uses Shock Wave, which (for a wild Pokémon) would normally be impossible in the games.**

**Quiz:**

***According to a Pokédex entry, if a Nosepass does not move its body for an entire year, how far north will its body be pulled by the Earth's magnetic field?**


	66. Turning The Cogs

**CHAPTER 66 – TURNING THE COGS**

_BRRRIINNGGGG…_

"I'm coming! Just wait five seconds, I'll be right there!"

_BRRRIINNGGGG…_

"I said _WAIT_! Don't hang up on—_argh_, get off me, you stupid pile of goo!"

"_Muuhhkkk!_"

_BRRRIINNGGGG…_

"Fine, just _take_ the blasted food! Now get off me—! Hello, you've reached Oak Laboratories. This is Connery; how may I be of assistance, Nurse Joy?"

"Mr. Connery, I've got a Trainer here who wants to exchange his Snorlax for a Pokémon that was just transferred to your lab," said the pink-haired nurse brightly, stepping to the side and allowing a dark-haired Trainer and his Pikachu to sidle into view of the screen. "Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town."

"A-Ash Ketchum?!" blurted Connery, running a hand through his rust-red hair. "The Ash Ketchum with the over-affectionate Muk?!" he shouted, and Ash grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, that'd be me…" he laughed. "How is Muk, anyways?"

"_He's_ fine! It's _me_ that's worried…!" Connery huffed, fixing his lab coat. "But anyways… Nurse Joy said that you wanted to exchange a Pokémon?"

"Yeah, that's right!" Ash grinned, shaking a PokéBall in front of the screen. "I just caught a Nosepass about an hour ago, and he got transferred over there. I really want to take a good look at him, so I was wondering if I could switch it for my Snorlax."

"Sn-_Snorlax_?!" yelped Connery, jumping backwards. "It's yours too?! That thing always tries to eat my hair! But… I guess it's not like I'll have to take him out of his PokéBall… okay, just give me a quick minute to find your Nosepass' PokéBall, and then we can start the transfer, alright?"

"Sounds good!" was Ash's reply, but Connery had already rushed away from the terminal, nervously sidestepping Muk as it gorged itself on the bag of Pokémon food on the floor. His shoes squeaking as he rounded a corner on the polished tiles, he reached the storage room at the back of the laboratory. Rubbing his hands together, he strode along the aisles stacked with PokéBalls until he came across the one marked '_Ketchum, Ash_' near the centre of the room.

"Ah, here we go!" he said brightly, turning into the aisle. His eyes glinted when he saw a lone PokéBall at the far end of the shelves; he had suggested to Professor Oak that the sorting machines place new entries at the end of the aisle to distinguish it from the others. Snatching the PokéBall from its grooved stand, Connery hurried over to a large terminal and placed it in the recess, flicking switches here and there. "Let's see… yep, Nosepass, male… quite a strong one, too!" he remarked, as the machine scanned the PokéBall.

"_Scan completed. Pokémon identified. Serial number assigned: K24G-W—"_

"Yeah yeah, whatever," he said gruffly, picking up the PokéBall and running back to the computer screen where Nurse Joy and Ash were still waiting. "Okay, Ash, your Nosepass is right here, so let's begin the transfer! Just put your Snorlax in the niche on the right—" he instructed, placing Nosepass' PokéBall in a matching recess at his end.

"—I know the drill, Mr. Connery," Ash sighed, slipping his Pokémon's PokéBall into the hole next to the computer. "Fire away!"

"Wha—? Oh, right. Beginning transfer…" Connery muttered, his fingers dancing across the keyboard. A 2D image of Ash's Snorlax appeared on the top-left corner of the screen, and Nosepass' silhouette faded into the bottom-right corner. "Let's do this thing!" he chuckled, striking the _Enter_ key. A large pipe above Nosepass' PokéBall flickered with electricity, and in an instant the PokéBall flashed white and disappeared, only to be replaced seconds later by another PokéBall, this one a little more worn than the other. Taking the ball from its place, he looked up to see Ash holding his new Pokémon's ball proudly in his hand.

"Thanks, Mr. Connery!" Ash exclaimed, shrinking the PokéBall and clipping it to his belt. "Oh, by the way, I don't think Snorlax has eaten anything in the last few hours, so he might be a bit hungry," he added, turning to leave.

"_What_?! Wait up a minute—!"

"See you later, Nurse Joy!" Ash shouted, having already run halfway to the door of the Pokémon Center. "Come on, Pikachu, let's go see Ari and Leoric in that Tag Team battle!" he said excitedly to his Pokémon, running out of sight as the double doors swung shut from behind him.

"Bye, Ash!" smiled the nurse, turning back to the computer screen. "Thanks for your help, Con—"

"I'm sorry to cut and run, Miss Joy, but there's another call coming in—!" Connery said hurriedly, disconnecting the call, but not before Joy caught a fleeting glimpse of Ash's Snorlax releasing itself from its PokéBall, and fighting with Muk over the bag of Pokémon food.

* * *

"Did everybody get something good?" asked Dawn in a bubbly voice, clutching no less than six bags of _something_ in her hands, with her Ambipom dutifully carrying two more much like she had the day before. Looking behind her, she saw that Misty, May and Anabel were all laden with shopping once again, although none of them seemed to be complaining about their individual hauls, and her grin grew even wider.

"I think I managed to get everything I couldn't fit in my arms yesterday," Anabel giggled, glancing over at the boys. Brock was being forcefully dragged out of the department store by Ari and Leoric, each of whom had taken an arm, Max – who had a hold of his left leg – and Croagunk, who was holding the other foot and seemed to have already hit him with his regular dose of a Poison Jab, although there were no girls around. In truth, the Toxic Mouth Pokémon thought that Brock had been making a big enough fool of himself even _without_ a woman's presence nearby.

"_Croagunk croa…_" it growled in a bored voice, slouching along behind its Trainer, who was making quite an effort to get out of his friends' grips.

"Nooo… I have to find the perfect outfit… must look handsome for Nurse Joy…" he groaned, hearts in his slanted eyes, but he quickly shut his mouth when he saw that Croagunk was holding up a set of glowing purple fingers in a threatening manner. "Well—I guess there's always tomorrow…" he sighed, hanging his head.

"Damn right there is," Leoric grunted, dropping Brock on the pavement. "I'd much rather be getting ready for my Tag Team battle than having to haul you out on your butt."

"Or on anywhere else for that matter," Ari joked, helping Brock to his feet. "Seriously, though, you've got a whole week ahead of you in which to drive yourself nuts over trying to impress Joy, so why work yourself up today?" he laughed, clapping his dark-haired friend on the shoulder.

"Besides, I'm sure that Nurse Joy will be bowled over when she sees you all dressed up," Misty said in honeyed tones, pinching him on the cheek. Brock shrugged his shoulders and, preferring not to reply to the comment, took out Croagunk's PokéBall and recalled his Poison-type to its depths.

"Well, I sure do hate to be the one to bail out on poking fun at a guy in love," Leoric said in a sarcastic lovey-dovey voice, throwing an arm around Ari and Brock, who couldn't see him rolling his eyes at the pair of them, "but Ari and I really have to get going. We've got to get ready for Brock's funeral—I mean, our Tag Team match," he joked.

"Hey, just because you can't land a woman," Ari retorted, slapping Leoric in the stomach. Leoric replied by putting Ari in the traditional headlock, and so neither of them saw Misty and May both flush with anger at the latter's comment. Brock, however, did notice the show of emotion, but before he could say anything, Max tugged at his vest and pointed in the direction of some Pokémon-based shops down the street.

"Brock, d'you wanna come and check out some stuff on Pokémon food with me?" he asked, catching the Pokémon breeder totally off-guard.

"Huh—? Yeah, sure!" he said happily, sticking his thumbs in his pockets, and he and Max strolled down the street and out of sight, sparing the two girls any possible questions.

_Nice save, little bro,_ May thought, exhaling with relief. "So Dawn, what was it that you bought again?" she asked, moving over to stand next to the navy-haired girl overweighed with shopping.

"Well let's see…"

* * *

Halfway across the island, the Galactic Grunt known as Mark was in excruciating pain.

He had been this way for hours; hours that to him had begun as irritating seconds, then uncomfortable minutes, then painful hours, but now they felt like torturous weeks. It had started out as a dull jab of discomfort in his stomach, but over time it had turned into something a thousand times worse, as though he had swallowed a Qwilfish whole, and it was trying to force itself out of his front. His dull grey eyes were screwed shut with the pain of it all, and his scarred knuckles were white from gripping the rim of the toilet seat in his dank, grime-caked prison cell.

He was the only soul inside the cell, but if there was someone close enough to see his body spasm uncontrollably, they would have been able to hear him whispering; one sentence, endlessly repeated, as though Mark was chanting a magic spell to free him from the pain.

"_I-will-be-free-I-will-be-free-I-will-be-free-I-will-be-free-I-will-be-free…_" were the words, spat out in shuddering breaths. His legs trembling beneath him, he clawed his way upright and stared at the blank stretch of wall in front of him, almost imagining the free world beyond the thick sheet of concrete. The lonely bars of sunlight sifting in through the open window above made the wall look as though it had been slashed by a Pokémon's vicious attack, with the prison bars that stopped the sun acting as the gouges. "The next time the sun rises on this wall… I'll be long gone…!" he growled, clutching at his abdomen.

The worst part of the pain was that he knew what the problem was, and that it was he that had caused it in the first place. Mark's mind flashed through the hazy red of the present and settled less than a day ago, to when he had bid his commanding officer goodbye at the docks. Even the thought of Shane infuriated him and made him roar in anger, punching the stone wall with his fist. He lashed again and again until he could feel the blood flowing from his pale knuckles onto the rest of his hand, and he sighed – almost in relief – as the biting sting of the wound took hold, because the pain in his insides was becoming more bearable.

_Much better…!_ he thought grimly, sitting down on the toilet seat and running a sweaty hand through his jet-black hair. _Cursed PokéBalls… even when you shrink them down to size—!_ he hissed again as he felt another stabbing lurch. _Come on, Houndoom… just get the fuck out of there – quickly! – and then we can get the others back and bust ourselves out of this shithole of a police station…! I don't deserve to be locked up like this when I haven't done anything wrong!_

"If _anyone_ deserves to be locked up, it's you, _Shane_!" he seethed, knowing full well that he couldn't be heard by anyone. "That betraying son-of-a-bitch!" he bellowed, throwing his fists at the concrete wall again. The harsh stone made the tears on his hands open up anew, and drops of blood rested over blood-red stains that his rage had left on the same spot earlier. Suddenly, in the midst of his assault on his cell, he bucked forwards as another jolt of pain, this one noticeably different from the others, shot through his stomach.

_Oh no… well, it's about time, I suppose…_ he thought, clenching his tongue between his teeth, taking his seat again with the clink of his belt and the sliding rustle of clothing. _This is gonna hurt…_

* * *

Ash smiled as he sat down on a park bench at the side of the street, with the World's Peak Stadium peeking out over the top of the other stadiums towards the island's centre. "Hey Pikachu," he said to his Pokémon, "wanna see our new friend again?"

"_Pii pika!"_ squeaked Pikachu, hopping down from Ash's shoulder and onto the ground, eager to see the newest addition to Ash's list of Pokémon.

"Okay, settle down, buddy," Ash laughed, taking all five PokéBalls from his waist. "Everyone else should be able to as well! Come on out, you guys!" he called, throwing the four oldest-looking PokéBalls onto the ground in front of him. With the expected bursts of light coming from each one, his Chimchar, Totodile, Staravia and Sceptile all jumped onto the ground and stood next to Pikachu, curious as to why they'd been called out of their PokéBalls.

"_Chim chim cha?_"

"Well, seeing as how you _all_ helped me catch Nosepass, I thought that you'd all be the first ones to see him now that he's one of us!" Ash told them happily, swinging the newer PokéBall back and forth. "What do you say?" he asked, and he was met with a great deal of excited cheering, happy grins, and Totodile's dancing. "Alright then; Nosepass, come meet your new friends!" he shouted, opening the PokéBall with a click and a flash. Nosepass blundered somewhat stupidly out of the ball, tottering and falling flat on its back, earning itself a round of laughter from its fellow Pokémon as its arms flailed about.

"Come on, guys, calm down… Sceptile, help him up, would you?" Ash sighed, pushing himself off the bench to kneel down next to his Pokémon. "Nosepass, use that magnetism I saw you use earlier to push yourself up," he instructed, digging his fingers under Nosepass' side. As Sceptile reluctantly moved forwards to help, Nosepass jerked again under Ash's grip and moved itself upright, and once again it knocked Ash backwards with a wave of magnetic energy.

"Th… thanks…" he muttered, being helped to his feet by Sceptile. "We're gonna have to work on that," he chuckled, patting Nosepass on its flat head.

"_Nosepass…_" hummed the Compass Pokémon merrily, its nose buzzing. Chimchar and Totodile were the first ones to approach it, Totodile turning his head this way and that whilst Chimchar timidly tapped a finger to the Rock-type's metallic nose. Suddenly, Chimchar's hand was smacked aside as a large, yellow shape smacked against Nosepass' nose and knocked it onto the ground with a loud thud. Totodile growled and jumped forwards, his hands clutching at Pikachu as he tried to pull the Electric-type away from Nosepass.

"Pikachu, there's no need to be _that_ friendly! You two only met each other a couple of hours ago!" Ash shouted, grabbing onto Nosepass' arms as he tried to separate the two, but Pikachu was stuck firmly to its fellow's magnetic nose, and wouldn't budge an inch. "Hang on… Nosepass, could you get a grip on your magnetism? Otherwise you're gonna have to deal with Pikachu being _in your face_ like this a lot more!" he panted, leaning backwards as far as he could as he pulled harder and harder.

"_Pikaaaa! Pikaaaa!_" howled Pikachu, his cheek glued to Nosepass' body.

"_Nose… nosepar…_" hummed Nosepass, and for the second time in a minute, Ash was thrown backwards as it released Pikachu with a playful burst of magnetism. "_Nose nose!_" it said happily, bouncing on its stubby legs.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you…?" Ash chuckled, getting back on his feet. "Now just for a few minutes, don't muck around, alright?" he said warningly, and Nosepass bowed its head obediently. "Okay, now these are your new friends, Nosepass; this is Chimchar—"

"_Chimchar char!_" yapped the Chimp Pokémon, waving a hand at his new teammate. Nosepass' gaze lingered over the Fire-type for a moment, before swinging one of its blocky arms in front of its body in what was obviously an offer for a handshake, and Chimchar cheerfully returned the gesture.

"Good, Nosepass! This is Totodile and Staravia," Ash continued, pushing the two Pokémon gently forwards. Staravia ruffled her wings politely and dipped her head in a bowing motion, whereas Totodile decided to curiously chomp his jaws down on Nosepass' still-outstretched hand. After a few moments, he let go of the Compass Pokémon's arm and smiled, dancing about as he usually did.

"_To-to-to-to-to-to-to-to!_" he growled, moving backwards so that Sceptile could step forwards. The Forest Pokémon rolled his eyes and looked from the jumping Totodile, to Nosepass as it turned stiffly around to face him, and then to Ash, who gave him a look that clearly meant "well, go on!", and he rolled his eyes again before moving towards the new arrival. Folding his arms and chewing the twig that was ever present at the side of his mouth, he looked down at Nosepass and gave it a curt nod.

"_Scep."_

"See, now that's everyone except Pikachu!" Ash said brightly, clapping his hands together, and Sceptile moved backwards almost with relief. "But I think that you two have already been close enough lately to not need a proper introduction," he joked, patting both Pikachu and Nosepass on the head.

"_Pii pikachu,_" said Pikachu, waving a hand at Nosepass, who gave him a small jolt of magnetic energy that made his hairs stand on end. "_Piikaa…_" he shivered, shaking his head.

"Okay, I think that's enough playtime for now. It's—" he looked up at the mass of buildings around him and saw a large crystal display that read three-thirty, "half an hour until Ari and Leoric's Tag Team battle, and I don't wanna be late for it. You can meet Brock, Dawn and the others after the match, 'kay?" he offered to Nosepass, who nodded its head and tapped the PokéBall lying on the ground, happily returning itself to its depths.

"Same goes for the rest of you, except we need to conserve our strength and minds for tomorrow's big match!" he added to his other four Pokémon, holding up their PokéBalls and recalling them one by one, smirking when he saw Sceptile welcome it a little too enthusiastically. "Okay, Pikachu," he muttered, clipping the five balls to his waist, "let's get going! I don't wanna miss what could happen!"

"_Pika_!" said Pikachu, jumping up to his usual spot on Ash's shoulder, and the two hurried across the pavement towards the World's Peak.

* * *

"Ash, where have you been?! The battle's just about to start!"

"Sorry, I got caught up with training at the mountains!" Ash apologised sheepishly, sitting down between Brock and Max. "But on the bright side, I managed to catch myself a Nosepass!" he added, to a round of excitement from his friends.

"A _Nosepass_?! That's so awesome!" Max shouted, his eyes glinting from behind his glasses. "They're great Pokémon to use in battles, and outside of battles their noses can be used as compasses so that you'll never get lost camping or digging or—"

"Who cares about _camping_?" May interrupted, leaning over Max. "You remember Roxanne's Nosepass in Rustboro City? All those moves would be _perfect_ for Contests!" she exclaimed, and Dawn – sitting at the end of the row – voiced her support.

"No-one's using my Nosepass to go camping or Contesting, alright?! He's a Pokémon that likes to battle, so he's gonna _be_ a Pokémon battler!" Ash said firmly. "Geez, you haven't even met him yet," he laughed, just as the crowd erupted with noise all around him. "Oh, are they coming out now?" he asked, leaning forwards to see the field properly for the first time. Sure enough, Ari and Leoric walked out of the far exit a moment later, waving at the crowd as they walked towards the centre circle, the commentators entertaining the crowd with various facts about their achievements.

"Come on, guys; win this one!" he roared, throwing his hands above his head, but his voice was drowned out by the deafening shouts of the other hundred-thousand people in the arena's vast seating arrangements. The doors closest to him opened with the grating sound of steel on steel, and Ari and Leoric's opponents walked out into the bright afternoon sunlight, where they were met with the same amount of cheering that the former duo had received.

"Max, who are those two?" he asked loudly to the small boy next to him, resorting to shouting even though they were only a couple of feet apart.

"That's Jane Wright—" he answered, pointing first at the woman on the left. She was a middle-aged woman with a sour-looking face half-hidden by a curtain of blonde hair, streaked with grey, and her piercing blue eyes looked like ice crystals. She wore a crimson dinner jacket over a long-sleeved white shirt, and her long pants matched her jacket. "And that's her brother Will—" Ash moved his gaze over to the man accompanying Jane. He looked more like a twin than just a brother, although his features were softer than that of his sister, and his clothes, although they were the same items as Jane's, were a deep ocean blue in colour. "They're from London in England, and they came second at this tournament last year."

"Second…? Wait, that means that Ari and Leoric beat them to take top spot, didn't they?!" Ash exclaimed, and Max nodded. "So this is sort of a chance-for-revenge match, eh?"

"You could say that."

"Well it doesn't matter, because Leo and Ari are going to win no matter what!" Misty retorted stubbornly, fire in her eyes as she leaned across from her seat next to Anabel.

"What's up with you, Misty?" Ash asked blankly. Misty blinked and slinked back into her seat, and so he shrugged his shoulders and leaned forwards expectantly, waiting for the battle to begin.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Connery's name is taken from Sean Connery, the Scottish actor. Sean Connery is also the basis for the voice of Rakanishu, Ari's Electivire.**

**Quiz:**

***Ash's Pikachu mastered the use of which move during his victory over Roxanne and her Nosepass?**

**Well, that's all for this chapter! Okay as per usual, don't forget to submit your reviews about the chapter, 'cause I want your feedback! That's about it for me for the moment, so keep up the good work!**


	67. Explosive Tendencies

**CHAPTER 67 – EXPLOSIVE TENDENCIES**

"May the best Tag Team win," Ari said politely, shaking hands with Jane as Leoric did the same with Will.

"We plan to," Jane said coldly, sharply swinging her hand back to her side. "Come on, Will!" she barked, already turning away and stalking back to her green Trainer's box at the stadium's edge. Will sighed and shook his head, giving both Ari and Leoric an apologetic look before hurrying back to join his sister.

"Fags," Leoric snorted, shaking his head and clapping Ari on the back. "Come on, Ari. Let's give them a reminder why they didn't win last year."

"Too true," Ari laughed, walking back with him to the red square next to the stands.

"This match will be a two-on-two Pokémon battle; each Trainer may use one Pokémon only," stated the elderly referee, going over the battle's rules. "If one of a team's Pokémon is knocked out, then the other must continue to fight alone until either it is knocked out, or it overcomes the opponents' Pokémon. When _both_ Pokémon from one team have been eliminated, the other team will be declared the winner. Do—?"

"Yes, yes, we're all good to go!" drawled Jane, impatiently ripping a PokéBall away from her waist.

"Then let the battle begin!" the referee declared, hoisting the red and green flags into the air with the blast of the siren.

"Metagross, game on!" Jane bellowed, hurling her PokéBall onto the field. Her Metagross thundered out of the ball with a roar and a flash of white light, smashing a gold-clawed foot against the ground and causing a mess of rocks to jump up into the air from the impact. Its crimson eyes stared out from behind the golden 'X' running the length of its silver body, and its empty mouth split into a grin as it saw Ari and Leoric raise their eyebrows at it.

"Probopass, front and centre!" Will shouted, throwing his own PokéBall into the arena, where it burst open with a flash. A huge, blue, tanklike structure emerged from the PokéBall, completely covered on one side by an enormous red, sharpened nose, and a mass of iron pieces clustered along the bottom side of the nose. A thick, crimson disc rested on top of the Pokémon's head, under which were two spherical blue eyes surrounded by the shadow of the disc. On the three sides not dominated by the Pokémon's nose were identical units, each one looking like a blue, robotic duck-head, its eyes distinguished by a ring of dark metal on each side of the unit's "face".

"Wow, a Probopass?" Ash muttered, his mind flashing to the Nosepass he had only caught a few hours ago. _My Nosepass could end up evolving into one of those…_ Meanwhile, May had pulled out her Pokédex and, having never seen a Probopass before, focused it on the large Pokémon.

_Probopass, the Compass Pokémon, the evolved form of Nosepass. In order to evolve into this Pokémon, a Nosepass must be subjected to a strong, abnormal magnetic field, most commonly a result of exposure to the magnetic forces in mountain ranges. It exudes strong electromagnetic forces from all over its body and, as a result, iron filings are drawn to the strongest magnetic point on its body: the nose. These filings collect underneath the nose, which Probopass can manipulate at will. This Pokémon can also control the three units at its sides – called "Mini-Noses" – to confuse and distract its opponents in battle._

"So the Wright siblings have decided to use a rare _silver_ Metagross and a Probopass for this quarter-final match!" shouted the announcer. "Metagross is of course a Steel-Psychic Pokémon, and Probopass are Rock-Steel types, so this could spell danger for them, both having the common Steel-type and sharing possible weaknesses! But, they weren't last year's runners-up for nothing! Let's see how our current Champions counter the selection!"

"Leo, let's use the Sun strategy," Ari muttered, so quietly that only Leoric could hear him, and he took a PokéBall from his belt and tossed it high and proud. "Colenzo, engage!" he roared, and his Magmortar leapt onto the arena with a flash, blasting a fireball into the air above his head. The fireball exploded into a thousand colours, and the crowd rang with sighs and cheers, as Leoric took a latticed green-and-blue PokéBall from his jacket pocket and enlarged it with a click.

"Sun it is," he smirked, throwing the ball across the field to join Ari's Magmortar. "Levine, prepare to charge!"

Leoric's PokéBall split open with a gleam of sky-blue light, and out of the ball sprang an enormous green mass of a Pokémon. It stood at least two feet taller than the Magmortar standing next to it, and from head to toe it was enshrouded in a colossal, writhing cloud of green tentacles. As the crowd exploded with noise, a large cluster of the vines split apart from the upper half of the Pokémon's body, revealing a pair of beady black eyes. From the sides of its shifting body, a long pair of tentacles, each one a trio of vines grouped together, snaked forwards, the ends tipped blood-red. A stubby pair of legs, tipped crimson like its "hands", poked out from under the mass of vines, and its shaggy head turned towards Magmortar, who sneered and nodded its head in reply.

"What in the world is _that_ thing?!" Ash wondered aloud, and he, May and Dawn all trained their Pokédexes on the strange being.

_Tangrowth, the Vine Pokémon, the evolved form of Tangela,_ said the Pokédex in its robotic voice. _It ensnares its prey by extending arms made of vines. If chased by a predator, it can shed vines to use as an evasive manoeuvre to get away. Losing arms does not trouble it, and its vines have been confirmed to fully regrow themselves within the space of six minutes; times of less than thirty seconds have been recorded in environments with ample sunlight. Its legs, though small, can rapidly lengthen in similar conditions, vastly increasing its hunting speed if required._

"A Grass-type and a Fire-type against two Steel-types…" Dawn murmured, slipping the Pokédex back into her pocket as the starting bell sounded.

"Colenzo, Sunny Day!" Ari ordered. Magmortar retracted the claws in his left arm and blasted the air with another fireball, only this time it was a pure white colour. The ball of light hovered above the arena like a second sun, and the heat emanating from it made the crowd shrink backwards in their seats and shade their eyes with their hands, which were already starting to sweat. The two Steel-types across the field roared and swayed dangerously, shaking their heads in an attempt to rid themselves of the discomfort, and Leoric took the chance to take first blood.

"Levine, blast that Metagross with your Solarbeam!" he shouted fiercely, pointing at the silver Pokémon. Tangrowth cupped its viny hands together and formed a ball of yellow-white light between them, and a moment later it thrust its hands forwards and discharged the ball as a thick stream of energy that sped towards Metagross, kicking up a tunnel of dust as it speared over the uneven ground.

"Metagross, redirect to Magmortar!" Jane screeched. Metagross' body was covered in an eerie blue outline, and soon the same outline encompassed Tangrowth's Solarbeam, halting the attack less than a foot from the golden cross on its face. With nothing more than the twitch of its head, the Iron Leg Pokémon sent the attack flying, arcing around through the air as it was pushed backwards towards its new target, the Blast Pokémon standing stock-still as a smirk formed on his lipless mouth.

"Colenzo, stop that Solarbeam in its tracks with your _Air Lance_!" Ari commanded, wasting no time in issuing the order.

"_Maaaaaaaggg!_" bellowed the Fire-type, tightening his muscles and digging his clawed feet into the ground. Tangrowth agilely pushed itself away from its teammate, and within half a second the entire crowd knew why; Magmortar's body shimmered and wavered on the ground as its flaming body superheated the air around it. The rocky ground at his feet growled and caved, melting into a perfect circle of lava – such was the intense heat coming from the Pokémon's body – and Magmortar blasted the ground with more hot air to keep himself airborne in the face of the Solarbeam. Metagross' manipulated attack bore down relentlessly on the Blast Pokémon, but as though it had hit an invisible shield, it dissolved into a million tiny fragments of light that fell lazily onto the molten ground around Magmortar's feet.

"_Wow_! I don't believe it! This level of play is just mind-boggling!" shrieked the battle commentator, jumping up and down in the stadium's skybox. "First, we had Leoric's Levine blast Metagross with a Sunny Day-enhanced Solarbeam, but it was sent back to Ari's Colenzo as easy as could be! _Then_, Colenzo just _evaporates_ the attack, and some of the field with it! No quarter is being given or expected, and it's only been one turn!"

"That Air Lance; I've seen it before!" Ash exclaimed, pointing at Magmortar, who was still hovering above the field. "Brock, when you, me and Misty were in Kanto, Blaine's Magmar used it against Pikachu's Thunderbolt, remember?!"

"Yeah, you're right!" Brock said, snapping his fingers. "Maybe Ari decided to do some training under Blaine to learn the secret of how to use the technique…"

"Levine, move in close for the pulley move!" Leoric shouted.

"_Taaaaangrooooowth!_" boomed the Vine Pokémon, lumbering towards Probopass at incredible speed, its crimson-tipped arms swinging back and forth behind its squirming body.

"Probopass, use Zap Cannon on that Tangrowth! Cripple its speed!" Will snarled, throwing his arm forwards. Probopass gave a deep, booming battle cry and formed a huge ball of sparkling yellow electricity in front of its vast nose, hissing with the power of a natural thunderbolt as its owner trained its sights on the advancing Tangrowth. Probopass' tiny eyes narrowed victoriously, and with another boom it fired the massive yellow ball towards its foe, crackling dangerously with electricity as it homed in.

"Levine, roll!" yelled Leoric, but Tangrowth was already stampeding too quickly to slow down and move. "_Switch_!" he shouted, and Tangrowth's two arms slid back into its body, only to be replaced a moment later by a new pair that grew out at right angles to the rest of its body. As the Zap Cannon drew closer, Tangrowth thrust its new arms into the ground in front of it and pushed to the side, changing the Pokémon's course in an instant. As it crashed to the side and rolled upright, Probopass' attack sailed straight past it and kept going, and this time Magmortar was in its path.

"Protect, Colenzo! Conserve your lance for later!" Ari roared. Magmortar quickly halted its defensive and hit the magma below with a splash and a hiss, although it seemed to be right at home in the searing liquid rock. With a bellow, Magmortar summoned a shining green bubble around its body to counter the electric attack, and as the Zap Cannon collided with the bubble it sent a massive wave of air through the stadium, blowing Tangrowth's vines in all directions and sweeping some of the iron filings away from Probopass' compass nose. Magmortar growled and roared again, and the bubble swelled instantly, deflecting the Zap Cannon high into the air, where it exploded next to the artificial sun he had made at the battle's start.

"Good defence, now use your _own_ Solarbeam, this time on _Probopass_!" he yelled encouragingly. Magmortar disintegrated its Protect and retracted the claws in its right arm, aiming the barrel of the cannon straight at Probopass and charging a huge white ball of sunlight in front of it.

"Metagross, anchor; now!" snapped Jane, and the Iron Leg Pokémon wedged its four claws into the ground, securing itself into the battlefield just as Magmortar gave an almighty roar and launched the Solarbeam, a thick pillar of light as it ripped through the open air towards Probopass.

"Probopass, _Magnet Pull_!" Will ordered. Probopass began to glow with white light, and not just because Magmortar's Solarbeam was drawing closer. Seamlessly, the Compass Pokémon rose off the ground and sped towards Metagross, whose red eyes were screwed shut with exertion as it struggled to keep its golden claws planted in the ground. Magmortar's Solarbeam flew past Probopass' side and smashed harmlessly into the wall, making Ari curse under his breath and Jane sneer arrogantly at his discomfort.

"Whoa, what was _that_?!" Dawn shouted, her jaw dropping with unhidden shock. Closing her mouth, she looked around to see that everyone else was looking at the display in a similar way, and so she pushed Brock in the shoulder, snapping him to his senses. "Brock, any idea on what that was?" she asked again.

"Hmm…" he rested his chin in his hand, thinking deeply about the attack. "Jane had her Metagross '_anchor_' itself in the ground before Will's Probopass used its Magnet Pull ability… ah, I've got it—!" he snapped his fingers again, turning around to face Dawn. "Metagross wedged itself into the ground, and Probopass used its Magnet Pull to attract Metagross towards it, because Magnet Pull draws Steel-types! But Metagross wasn't going anywhere, so Probopass ended up pulling _itself_ towards _Metagross_ instead of the other way around!"

"Wow, that's a great move by the Wrights," Ash said, having heard the entire explanation, and he was impressed by the tactic. "I'll have to remember _that_ one…" he added to himself, as Tangrowth jumped back to stand next to Magmortar, and on the opposite side of the arena, Metagross and Probopass repositioned themselves in a similar way.

"Metagross, use Icy Wind!" Will bellowed. Metagross opened its fang-lined mouth wide and spewed a gust of frozen air across the field, the moisture in its way turning to ice crystals as the attack swept over the arena.

"Colenzo, streamline and use your Flame Body!" countered Ari quickly. Leoric's Tangrowth took a precautionary step backwards as Magmortar leapt in front of it, so that the two Pokémon were standing in a straight line to oppose the oncoming blizzard wind. With a sneer on his mouth, Magmortar retracted both sets of claws and pointed his arm-cannons directly in front of his body, shooting a soft wave of fire against the Icy Wind, which reduced both attacks to a line of water that ran lengthways across the battlefield.

"Step out and use Solarbeam, Levine! Go for Metagross!" Leoric commanded.

"You too, Colenzo!" followed Ari, pointing at the Iron Leg Pokémon. Both Pokémon stepped to the side – Magmortar to the left, Tangrowth to the right – and began charging their attacks, which quickly grew as large as the Pokémon themselves. As though responding to some invisible signal, both Pokémon released their attacks at the same time, two powerful beams of sunlight that spiralled around each other in a beautiful double-helix as they shot over the battlefield towards Metagross.

"Probopass, protect Metagross with Magnet Pull!" Will shouted, his eyes reflecting the light of the dual Solarbeam attacks.

"_Prooooooo………_" hummed the Compass Pokémon, its body glowing just as it had before. But this time, instead of moving towards Metagross, it was the Iron Leg Pokémon that was lifted off the ground and pulled towards Probopass, just as Brock had explained to Dawn only a minute before. And like before, the Solarbeam attack missed its target completely and crashed into the boundary wall with a bang and a cloud of smoke, Ari and Leoric hissing between their teeth as Metagross floated towards its fellow Steel-type.

"Great work, Probopass! Now, swing Metagross into that Tangrowth!" Will roared excitedly, pointing at the massive Vine Pokémon. Probopass boomed again and swung Metagross around its circular head three times before blasting it with more magnetism, and Metagross roared as it was catapulted across the field towards Tangrowth, its silver arms outstretched and its crimson eyes burning maliciously.

"Pummel that Tangrowth with Meteor Mash, Metagross!" Jane hissed savagely. Metagross stuck its foremost claw in front of its mouth and roared again, and the already silver claw shone with brilliant white light that blinded Tangrowth, who hid its eyes behind a sheet of thick vines. The momentum of Probopass' Magnet Pull carried the Iron Leg Pokémon right over the top of its Grass-type foe, and with a bone-crunching smack Metagross drove its claw down onto Tangrowth's head, slicing through the vines covering its eyes. Tangrowth screeched in pain, a hideous sound that would have made Metagross cry out if it had ears of its own, but the Steel-type crashed down onto the ground behind Tangrowth as the latter backed away, its vines already beginning to regenerate in the bountiful sunlight.

"Yowsers! That had to hurt!" gasped the announcer, and the crowd mirrored his sentiments with hisses and bracing expressions. "Even if Levine regains those vines, I don't think it's gonna be regaining the Hit Points it lost from that Meteor Mash!"

"Colenzo, counter with Flamethrower!" Ari yelled, and Magmortar instantly swooped down on top of Metagross, pinning the Pokémon under his weight and aiming his arm-cannon down towards its main body. With a hiss like meat on a spit, Magmortar blasted Metagross with an intense jet of red and yellow flames straight directed onto its metallic face. Metagross bellowed in agony and blasted the battlefield with a pulse of psychic energy that knocked Magmortar high into the air, but the latter simply righted himself in mid-air and guided his way towards the ground using his boosting technique.

"Levine, wrap Metagross up with your Power Whip!" Leoric shouted. Tangrowth nodded its shaggy head, and its left arm shot forwards in an instant, the crimson tips of its hand glowing silvery white. The Power Whip fastened itself around one of Metagross' legs, but Metagross, sensing what might happen next, dug its other three legs deep into the surface of the arena, anchoring itself in place and preventing any chance of being thrown about by its opponent.

"Pulley time! Spin and launch yourself at Probopass for a Payback!" smirked Leoric, making full use of Metagross' mistaken intentions. Tangrowth threw itself forwards at Metagross, flicking the wrist of the arm still wrapped around Metagross' leg, and with barely a push off the ground it launched itself across the arena at lightning speed. It unhooked the arm attached to Metagross and shortened it to be the same length as the right arm, which was now glowing with a dark energy as it flew towards Probopass, who was still motionless on the field.

"Probopass, use Earth—!" Will began, but he was cut off as Jane smacked him across the back of the head.

"If you attack it now, Payback's going to double in power!" she hissed, although her tone was bracing as she watched Tangrowth punch Probopass in the side of the head with a wicked sound, much like the sound of a whip being cracked across a bull's back. The force of the blow knocked Probopass backwards, and it was only stopped from hitting the rear wall because it fired a shockwave of magnetic energy which repelled it from the boundary.

"Are we good _now_?!" Will asked his sister irately, shaking his head in anger. "Probopass, use Earth Power on Magmortar!" he ordered. Probopass' blue eyes glowed a deep, ochre-red colour, and a moment later the earth rumbled and quaked from under the Compass Pokémon's body. Magmortar immediately boosted into the air, narrowly avoiding a mass of spiked boulders that rose out of the ground that he had been standing on less than a second earlier. The Blast Pokémon smirked and jettisoned more air from his cannons to outrace the rocks as they chased him through the sky.

"Now, catapult Metagross upwards!" Will bellowed, and Metagross felt its bulky body being swung upwards by its teammate's Magnet Pull. Tucking its arms into their flying positions above its head, Metagross spun like a discus as it homed in on Magmortar, who was still flying to escape the _other_ missiles still tracking it.

"Come on, Magmortar, turn around! It's right on your tail!" Ash roared, cupping his hands over his mouth in a vain attempt to make the Fire-type hear him.

"Metagross, ready your Meteor Mash!" Jane shrieked, and the Iron Leg Pokémon's claws all began to glow with fierce light as it closed in on Magmortar, still completely oblivious to the threat behind him.

"Levine, stop Metagross with a Focus Blast!" Leoric roared, his gaze following the two aerial Pokémon. Tangrowth cupped its hands and readied another blast of energy, this time a spinning ball of blue and white, and with a muffled roar it swung its arms forwards in a round-arm action, spinning the Focus Blast even more as it whizzed through the air. Metagross' red eyes swivelled around to find the source of the noise, but the attack struck home and knocked the Steel-type sideways with a loud bang and a cloud of smoke. Magmortar abruptly turned its head and instinctively moved its arms upwards, shooting down to avoid the source of the explosion, which destroyed the stone missiles from Probopass' Earth Power.

"Yes! Great shot, Levine!" Leoric cheered, thumping the air with his fist. As Metagross crashed to the ground, trailing a plume of smoke from the point of impact with the Focus Blast, a huge cloud of dust was kicked up from the force of the landing, and at the same time, Magmortar's Sunny Day flashed twice and exploded, leaving the entire battlefield in a relative half-light compared to the harsh brightness that the competitors had been used to for the duration of the battle.

"Colenzo, quick! Restore your Sunny Day, while Metagross is out of the way!" Ari yelled hurriedly, his eyes flicking from his Pokémon to his opponents'. Magmortar raised his arm towards the heavens again and began gathering energy for his weather effect, and Leoric's Tangrowth jumped in front of its teammate to protect it from any attacks that Will's Probopass might send to stop him.

"Probopass, knock Tangrowth aside with Earth Power, then stop that Magmortar with Zap Cannon!" he cried, pointing at the two Pokémon standing on the other side of the arena. Probopass' eyes glowed a fierce red for the second time, and this time Tangrowth wasn't quick enough to escape the clutches of the spiny rocks that threw themselves out of the ground, knocking the Vine Pokémon aside like a green rag doll. Before the Grass-type had even crashed in a heap to the ground, Probopass had already prepared its Zap Cannon, and with a deep, gonging sound it blasted the ball of electricity straight across the ground, whipping up a cloud of dirt as it sped towards Magmortar.

"_Air Lance_!" roared Ari, clenching his fists. Magmortar didn't need to be told twice, and in the time it took Jane to curse with rage at the declaration, the Fire-type had already superheated the atmosphere around his body to the same unbearable degree as before, and another puddle of molten rock formed underneath his feet. Probopass' Zap Cannon hissed with power as it neared its target, but all too soon it had fizzled out against the sheer force of the rapidly moving particles in the air, stopping the thunder-ball cold.

"This is horseshit!" Jane seethed, stamping the ground defiantly.

"And Ari's Colenzo blows yet _another_ attack into thin air with its Air Lance technique!" roared the announcer, thumping his hands on his desk. "I tell you, that's some really poor play on Jane's behalf; ordering a Zap Cannon when she _must_ have known perfectly well that it'd be melted away!"

"Metagross, use Meteor Mash on DeVarro's Magmortar! Let's see its precious _Air Lance_ protect it now!" Jane shrieked, her ringing voice making the audience cover their ears. Metagross, its eyes glinting evilly in the overwhelming sunlight, scuttled forwards on its powerful legs, its clawed feet leaving tiny pockmarks in the earth as it charged towards Magmortar. As it neared its foe, the Iron Leg Pokémon jumped high into the air and raised a claw high, its length gleaming with white brilliance as its owner came down towards the Fire-type.

"Power Whip!" Leoric shouted, pointing at the descending Pokémon, and Tangrowth's vines shot forwards from its body, wrapping themselves around Metagross' Meteor Mash-induced claw and, with no more than a casual flick of the wrist, the Vine Pokémon brought its prey crashing back down to earth with a loud bang. "Great work, Levine!" he roared, giving his Pokémon the thumbs-up.

"Colenzo, charge up a high-powered Flamethrower, while Metagross is incapacitated!" Ari commanded.

"_Maggg…mor…_" grunted the Blast Pokémon, pointing his left cannon squarely at the small hole in the ground that Metagross had created, and a bright red light began to glow from inside the barrel.

"This looks like it could be it for Metagross!" said the commentator in a dramatic voice, and the crowd leaned forward expectantly to see Magmortar deal the finishing blow.

"Probopass, use a Magnet _Bomb_!" Will shouted, his eyes darting between his and his sister's Pokémon. "Knock Tangrowth into Magmortar!" he added, pointing at the Vine Pokémon still holding Metagross in its Power Whip attack. Probopass' red helmet-disc was wrapped in a bright blue aura, and a huge ball of spinning, steel-grey light formed above the Pokémon's head, winking at the crowd with its brilliant lustre.

"_Pro-bo-PASS!_" roared the Compass Pokémon, thumping its great head forwards, and the Magnet Bomb rocketed across the arena and slammed into the ground next to Tangrowth. The Grass-type was launched off its feet, and its continuing grip on Metagross swung it around in a wide arc, which knocked it dead straight into Magmortar's side. Magmortar's tiny eyes widened as he was thrown off-balance, and in his haste to steady himself the Blast Pokémon prematurely fired his Flamethrower. The stream of searing fire ripped through Tangrowth's vines – the ones still using Power Whip on Jane's Metagross – and cut the connection, making their owner recoil in annoyance as it was thrown further backwards.

"Now, Metagross! While they're down, _hit that blasted Magmortar_ with Meteor Mash!" Jane roared, her silvery-blonde hair standing on end. Metagross roared and pounced upwards, away from the crater, and as its claw shone white it destroyed the half-vine still hanging limply from its body from Tangrowth's Power Whip. The Iron Leg Pokémon threw itself forwards without hesitation, smashing its glowing claw into Magmortar's exposed jaw and sending the Fire-type sprawling across the field in a crumpled heap.

"And Metagross strikes back, _once_ _again!_ I tell you, with the calibre of Pokémon and strategy we're seeing right now, you just can't count either team out at the moment!" shouted the commentator, his voice barely echoing over the roar of the crowd as Magmortar struggled back to his feet. "There's a reason that these are the top two duos in the world, and it's being put on show this afternoon with some excellent teamwork!"

"Reposition, Colenzo!" Ari yelled, and Magmortar jumped to the side to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Leoric's Tangrowth, who growled ferociously at Metagross as the latter bared its fangs.

"Metagross, you too!"

"_Meta—?! Gross metagross!"_ bellowed the Iron Leg Pokémon, disdainful that Jane was ordering it to retreat, but it obeyed her commands and hovered back to stand alongside Will's Probopass, and two pairs of eyes narrowed at the sight of the two pairs on the other side of the arena, just as their Trainers all did the same.

"Colenzo, Solarbeam on Metagross!" Ari commanded, nodding his head at Leoric, who smirked and faced his opponents again.

"Levine, Solarbeam on Probopass!" he roared, throwing his arm forwards.

"Brother, do something!" Jane shrieked, watching apprehensively as her opponents' Pokémon charged their bright spheres of sunlight, which were growing by the second. "Have Probopass keep my Metagross out of harm's way! It's taken more of a beating than your Pokémon has!" she reasoned, and Will nodded his head after a moment's consideration.

"You heard her, Probopass! Use Magnet Pull to keep Metagross safe!" he declared, giving his sister a polite smile. Probopass nodded its enormous head and wrapped itself in a white aura, lifting Metagross into the air and shifting the silver Pokémon's body behind its own, just as Magmortar and Tangrowth launched their attacks. Two colossal beams of blinding light speared over the battlefield with a rooster-tail of earth and air in their wake, and with the sound like a cannon-blast they collided into Probopass as one, launching the Compass Pokémon high into the sky.

"Probopass, use Protect to cushion the fall!" Will yelled worriedly, his eyes tracking his Pokémon as it fell like a stone. As Probopass neared the halfway point in its dive, a huge green, swirling bubble formed around its body and kept pace with the plummeting Steel-type even as it hit the ground with a sickening thud, blasting the front few rows closest to the ground with a shower of dirt and rubble. Both Wright siblings crossed their fingers and waited for a sign of survival from the Compass Pokémon, and a moment later they high-fived as its round helmet-disc appeared over the top of the dust cloud.

"Metagross—!" Jane shouted, turning her attention back to her own Pokémon, now that its partner seemed unharmed, "hit those two with another Icy Wind attack!"

"_Metagrohh!_" bellowed the silvery Pokémon, its red eyes turning the same icy shade of blue as its Trainers, and another torrent of frozen air spewed forth from its mouth and spread across the field, its damp chill reaching even up to the spectators in the crowd, who all clustered together just a little more tightly.

"Colenzo, take the blow with Flame Body!" Ari barked gruffly.

"Now, Probopass! Use Magnet Pull to throw Metagross at those two!" Will bellowed, just as Magmortar jumped in front of Tangrowth and sneered, blasting the incoming Icy Wind with its own current of air, causing another seamless line of steam and water to form where the two attacks met in mid-air and mid-motion. By the time the steam had dissipated into the air, Probopass had already raised Metagross off the ground with its magnetism, and with a buzzing whir the Compass Pokémon blasted its compatriot across the arena, the latter savagely grinning as it outstretched its clawed legs.

"Metagross, finish our opponents off with your ultimate attack! Use _Explosion!_" Jane screamed, fire dancing in her cold blue eyes as Metagross began to swell and glow with blinding, destructive white light. With a ferocious snarl, Ari's Magmortar jumped into the Iron Leg Pokémon's path of his own accord and tackled it around the mid-section, hanging on for dear life as a huge green bubble encapsulated the pair of them.

_KA-BOOM!!!_ With a sound that made the entire stadium shake and groan under the ensuing shockwave, an enormous explosion tore through the air and tore the green bubble to shreds, continuing across the arena and kicking up a whirlwind of dust, earth and debris. Ari, Leoric, Jane and Will all shielded their faces with the arms as the whole battlefield was covered in a thick blanket of smoke that obscured everything between the two pairs of Trainers.

"What just _happened?!_" Ash exclaimed, clutching Pikachu tightly as his hair was whipped against his face in the wake of the explosion.

"Metagross just used its own energy to KO itself, and I think it took Magmortar and Tangrowth with it…" Anabel shouted, her ears ringing from the noise. "What an Explosion…!" she added breathlessly, squinting as she – along with the other hundred-thousand spectators in the stands – looked down into the swirling expanse of grey-green that was the arena.

"Look!" Max squeaked, pointing at a spot halfway between the centre and the red Trainer box where Ari and Leoric were standing. Hearing the single word, everyone within earshot focused their attention on the point, just as the smoke began to wane and clear. With a fortuitous gust of wind, the smoke was blown away to reveal Jane's Metagross and Ari's Magmortar slumped over each other's unconscious bodies, swirls in their eyes and vacant expressions on their faces.

"What—?! But, _how_—?!" Jane howled, her hands tugging at her hair as the referee thrust his flags into the air.

"Magmortar and Metagross are unable to battle!" he declared, and the crowd greeted the statement with a deafening blast of noise, still readjusting after the colossal sound of the Iron Leg Pokémon's Explosion attack. Ari and Jane both sighed and held their PokéBalls at arm's length, recalling their Pokémon to them and muttering proud words of encouragement before clipping them to their belts.

"I don't see Leoric's Tangrowth anywhere…!" Misty mumbled, both she and May looking at the scene with concern from opposite sides of the row of seats. "Come on…" she willed, her hands balled into fists.

"Probopass, blow that smoke away with Magnet Bomb! Let's show the crowd that we've won!" Will shouted cheerfully, punching the air with his fist. Probopass dutifully blasted the centre of the arena with a second spinning globe of blue-white energy, which blew the smoke to the far corners of the arena. As the cloud swept back over Ari and Leoric's heads, the crowd got a full glimpse of a huge, crimson-coloured shape jutting out above the mass of green-grey, and they instantly stood on their feet, jaws gaping with disbelief.

"That's impossible!" Jane roared, as Leoric's Tangrowth emerged from the smoke – amazingly, absurdly – completely unharmed from the force of Metagross' kamikaze move.

"Tangrowth is still able to battle! Let the match continue!" the referee shouted, sliding his flags back to their holsters as the stands erupted with noise for the second time in the space of a minute. Whilst Leoric smirked and did little more than give his Vine Pokémon a casual thumbs-up, Ash turned to his friends, astounded by what he was witnessing.

"Can anyone explain what Tangrowth is doing still standing?" he croaked, letting a sheepish laugh escape him.

"That bubble that we saw right before the Explosion…" Dawn muttered, her brow creased, "you don't think that Colenzo would have used _Protect_ to try and, I dunno, contain the force of the blast?"

"But Ari never gave the order for Magmortar to do _anything_," Max retorted, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I see your point, though… he must have thought of it all by himself…" he added, a twinkle in his eyes, "what a smart Pokémon…!"

"Smart is right!" Ash exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "Come on, Leoric! Show those Wrights that they're wrong! Show 'em why you and Ari are number one!" he bellowed, his voice carrying surprisingly far in the hushed lull of the crowd.

"Win it for us!" May and Misty both squealed at the same time, standing six seats apart.

"You heard the ladies, Levine!" Leoric shouted, back on the stadium's floor. "Trap that Probopass with some Power Whip prowess!" he commanded.

"_Tangrowwwwww!_" screeched the Vine Pokémon, and at least a dozen thick green vines erupted from the sides of its body, arcing over the torn-up battlefield and snaring themselves on all parts of Probopass' metallic body. With another roar of exertion, Tangrowth pulled its vines backwards and started to, slowly but surely, drag the Compass Pokémon towards itself, as much as the latter tried to resist it.

"Don't _struggle,_ Probopass; _sever_!" Will groaned in frustration. "Use Zap Cannon on those vines!"

"Levine, for every vine it cuts away, send two more to hold it down!" Leoric laughed, watching with amusement as Probopass desperately hacked away at the vines with balls of electricity, and the three Mini-Noses frantically pecked away at the thick tendrils. True to its Trainer's word, Tangrowth shot forwards more vines to completely cover its target, and within a minute it looked as though there was a second Tangrowth on the field, being inexorably pulled towards the first.

"Now, Focus Blast! Close range!" Leoric roared, pointing forwards. Tangrowth's two proper arms – the ones with the blood-red ends – curled around at the Pokémon's side, and the twinkling blue ball of energy formed between its outstretched fingers, whilst Will's Probopass continued to thrash against its bonds, shredding vines left and right by the dozen. Narrowing its beady black eyes, Tangrowth whipped more tendrils around its victim's body to replace those that had been severed, and, try as the Compass Pokémon might, it wasn't able to break free this time around; only its eyes were visible from behind the seething wall of green, which watched helplessly as its opponent charged its Focus Blast to full size.

"_Fire!_" Leoric bellowed, his voice amplified by the voices of the entire crowd, who all roared the same word in his echo. Tangrowth growled and lobbed its attack right into the belly of the Steel-type, blowing most of the vines covering it smithereens and hurling Probopass across the stadium with a pained hiss. The crowd stamped and stood to their feet as Probopass crashed onto the ground next to its Trainer with a dull _clunk_, the mess of iron filings below its nose slipping sideways and clattering onto the battlefield in a spiralled heap as their owner's body moved no more.

"Probopass is unable to battle! Tangrowth is the victor!" said the umpire in an even tone, raising his red flag to a blast of cheering and applause from the crowd. "The winners of this Tag Team quarter-final are Ari DeVarro and Leoric Reiger!"

"No! _No! Not again!_" Jane howled, her eyes shaking crazily as her brother sighed and recalled his Probopass from the field, rolling his eyes at her pityingly.

"_Boo-yah!_ We got mad skills!" Leoric cried, thumping his chest with his fist and giving the crowd the peace sign. "_Mad skil—!" _Ari slapped him across the back of the head with a loud _thwack_ noise, and Leoric stuffed his hands into his pockets and shrugged his shoulders. "I mean—a difficult challenge, but one that a trained Pokémon battler can overcome with faith in his Pokémon's abilities," he said in a professional voice, smirking at Ari as he called Tangrowth back to its PokéBall. "How's that?"

"Personally I think you made less of an idiot of yourself when you said '_boo_-_yah'," _he laughed, cuffing Leoric around the neck as the pair walked towards the centre circle – dodging the two patches of magma that Magmortar had left – to congratulate the Wrights on their brilliant battling.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Will Wright belongs to Billiford300.**

***Leoric finishing quotes are taken from the PS2 game "Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando (2)", after Ratchet completes the star-fighter storyline mission on the Feltzin System.**

**Quiz:**

***Which Pokémon in the battle is not ordered to use four **_**attacks**_**?**

**Okey-dokey, thanks for reading the latest chapter! Hopefully now everyone can be happy that I really am back on the trail, hehe. ****Anyways, please review with any opinions, quotes, thoughts, or ANYTHING at all that you might want to suggest to happen in future chapters. ****Thanks again to everyone who will/has/is review(ed/ing) the chapter. Ciao for now!**


	68. Dinner And A Showman

**CHAPTER 68 – DINNER AND A SHOWMAN**

Ash was leaning against a street-light pole, his head bowed, eyes closed, and his mind filled with frenzied strategies for tomorrow's fifth-round battle, when he heard an excited squeak from Dawn, who was standing next to him. Hearing a flurry of pounding footsteps and excited giggles from somewhere in front of him, he opened his eyes and looked up to see Ari and Leoric standing a few feet away, the former struggling with Dawn's weight after she jumped at him, and the latter smirking cockily as he stuck his foot behind Ari's legs, tripping him up and sending both he and Dawn crashing to the ground.

"_Piplup pip!_" huffed Dawn's Penguin Pokémon, puffing out her chest and staring daggers at Leoric, who backed away as he remembered the last time he'd evoked her anger. She swelled up her cheeks, and was just about to blast Leoric with a Bubblebeam, when Dawn scooped her up and placed her gently on her white hat, muttering for some 'good-natured spirit' after the battle.

"Congratulations on your win, you guys!" Max said excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he looked up at the two Trainers – down in Ari's case, because he was still lying on the concrete. "It was _sooo_ awesome when Metagross used Tangrowth's Solarbeam against Magmortar, but that _Air Lance_ was unbelievable! And then you—!"

"Whoa, calm down!" Leoric said sheepishly, although his grin was growing wider the longer the boy talked. "Ari's done a lot of training with his Magmortar, and I'd have been pretty ticked off if he _hadn't_ used Air Lance!"

"But those finishing moves were phenomenal!" Dawn shouted, her sapphire eyes sparkling just like Max's. "When Jane had her Metagross use Explosion on both of your Pokémon, Colenzo jumped in and sacrificed himself to save Tangrowth, just like that!"

"Where did he get that idea, anyways?" Leoric puzzled, folding his arms and looking over at Ari suspiciously. "I'm happy for the fact that Levine was able to win the battle because of it, but I don't remember you issuing Magmortar with any orders…"

"What can I say?" he answered sheepishly, shrugging his hands. "I mean, Horazon threw himself in front of Dawn to save her; who's to say that Colenzo couldn't do that for a friend? Besides, I trained him to think on his own, so that he won't _need_ to listen to me when the time comes," he added half-heartedly, pretending to be interested in something in the distance over Ash's shoulder, but he looked around when he felt someone throw their arm around his shoulders.

"Well, that's Ari for you," Anabel giggled, looking at the others. "Always trying to teach others to be selfless, just like he is! Always was, always will be," she added with another laugh, pinching his hat from his head and jamming it down over her own lavender locks of hair. "_I wonder what I can do to put others first this time_," she grunted, in her attempt at Ari's jagged tone of voice.

"Ha-ha, very _not_ funny," Ari growled, snatching at his hat, but Anabel ducked under his arm and stepped swiftly to the side. "Come here, you!" he added, playfully reaching for her arm to stop her and catching her by the fingers.

Ash felt a hot surge rise up from the bottom of his stomach, clawing its way through his insides and finally coming to rest in his brain, which made his face flush red and his eyes and jaw twitch suddenly as though he'd been stung. His hands, lying limply at his sides, curled themselves into fists as he saw Ari reach across and gently take his hat from Anabel's head, still grabbing her hand until he'd restored his headwear to its original place. But as suddenly as the flare had happened, it had disappeared as Ari dusted his hands on his jacket, leaving Ash confused and irritated. _What had just happened? What was it that caused that flash of heat? And why didn't Ari let go of Anabel's hand right away?_

"_Pika? Pii…?"_ Pikachu asked worriedly, waving his paw in front of Ash's eyes, which had momentarily been tinged with red.

"Huh? Ah, don't worry, Pikachu; it's nothing…" he muttered, pursing his lips and turning his attention back to the conversation.

"—used his vines to trap Will's Probopass, and it was game over the moment that happened; once my Levine latches onto his foe, they're gonna see that there's nowhere to go!" Leoric was saying proudly, jabbing a thumb into his chest. "Hey, that rhymes!"

"Rhyme or no rhyme, you and Ari have worked out some pretty impressive techniques for your two-on-two battles," Max grinned.

"Speaking of which, you learned that Air Lance technique from Blaine of Cinnabar Island, didn't you?" Brock asked curiously, running a hand through his spiky brown hair. "Ash, Misty and I saw his Magmar use an Air Lance to block Pikachu's Thunderbolt when we were in Kanto."

"Wow, you guys are pretty observant, aren't you?" Ari laughed, taking a Premier Ball and a regular PokéBall from his waist, holding each in a hand. "Yeah, Blaine taught Colenzo how to use Air Lance when I was in Kanto… two years ago, I think it was… Back then we both had a Magmar, and little Calli—" he tossed the white ball lightly in his right palm, "wasn't even born yet!" he added with another chuckle. "I actually had to use Blaine's own technique to beat him; I wanted to show him that Colenzo was a true battler, and it took me three attempts to finally beat his Pokémon."

"Three, really?" Ash asked sarcastically, as he pushed himself from the light-pole. "I only took two tries to earn my Volcano Badge. My Charizard knocked his Magmar out with a Seismic Toss right over the top of the volcano," he said, somewhat conceitedly.

"Wait, you have a _Charizard_?!" Ari asked loudly, dropping the Premier Ball onto the ground, where it released the tiny Magby with a flash of red. "That's pretty impressive… but wait a minute—" he arched his eyebrows and cocked his head to the side, "I haven't seen you use a Charizard at all in the tournament. Why wouldn't you have a powerful Pokémon like that in your team?"

"Ash left his Charizard in the Charicific Valley to train," Misty answered, and Ari nodded slowly.

"Well that explains everything," he smiled. "Why don't you ask the caretakers if they can let Charizard come and fight for you? I'm sure he'd be a valuable asset if you make it further into the Championships," he reasoned.

"That's a great idea! I don't see why you didn't think of it before, Ash!" May said happily, nudging her small rucksack further up her shoulder. "You should do it right now!"

"Ah, maybe tomorrow…" Ash muttered dismissively, waving the suggestion down. "I've already got my team for my match against Warbird, and the tactics won't work with Charizard. Besides, he's all the way in Johto! It'd take ages for him to get here, even at flying speed!"

"Actually, it'd only take about two days…" Max calculated, adjusting his glasses as his mind worked the route. "You could fly down from the Charicific during the day, stop at Alto Mare overnight, then fly through the Orange Islands the next day. Pick, say, Mikan Island to stay the night, and you could be here by nearly eleven the next morning."

"Really? Hmm, maybe I should call… but I'll do it tonight."

"Lazy," Misty snorted, rolling her eyes.

"So what _tactics_ are you going to be using against this Warbird character?" Anabel asked, having snuck behind Ash and making the latter jump up.

"Well, he's an aerial-based Trainer, so I'm going to force him to battle on the ground by opening with Sceptile," he explained, regaining his composure and gesturing with his hands. "Leoric and Ari's battle gave me the idea to open with Sunny Day; the extra heat will power up Sceptile's Solarbeam attacks, and also force Warbird's Pokémon to the ground in order to escape the hot winds in the air. Then, we strike with whatever we have!" he finished, clenching his fists confidently.

"_Pii pika!_" added Pikachu, sparking electricity from next to Ash's head.

"And what are your other Pokémon going to be?" she queried, resting her arm on his shoulder despite the height difference.

"Sceptile to open; Chimchar can blast them with more heat; Totodile's going to waterlog his bird Pokémon once the heat wears off; Pikachu's Thunderbolt will clip their wings pretty quickly, Staravia I'll use to even the field… and my sixth Pokémon will be… Nosepass!" he said hurriedly, counting them off on his fingers. "Purely because I want to test his abilities on the battlefield, and he can use electric attacks as well."

"Oh, that's right; you haven't shown us your new Pokémon!" Dawn said cheerily, putting Piplup down on the ground to talk to Calli again. "Show us, please?!" she pleaded, and she was quickly joined by Max, May and Brock, with differing degrees of begging between them. It took all of ten seconds for Ash to start laughing at their attempts, and he shook his head and pulled the new PokéBall from his belt and tossed it onto the ground, the Compass Pokémon hitting the ground with a loud thud.

"Nosepass, say hello to everyone, 'kay?" called Ash, kneeling down next to Nosepass. "This is Brock—" the dark-skinned Trainer waved warmly, and Nosepass bowed its head. "Next is Anabel—"

"It's good to meet you, Nosepass," she said brightly, squatting next to Ash and resting an outstretched finger on Nosepass' flat head. _It really is good to meet you. Ash is an amazing Trainer, and an even better person; you're in safe hands, and I should know._

"And these are Misty, May, Max, Dawn and Leoric," Ash continued, waving a hand towards each one as he said their names. The three girls all waved back at the Rock-type, Max instantly rushed forwards to study it closer, and Leoric gave it a short nod of approval, as Nosepass looked from one to the other. "Oh, and Ari," he added, pointing lazily at the Trainer standing next to Dawn.

"_Pip lup?"_ chirped Piplup, waddling forwards with Calli to stand in front of the larger Pokémon. "_Piplup pip…?"_ she asked, holding out a flipper, which Nosepass shook gently before knocking her back a step with a burst of magnetism. "_Piplup pip lup!_"

"Whoa, calm down, Piplup…!" Dawn warned, holding the Water-type back with her hand. "I think you and Nosepass have introduced yourselves; now let's just leave it at that, okay?"

"Good idea," Ash laughed, patting Nosepass on the head. "You've really gotta work on being a bit more polite, buddy," he added a little sternly, but he gave his new Pokémon a comforting smile before recalling it to its PokéBall. "Well—" he stood up and clipped the ball to his belt, "I'm starved after watching that battle!" he announced shamelessly, his stomach giving a huge rumble.

"Typical Ash," Misty muttered under her breath, hiding her face behind her hand.

"What's wrong with being hungry? I sure am," Leoric grinned, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Since Ari and I made it to the top four in the Tag Team – for the second time in as many years, I might add – we're taking you _all_ out to dinner tonight; our treat, unless you wanna be stingy, Ari!" he declared, to a round of cheers and beaming smiles from his friends, except Misty and May, who were competitively eyeing each other off from in front of Leoric.

Leoric, of course, was oblivious to all of it, his attention fixed on the others in the group as he continued. "So, I'll make the reservation, and we'll all meet up at seven-thirty. It's called the _Spigolo_ restaurant, and Ari should know the way there, so I'll go over to Ash's hotel and get you guys. Ari and Anabel can get the girls and Max, and make sure that we've got the table, alright?" he explained, offering a chance for people to voice their opinions.

"I don't think that Ar—" Ash began, but he cut himself off and looked quickly at Anabel to his left, who linked his arm with hers. "Uh… I don't think anyone's gonna be complaining about a free meal!" he finished, with a fake laugh.

"Hear, hear!" cheered Dawn, her Piplup waving her fins merrily from in front of her Trainer's chest.

"Alrighty then, let's head back to our rooms and get changed! It's a pretty high-end restaurant," Leoric said, brushing his hands down his clothes, "and we'd never be let in like this! So we all need to dress sharp." And with that, he and Ari moved towards their hotel to the west. After giving Ash a quick kiss on the cheek, Anabel quickly followed, leaving the original group of travelling companions by themselves.

"Well, no-one ever got anything done by standing around," Max shrugged, already moving at pace towards his hotel.

"Wait up, Max!" May shouted, and she and Misty quickly gave chase, disappearing into the ever-present crowds within moments. Ash looked after them for another few seconds, before shaking his head and turning back to Dawn and Brock.

"Brock, you could use this as some good experience for Nurse Joy…!" Dawn said cheekily, nudging him in the ribs with her elbow. "I dare you to try and charm the first pretty girl you see in there into giving you her phone number…"

"Care to make it interesting?" Brock replied, waving his wallet in front of her face. "Or maybe you'd rather lose to me some _other_ way, such as doing all the cooking and cleaning for the rest of the year!"

"Considering it's only for the next five or so days, that wouldn't be too bad…" Dawn muttered to herself, "so it's a deal! If you _can_ get a girl's number, I'll do all the work until New Year's. But if _I _win our little wager," she continued, an evil smirk on her lips, "then you have to… run through the streets in your underpants."

"That's insane!"

"Worried you're gonna lose?" she taunted.

"_Pip…?_"

"Of course not! You're on, Dawn!" Brock said angrily, putting his hand forwards. Dawn cockily shook it, and the two exchanged arrogant smirks before looking over at Ash, whose arms were crossed and was looking back at them with a pitying expression on his face.

"What?" they both asked.

"Are you two done?" he snorted. "Come on, Pikachu, I can't see this ending well," he said to Pikachu, about-facing and walking towards the cluster of buildings on the western horizon. "If they keep this up, we're gonna be the only ones not up to our noses in _Camerupt_ manure," he laughed.

* * *

"_Find your heart and free your mind, let's Cele-b-r-a-t-e~! If time goes by, just hit rewind, let's Celebi-r-a-t-e~!"_ hummed Leoric as he leant against the wall of the hotel elevator. Ari and Anabel had sprinted into the lobby before him, over-eager as always to change their outfits for their new _partners_, and in their haste they'd forgotten to hold the elevator open for him. As such, he was going up alone, or so he thought as the doors began to slide shut.

"_Time goes on and on… time goes on and on… time goes on and on~"_

"Hey, hold the door, would ya?!"

"Huh?!" Leoric's hand shot out and slid between the panels of the elevator door, making them open again and revealing the person who was trying to use them. "Oh, Wynter. What an odd coincidence," he muttered, as Wynter brushed past him and stood on the other side of the tiny cubicle, watching the doors slide shut again as the motor whirred to life.

"I don't believe in coincidences, personally," sighed the long-haired boy, looking at his reflection in the tinted glass on Leoric's side of the elevator.

"Then what _do_ you believe in, smart guy? The Ten Commandments of shampoo and conditioner?" he asked bitingly, with a suppressed snigger. _Hehe, that's a good one…_

"You can try and bury me with all your little jokes, but it's not gonna make a Wooper's eyeball of a difference," Wynter chuckled. "But us Americans, we believe in our own things, just like wherever it is you come from." After a short awkward silence, he continued. "This is the part where you say _where_ youcome from…"

"Thanks for the tip. I'm from the Hoenn region."

"Oh, so you're pretty much a local here!" Wynter said brightly, running a rough hand over his fringe to keep it out of his eyes. "This your first time? You look like a virgin, at any rate."

"_WHAT?!" _spluttered Leoric, brandishing his fists and advancing on Wynter. "What did you just say about me?!"

"I meant a virgin at the _tournament_, balls-for-brains; a first-timer!"

"Hey, I'll have you know that I won last year's Tag Team Trophy! I'm one-half of a World-conquering duo!" Leoric challenged, jabbing himself firmly in the chest with his hand. "This is my _second_ year at Ayers Island, for your information! I've never seen you around here before, though."

"Yeah, you got me there," he smirked, throwing up his hands in defeat. "I'm a first-timer. But come next week, the whole world's gonna know the name of Wynter Shinigami—"

"—And think that you're an ad for Xerox paper."

"Exact—_hey!_ Give it a rest with the origami thing, would you?!"

"Ah, take a chill pill," Leoric laughed, smacking Wynter in the shoulder with the back of his hand. He leant back on the railing, checking the red number on the display, which read 28 and meant there were still eight more floors to go, so he decided to pass the time with another question. "So I take it that you won your fourth-round match today?" he asked conversationally.

"Yep, six-five. A bit close for my liking, but my Scyther cut his opponents down like prime rib roast," Wynter said contentedly. "What about you?" he asked.

"Same, six-three," he replied, preferring the tiny discrepancy in the actual result. "I guess we're both through to the fifth round, by the sounds of it. If you make it through to the top sixteen – by some miracle, I might add – you'd better be facing me sometime early on. I wanna wipe that stupid grin off your face while I'm wiping the floor with your Pokémon," he said competitively, just as the elevator beeped and the doors slid open on the thirty-sixth floor.

"Well, here we are."

"And thank you for stating the completely obvious," Leoric laughed, motioning towards the open door. "Ladies first," he snickered.

"Whatever," chuckled Wynter, moving towards the door. As he came between Leoric and the floor panel, he ran his hands down and pressed every button from thirty-six onwards, right down to the lobby, and pushed Leoric with his other hand, knocking him onto the floor. "Just for the record, it's nothing personal. There should only be enough room on these elevators for _one_ arrogant Trainer, and as it happens, I'm out here!" he said mockingly, waving at Leoric as the doors closed shut.

* * *

Ash watched the last desperate rays of the sun, twinkling at him through the clouds and shining water, slide below the surface of the vast ocean spread out in front of him. He was leaning on a painted steel fence overlooking the south-western harbour, and as he took in the landscape, or rather seascape, around him, he could see a large cruise liner docking at the large port further north, with the words _S.S Whirl _painted on the side of the hull. From the broken loudspeaker echoing across the harbour towards him, Ash could tell that it was bringing passengers from South Mandarin Island in the Orange Archipelago. The thought of the Orange Islands brought back happy memories in Ash's mind, and he raised a hand to pat Pikachu on the back, lost in his thoughts.

"You reckon Tracey and the Professor are back in Pallet Town by now, Pikachu?" he asked softly, his brown eyes turning back to the ocean.

"_Piika pi,_" muttered the Electric-type, nodding his head. On Ash's other shoulder was his Chimchar, its tiny chest hidden behind a deep-blue vest, and the Chimp Pokémon gave a contented growl that Ash took to be a 'yes' as well. He gave his friends a tiny smile and turned around to face the rest of Ayers Island. A few hundred metres down the harbour road, he could already see the throngs of people gathering on the waterfront to eat at their favourite restaurants, and he spotted the distinctive sign bearing the word _Spigolo_ somewhere in the distance.

"Hey, you ready to chow down some great food?" asked a girl's voice beside him, and Ash turned his gaze to see Dawn and Brock standing alongside him, beaming at his clothes. He blushed at the thought of it; he was wearing a high-collared white shirt underneath one of Brock's dark-red dinner jackets, and although the ensemble did make him look more refined, especially with the huge amount of hair-gel he'd been forced to apply in order to make his rebellious hair not spike up, it made Ash feel like he was another person, and he wasn't particularly fond of this new personality. Fortunately, however, he'd been able to keep his faithful pair of blue jeans and shoes.

"Quit looking at me like I'm some circus trick, would you?" he said in an annoyed tone, fidgeting in his new outfit.

"_Pi pika!_" said Pikachu happily, flicking a paw at the tiny black bow-tie around his neck.

"Oh come on, you went in the Wallace Cup; this is hardly any different," Dawn reasoned, tucking a few stray blue hairs behind her ear. "Just another chance to wear another fabulous dress!" she added with a giggle, twirling on the spot. Brock had seen her trying on the lime-green dress she had been questioning the other over earlier in the day, and he was glad that she had chosen this one instead; it was a deep aquamarine-green that blended in perfectly with her hair and eye colour, with frilled sleeves that wound their way halfway towards the elbow, and a similar large frill that swept from the waist right down to her ankles, on which were a pair of dark-blue sandals.

"_Pip pip lup!_" squeaked Piplup, wearing an identical bow-tie to Pikachu if not for it being scarlet instead of black, as she hopped up into Dawn's arms mid-twirl. Standing on the ground next to Dawn was her Buneary, in the same vest that she had worn during the Hearthome Collection, and the same one that Dawn herself had designed. She performed a miniature pirouette of her own to catch Pikachu's eye, and when the two made eye contact she hid her face underneath her large, floppy ears and turned away, much to Pikachu's bemusement.

"Well at least we all picked something nice," whispered the dark-skinned breeder, running a hand along his jaw-line as Dawn finished her spin. He was handsomely fitted into a black leather jacket over his favourite scrub-green shirt, and he'd switched his long white pants for a set of jeans to match his jacket; unfortunately, they were at least a size too small and were cramping his legs to the point that he was starting to lose feeling in them, and he gingerly walked – a little bow-legged – towards Ash and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"I reckon _I_ won't have any problems landing a girl in these," he said pompously to Dawn, a braced grin on his face. "What do you think, Ash? Or maybe you'd like to throw your opinion in, Leoric?" he shouted over his shoulder, to the fair-haired boy leaning on the fence a few yards away.

"I think you should _both_ have to bolt around the island in your boxers for agreeing to the bet in the first place," Leoric snickered, turning around and resting his hands, covered in brown leather gloves with pearl knuckles, on the fence. He had donned a red-and-silver high-shouldered jacket over a zip-up green shirt, and a slim pair of dull blue jeans that ended at his traditional green shoes. "Come on, let's go greet the others before I eat Dawn's Buneary as an entrée," he added casually, pushing himself off the fence and walking across the promenade to the restaurant.

"Definitely," Dawn added with a vigorous nod, scratching her two Pokémon behind the ears as Buneary looked fearfully at Leoric. She, Ash and Brock all followed behind Leoric as they passed along the street, half-ignoring all the stares, pointed fingers and whispered comments that were coming their way. "Is it always like this?" she asked Leoric, who stopped and turned around to answer.

"Yeah it's always a bit of a drag trying to stay inconspicuous…" he admitted, shrugging his hands. "But I think the recognition outweighs the discomfort. Plus I never seem to get tired of all the screaming fan-girls," he chortled, digging his hands into their pockets as he continued to walk towards Spigolo.

"Now why can't _I _get girls to scream at me like that?" Brock asked rhetorically, making the others burst out with laughter as they came into the soft light of the restaurant, its huge sign bearing the slogan "_Spigolo: the best Italian cuisine in the East!"_. "Yum, an Italian restaurant! I haven't had Italian in so long…" he murmured, his mouth watering as the intoxicating smells wafted over to them from inside. He, Ash and Dawn were so entranced by the aromas that they didn't notice the other thing reaching their senses from within the restaurant's open doors.

"_Hey!_ I thought you wanted to _eat_ something, not drool by thinking about it!" Leoric shouted, waving his arm in front of their collective faces. "Ari and the others are in there, see?" he told them, pointing to a large, round table being crowded by a gaggle of young boys and girls, chatting animatedly to three figures amongst the five already seated. "Coming?" he asked impatiently, gesturing inside.

"Absolutely!" Ash replied, his stomach roaring, and together the foursome – eight including the Pokémon – strode into the restaurant towards their friends and the small children. "Hey guys, you ordered anything yet?" he asked, arriving at the table and sitting next to Anabel. "Wow…"

"What? Do you like my dress?" Anabel asked, a furious blush on her cheeks. Her dress was a flowing dinner gown that tickled at her high-heel-covered ankles, all of which were a deep amethyst colour that accentuated her lavender-coloured eyes and mauve hair, which was as rebellious as it ever was. She giggled at the open-faced gawk that Ash was giving her, and she leaned across to give him a sweet kiss on the cheek. "You're pretty fancy yourself, hotshot," she whispered in his ear, with another, more seductive giggle, which made Ash blush to the roots of his combed black hair.

"Ooh, you're Ash Ketchum, aren't cha?" asked one of the boys crowded around the edge of the table, his wiry blonde hair sticking out in all directions above his hawklike face. "You're my favourite Trainer, you and Anabel are!"

"Well, uh, thanks, I guess!" he said sheepishly, as Pikachu and Chimchar hopped on to the table. "But Anabel's probably the better Trainer out of the two of us, I think…"

"You two would make a great team, I say!" squealed the boy, with a wildly excited expression. "Speed and psychic!"

"What about Leoric and I? You think _we're_ a good team?" Ari asked cheekily, leaning his elbows on the table. He wore a dull purple shirt underneath a crimson overcoat with moss-green trim, and a long pair of bone-coloured pants, which he crossed from underneath the table.

The boy laughed coldly and shook his head, almost patronisingly. "Nah, I think you're a bit of a weirdo, actually," he said unabashedly, while the other kids behind him sniggered at the comment, but Ari took the insult in his stride and smiled politely back.

"Right, right… you said your name was _what_ again?"

"I didn't. And it's Ricky!"

"Okay, Ricky, so who would win in a one-on-one battle; Ash or Anabel?" he asked silkily, his eyes narrowing as Ricky took an uneasy step backwards.

"I—well… I know they could beat _you_!" he answered stubbornly, crossing his arms and contorting his face while his fellows laughed at him. "Shut up!"

"Hey, quiet down, you lot…" Ari said, quietening them down with a wave of his hand. "Tell you what, _Ritchie_—"

"It's _Ricky_!"

"I'll show you something," he continued, taking a PokéBall from his belt. "Now you kids pay attention," he added to the others, who craned in to see what was about to happen. "Galadriel… show our guests your disappearing trick," he commanded, opening the ball with a flash that startled the other adults in the restaurant. Ari's Gallade appeared out of the PokéBall and touched Ricky lightly with the tip of his blade, and the pair of them instantly disappeared with a flicker and a tiny gust of wind. Barely before the children could stare stupidly at the spot where the Pokémon had been, he reappeared and bowed to a round of applause from the children before being returned to his PokéBall by Ari.

"Go on, run along," he chuckled, watching the kids file outside one by one before turning to talk to Dawn. He heard the children yelping and screaming at each other outside, but he was too focused on Dawn to pay any attention, even as Leoric cast his eyes over to them and snorted.

"Idiots," Leoric sighed, throwing himself down next to Misty, who immediately edged as close as she could to him without shifting her outfit: a long red China-style dress with miniscule blue bows at the seams. "Mmm, nice dress, Misty…" he muttered under his breath, his mouth twitching into a smile as she whispered something inaudibly to him.

"Wow, look how everyone's so wonderfully dressed…!" May said suddenly, with a false high-pitched laugh, her white-gloved hands folded on her lap. She wore a white choker around her neck, and below her bare shoulders was a folded sapphire top, which gave way to a snow-coloured dress that fell just below her knees. Beside her, her brother Max was dressed the exact same way that he always did, with one minor difference; his baggy blue shorts had been switched for a longer pair that completely covered his small legs, and the top half of his shoes as well.

"Yeah, this is good, isn't it?" Brock smiled, taking a seat next to Ash. "Waitress, could we give my friends some menus, please?" he asked a teenage girl passing by with a Spigolo badge on her chest. "And why not give me your phone number while we're at it?" he added with a charming smile, which was lost on the girl as she rolled her eyes and marched away, throwing nine menus into his lap with a loud _smack_.

"Strike one, Brock," Dawn sneered, and she and Piplup stuck their tongues out at him as he sulked and passed the menus out to everybody.

* * *

Outside Spigolo, amongst the multitudes of happy couples and cheerful Trainers walking along the seaside path, Paul marched across the pavement with the trademark coldness that always accompanied his presence. His sharp eyes swept from left to right, taking in every detail that came his way only to disregard it a moment later. He was impatiently waiting for his fifth-round battle tomorrow morning, and he couldn't wait for the chance to crush his opponent as quickly as possible and make his way further towards the top sixteen, which was only two wins away. As close as he was to reaching the milestone, he was still itching for another battle even before his registered match; he was still simmering with rage at the incident in the warehouse the other night, and he needed a way to vent his ongoing frustration.

_Ignorant little cockroaches,_ he thought, his eye twitching as he bumped past a man in a spiked red biker's jacket. A flash in the space to his right broke his concentration, and he focused on an empty spot on the pavement, only a few feet away, just as a Gallade appeared with a hawk-faced boy at his side. The boy's head whipped from side to side in confusion, but the Pokémon had already disappeared with another small flash, and a round of applause from the restaurant behind told Paul that it had reappeared inside.

Striding past the startled boy, he squinted through the mess of dresses and shirts to see the Gallade being returned to its PokéBall, and a moment later the group of children in front of Ari ran out the door._ Speaking of cockroaches…_ Moving swiftly to the side, Paul let the tiny boys and girls shuffle out, giggling excitedly to each other as they spotted Ricky turning about on the spot outside.

"—him right for mouthing off to a world-class Trainer!" squeaked one of them, a girl with blonde pigtails, and the comment drew an angered response from Paul, who tore a PokéBall from his belt and opened it in a flash, his Weavile leaping out and brandishing its wicked claws at the girl.

"It'd be wise for you to know the difference between a _world-class Trainer_ and _that_—" Paul spat, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at Ari, and the girl trembled with tears as her friends scattered, "pathetic excuse of a human being. Now I suggest you run away like your friends before you say something to _really_ piss me off…" he muttered icily, watching with an almost savage pleasure as she ran screaming and crying down the street.

"_Wii wi…_" sniggered Weavile, picking at its teeth with a claw.

"Get back in your ball," Paul hissed, returning Weavile with a flash of red and turning around to see Ari and Dawn laughing as Brock was smacked in the face by a purple-haired woman who he'd been talking to. "Scum…" he seethed, reaching for a second PokéBall on his belt; the PokéBall that held his Torterra.

_What I wouldn't give to bring the world crumbling down around their shoulders, after everything that's happened…_ he thought bitterly, his eyes flashing from Leoric to Ash, and resting hatefully on Ari. _Just to pick them apart piece by piece… particularly after the aura._ His brow creased and his hands shook with anger as he remembered the events, and he subconsciously raised a hand to his still-tender nose. _That arrogant fool; he thought he could hurt me, but he was only saved by another weakling and his Magmortar. Then Ketchum had the nerve to touch Tina's necklace!_

"'_Brothers in arms_'…" he snorted quietly, throwing his head back as he dug his hands into his pocket and strode to a bench across the road, throwing himself down on it and wringing his hands through his purple hair. "_That's how it's always been…_ _you need heart!_ Pathetic!" he snapped, smashing his fist into the hard wooden seat. "Heart has nothing to do with it! How can he say that, with a family like his?! His mother's in denial; a drunkard! And his father…! No wonder he's—_argh_! W_hy won't you let me have vengeance on them, Father?!_" he screeched, clawing at his chest.

"That's it, I'm taking him out. Torterra—!" he snarled, reaching for the PokéBall again.

"I wouldn't do that…" giggled a voice, deathly quiet and honey-sweet, behind his ear. Paul stood at once and swung around, Torterra's ball in hand, to see a blonde-haired woman leaning over the bench he'd been sitting on. Her bright purple eyes twinkled at him from underneath her curls, which twirled around past her ears in two distinct bunches, and a purple-black flower was tucked in front of her ear. "Don't worry, I won't bite…" she whispered, standing upright.

"Who the hell are you?!" Paul roared, taking a step backwards.

"You can call me _Tulip_," said the woman, flicking at the flower on her ear. "I work for your father, Giovanni."

"Oh, so the old man didn't trust me working with Team Galactic, so he sent one of his agents to keep an eye on me, did he?!"

"Quite the contrary," giggled Tulip, advancing on him. "I came here because of… _personal_ interests. I wanted to see Giovanni's alleged traitor of a son, but now that I see it's really you, I'm inclined to think otherwise," she explained, smiling sweetly at him, and Paul was unnerved by her supposed kindness.

_You're like a Venus Fly-trap,_ he thought coolly, staring at her facial features. _You pretend to be generous, but I wonder what your real purpose is…_ "Well, it's good to know that _some_ Rockets can understand power when they see it," he growled, looking away.

Tulip gave a harsh laugh, her blonde curls swinging about next to her cheekbones. "Don't flatter yourself, _Paulie…_ I said you didn't seem like a traitor. You're still just a kid, and a pretty screwed-up kid at that! All that pointless anger at someone who doesn't even seem worth the effort… _tsk tsk_…_"_

"Oh, and _you_ know better, do you?!" Paul snarled.

"Damn right I do," she hissed, baring her teeth and moving her face closer to his. "You're nothing like your father; he knows how to handle his anger, he's responsible, he cares about those who work for him no matter _what_ appearances might say otherwise. You treat your Pokémon like toy soldiers who can be discarded like spoilt food, and I think it's pathetic."

"You're lecturing me about Pokémon? _You_?!" he spat, pushing her backwards. "You've got no right!"

"I have every right," she countered simply, folding her arms and looking coldly down her nose at him. "You think that your suffering makes you unique? That you're the _only_ one who's had loved ones killed at the hands of criminals? Sure, your mother's death was a bit of a blow for Giovanni, but he still had another—"

"_How dare you?!_" Paul seethed, his body shaking with rage as he threw his Torterra's PokéBall onto the ground, his Continent Pokémon thundering onto the pavement with the sound of a thunderclap, snapping its hooked beak at Tulip angrily. "Torterra, use—!"

"Not so fast, _Paulie_," Tulip sneered, her hand shooting out like lightning. A tiny pinprick of black hit Torterra between the eyes, and the enormous Pokémon convulsed and collapsed onto the ground in a heap, its eyes screwed shut in pain as it moaned weakly. "You try and hurt me with another Pokémon, and my next dart goes into your neck," she warned, her voice like ice. Paul's face showed his longing to strike at her, but he managed to keep himself in check, though his trembling fists made Tulip giggle childishly.

"You've got your daddy's temper, I see," she added. "But anyways, if you _really_ wanna take down that Imuto twerp—"

"—_DeVarro_," Paul corrected her, his jaw twitching violently.

"Really? He doesn't have his dad's name? That's pretty odd…" Tulip wondered, scratching her cheek with a gloved finger as she looked into the restaurant. "Although I guess it makes some sense… Ash doesn't have—his dad's name either."

"And by an odd coincidence, they're also both pathetic weaklings. Get to the point."

"My point is that you should gather some intel on Ari before you strike. In my experience, it pays to know your foe's exact weakness; you can slowly _torture_ him from the inside out. An Ariados will let its prey struggle within its web, wearing itself out, before it strikes and kills," she said silkily.

"Right, thanks for the advice," he hissed, his voice dripping with sarcasm and venom as he recalled Torterra to its PokéBall. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't make you pay for what you did to my Torterra."

"Because loyalty is everything in this world, and those who share loyalties need to work together. We're both loyal to the name of Mortiego, remember that," she advised, blowing him a kiss and turning away. Paul's eyes watched Tulip slip away into the cover of the crowd, and he took a PokéBall from his belt the moment she was out of his sight.

"Honchkrow, stay within range of Ari!" he hissed, opening the PokéBall, and his Big Boss Pokémon flew out to perch on his outstretched arm. "I want you to take note of everything he does until he returns to his hotel!" he instructed, taking heed to Tulip's words despite her arrogance. "That includes after he leaves that restaurant. Report everything back to me, understood?!"

"_Krow…_" nodded the bird, which flapped its wings and took flight, roosting on the Spigolo awning and grooming its wing with its huge beak. Paul nodded his head darkly and clipped Honchkrow's PokéBall to his belt, and looked back into the restaurant. Seeing Ari and Dawn exchange a quick kiss, he fought the urge to spit on the ground and shook his head, turning sharply and marching along the street back the way he came, the streetlamps and coastline throwing a myriad of shadows over his darkened eyes.

_I don't think there'd be any fitter way to wreak my havoc on Ari, _he thought, grinning for the first time in days. _Just wait, girl… soon you'll be the poison that eats away at his mind_…

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Even though Calli was a baby Pokémon, she can still be held in a custom PokéBall following the rules of the anime; Ash's Phanpy, May's Eevee and Brock's Happiny were all captured in PokéBalls **_**after**_** birth.**

***The real-world Spigolo restaurant can be found in central Sydney, and it's really good; you should go there sometime if you live near it (and if you can forgive my shameless cross-promoting)!**

***Leoric's humming in the elevator is part of the chorus of the English ending song of Pokémon 4Ever – Cele-B-R-A-T-E (IMO, the best song they made, on par with the original opening theme of the anime).**

**Quiz:**

***Which main anime character owns the Pokémon equivalent of a Venus flytrap?**


	69. Not What You Think

**CHAPTER 69 – NOT WHAT YOU THINK**

"Mmm… thank you!" Ash said excitedly, licking his lips as a waitress handed him a huge banana split and cleared the rest of the group's dinner plates from the table. Even after consuming enough beer-battered prawns to feed a large family, he still couldn't wait to get stuck into his dessert, and he handed Pikachu and Chimchar a large spoon each and clinked them against his own. "Let's get stuck into it, eh?!" he suggested, carving out a large portion of cream-topped banana.

"Here, allow me to offer some help, miss… Jenna!" Brock said assertively to the waitress, peering at her Spigolo badge and standing to his feet. Jenna beamed at him and allowed him to gather up Ari's half-finished calamari – despite the protests of Dawn, who was still working through it – and the rest of the plates and bowls on his side of the table. "That's a beautiful name you have, Jenna. Such a name should be treated to an equally beautiful time, so how about I take you out later tonight for a coffee once you finish your shift?" he offered, the usual love-struck look in his eyes, and he was thankful that he'd left Croagunk's PokéBall at the hotel for once.

"I don't date customers," Jenna replied coolly, snatching all of Brock's plates away and marching to the kitchens on her own. Brock stared despondently after her, his arms still hanging stupidly in the air as though they were still supporting the plates.

"Strike eight, Brock," Dawn snickered, while she and Piplup edged towards Ash and Pikachu's banana split. Ash caught on, though, and shiftily moved the dessert bowl closer to himself and further away from them, stopping any chance of the two girls stealing his food. Buneary, however, took no notice of the dessert, and her sole focus seemed to be in trying to grab Pikachu's attention towards her; something she was either doing abysmally, or that his attention was solely on the food still to be devoured.

"Oh come on, Dawn; give Brock some slack. I'd have said yes if I was a chick," Leoric joked, stuffing the last piece of domino cake – rich dark chocolate topped with white chocolate buttons – into his mouth and licking his fingertips. "Mind you, I'm eternally glad I'm a guy in this kind of situation," he added with a wide grin, his voice thick with chocolate. As he gulped down the last of it, he noticed Misty trying to catch his eye from the seat next to his, and he glanced slyly in her direction to see her running her tongue back and forth along her upper lip.

Leoric's eyebrows immediately flying into his blonde fringe, he glanced around at the others sitting at the table; Ash, Dawn and their Pokémon were fussing over the banana split; Anabel and Ari were talking about… something… and Max was still laughing at Brock's failed attempt to charm the waitress. May, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen, and he assumed that she had gone to the bathroom sometime earlier. _Maybe to powder her nose, or whatever it is those girls _really_ do in there,_ he thought smarmily, running a hand along his chin before looking back at Misty, who was still doing the same thing towards him as before.

_Alright then, Misty, I'll play your game,_ he decided cockily, flicking his hair away from his eyes and giving her a charming wink and a subtle upwards flick of the mouth. A childish laugh rang out through his mind when he saw a tinge of pink pass over her cheeks, and he ran his hands through his hair again. "Man, I absolutely loved dinner tonight…" he said aloud, blowing a loud breath and throwing his arms to the sides, letting the fingers on his hand rest on the table rim halfway between himself and Misty. "Pity I've gotta pay for it, eh?" he added, to a round of tired laughter.

"Well we're all very _grateful_ that you took us all out to dinner," Misty said sweetly, her hand slithering up from her lap to rest next to his, her finger sliding between two of his. She winked back at Leoric, and ran her tongue along her lips again, only this time the others saw it and laughed again.

_Wait, what?!_ "What's so funny?" Leoric asked wildly, his hand falling away from Misty's as his eyes probed over the table. "Come on, what is it?!"

"You've got chocolate crumbs all over the edge of your mouth," giggled a voice in his ear, and he snapped his head around to see May standing over him with a napkin in her hand. "Honestly, you eat messier than Ash…" she tittered playfully, sweeping most of the crumbs away with the small white cloth.

"Hey, no-one can take that title away from me!" Ash challenged, halfway through a spoonful of banana and cooked batter, while Pikachu and Chimchar nodded their heads vigorously, both their faces obscured by a thick paste of cream. May sighed and shook her head, before grabbing Leoric's chin and moving it into the light.

"Whoops, missed a spot," she muttered, wiping away at the corner of his mouth with her thumb. Her blue eyes flicked past Leoric's hairline to Misty, whose face was matching her dress in colour, and whose expression made it likely for her to start throwing something any second, so she gave Leoric a tiny smile and sat back down in her seat next to Max, who had buried his face behind his hand.

"Hoo boy…" he muttered to himself, fixing his glasses.

"Has everyone had enough to eat?" Ari asked, watching Ash and his Pokémon plough through the last few particles of their dessert.

"Absolutely!" chorused the girls, leaning back in their seats.

"Couldn't eat anything more!" shouted Brock, smiling contentedly. "Although on second thought…" he muttered absent-mindedly, his eyes twinkling as they trailed a green-haired woman striding through the restaurant towards the bathroom.

"Keep it in your pants…" Misty said drily, rolling her eyes.

"Who—? Oh, Brock, right," Leoric muttered, getting to his feet. "Well, I'll go pay the bill. Brock, watch this," he added cheekily to Brock, who looked around along with the others as he approached a pink-haired girl serving at the counter.

"Oh no, he can't!" Brock wailed, clawing at his hair as they all saw the girl laugh at something Leoric said to her.

"Can, does…" Ari shrugged, folding his arms and tipping his chair legs backwards lazily.

"Is…" murmured both Misty and May, their brows creased and their expressions apprehensive as the girl gave Leoric a blushing gaze, her hands clasped together in front of her waist as she swung left and right on the spot. _What does he think he's doing…?!_ they both thought, their tempers flaring as she tore a slip of paper from the bill and scribbled a note on it, handing it to him with a gentle smile.

"And _that_—" said Leoric a minute later, triumphantly slamming the paper down on the table in front of Brock's chair, "is how you get a girl's phone number. Don't pretend you're not impressed, now!" he chuckled, retaking his seat between Anabel and Misty. "So Dawn, I think that means that you lose this '_bet_' you two had going," he sighed, throwing his hands in the air as if to say '_I do what I can_'.

"Not so fast! We agreed that _Brock_ had to be the one to get the number!" Dawn retorted, jabbing her finger down onto the table to reinforce her point. "Sorry, but rules are rules, Brock; you lost the bet."

"Why did I even agree to this stupid bet anyways…?" Brock muttered mutinously, crossing his arms and looking anywhere but at Dawn, wanting to delay admitting defeat as long as was humanly possible. After close to a minute, he threw his hands on the table and gave a deep, exhaling sigh, to which Dawn smirked but said nothing. "Fine, I lost and you won, Dawn. Happy now?" he said bitterly.

"Very," she said arrogantly, Piplup and Buneary waving their hands in the air at their Trainer's victory, whatever they thought it was. "Now remember what you've got to do _now_…" she added evilly, and Brock's response made it look like Croagunk had just hit him with a Poison Jab from under the table. Ash even paused and leaned his ear on the table for a moment, almost expecting a low-pitched '_Croa…_' to echo up from the floor.

"It seems my work here is done, then!" Leoric grinned, jumping up from his seat again and resting a hand on Misty's shoulder. "And with that, I bid you all a good night! I'm afraid that I need to go back to my hotel, have a nice long piece of relaxation, then hit the hay and recharge for my next match!"

"Aw…" Misty pouted, looking up from her seat to stare at him. "Well, can I at least take a walk with you back to your hotel?" she offered, but Leoric laughed and shook his head playfully.

"Sorry, Misty, but tonight's a '_me_' night. Strictly no girls, full stop," he explained sombrely, leaning down towards her ear. "Why else do you think I'm going _now_ and not later, or at least with you?" he whispered suggestively to her, squeezing her shoulder with his hand before waving to the others and walking towards the restaurant exit. "I'll see you all in the morning, alright?" he said politely before strolling out into the crisp, cool, outside air, right under the eyes of the Honchkrow perched above the awning as he headed towards his hotel.

"I think I might be getting back to my room as well," Misty declared, yawning and stretching her arms above her head. "I dunno why, but today just went so fast, and I'm exhausted…" she moaned, getting to her feet. "May, does Mrs. Ketchum still have the room key, or do you have it?"

"She's got it," May answered plainly, twirling a finger through one of her brown bulrushes of hair. "But don't worry about it, because Max and I should probably head back with you as well," she added, a hint of reluctance in her voice that no-one else happened to notice. "Well, I guess we'd better get going then! I don't wanna sleep in and miss anyone's matches tomorrow, and I'm sure _Max_—" she grabbed her brother by the arm and dragged him forcefully to his feet, "wouldn't want to either!" she added in a high-pitched voice. "Shall we?"

"Do I have any choice?" Max retorted, managing to roll his eyes once before being yanked towards the door by May, a perplexed Misty following soon behind them and leaving the other five to look on just as confusedly.

"Uh… did I miss something during dessert…?" Ash wondered aloud, waving his spoon towards the door.

"Couldn't tell you if I knew, sorry…" Ari muttered, lowering his chair legs back onto the ground with a loud bang. "Maybe they had something funny to eat?"

"I don't remember there being any clowns in Misty's oysters," Ash replied stupidly, scratching his cheek with the tip of the spoon. "And I had some of May's noodles, and I'm fine…! Ah well, whatever it is, I'm sure it's nothing," he concluded, ignoring his four remaining friends – and the four Pokémon – as they hid their faces behind their hands at his first remark.

"Hey, I've got a good idea!" Anabel said suddenly, snatching at Ash's arm. "How about we all take a walk down by the pier?" she suggested, her eyes twinkling at him in the light of the restaurant, and there was nothing he could do to say otherwise even if he wanted to.

"You're right; it _is_ a good idea," he grinned, as Pikachu and Chimchar hopped back onto his shoulders and smiled as well. "That sound good with you guys?" he asked the others.

"I… think I'm gonna go back to the hotel, actually…" Brock muttered, standing up.

"Still too Combusken to make good on the bet, eh?" Dawn smirked, but Brock shook his head and looked back at Ash.

"Nah, I'm just so tired and full that I might drop and fall asleep any moment!" he answered hotly, folding his arms defensively. "_You_ haven't been up since six in the morning, may I remind you?"

"Well, tired or not, you're gonna need the room key, right?" Ash sighed, rummaging through his pockets for the small piece of plastic. "Oh no, where'd I put it…?!" he shouted, patting his hands over his jeans frantically.

"Uh, Ash?"

"Not now, Brock, I'm looking for the stupid room key! Don't tell me I forgot it two days in a r—!" Ash hissed, but Brock swiftly silenced him by waving the room key in front of his face. "Oh… found it!" he said sheepishly, grabbing the card and holding it up to the light. "Here you go," he added shamelessly, returning the key to Brock and grinning moronically.

"You really are a worry, Ash," Brock tittered, making Ash curl his lip in embarrassment and annoyance, before tucking the key back into his pocket and walking outside.

* * *

"Wynter!" Leoric shouted, spotting the long-haired boy at the far end of the lobby. "This is the third time in the space of a day that we've run into each other! If I didn't know better, I'd say you were stalking me," he added cheekily, moving into the elevator with him.

"Yeah, like that's ever going to happen anywhere but the Reverse World," Wynter snorted, folding his arms as he faced Leoric, leaning on the far wall of the elevator as it whirred to life. "But this does seem to be a bit of a meeting space between the two of us, don't you think?" he admitted, raising an eyebrow.

"'_Reverse World_'?" Leoric blinked, eyebrows arched as well.

Wynter sighed and shook his head pityingly. "It's a place where the normal rules don't apply. Crazy shit goes on all the time, and it's so close to us that we could almost reach out and touch it," he explained, and to demonstrate his point he tapped the glass next to his head with a gentle finger. "As though it were a mirror world, but the exact opposite at the same time."

"You're making about as much sense as a lead Drifloon," Leoric grunted, rapping his knuckles on the panes of tinted glass. "Yeah, I can _totally_ see myself being pulled into another world by sticking my hand through a piece of _solid glass_!" he added sarcastically. "Idiot."

"Hey, I'm surprised you haven't heard of the Reverse World!" Wynter retorted, brandishing his fist. "From what the old legends say, it's a lot easier to pass through around these parts. Especially in that Snow region—"

"—_Sinnoh_ region."

"Yeah, whatever!"

"Sinnoh's full of Pokémon myths," Leoric countered smoothly, gesturing with his hands. "There's a myth about three lake guardians who gave humans and Pokémon souls – Uxie for knowledge, Azelf for willpower, and Mesprit for emotion – who are said to live deep underwater in Sinnoh's three lakes. There's another myth about a supposed 'creator' Pokémon that made the universe and came from an Egg – Arisiol or some crappy name like that. _Then_ there's the legend of Regigigas…" he trailed off at the mention of the latter, his eyes clouding over as he stared into empty space.

"Hey, wake up, man," Wynter muttered, waving his hand in front of Leoric's relaxed face. "_Oi_!"

"…Huh—? Oh, sorry. Must've drifted off…" Leoric mumbled, blinking rapidly. "Hey, I just got a great idea!" he exclaimed, and Wynter suddenly jumped backwards in fright. "You should come and see my fifth-round match tomorrow, yeah? After that we can go watch Ash."

"Who's Ash—? Oh, you mean Ash _Ketchum_, the guy from Pallet Town?" Wynter inquired curiously, and Leoric nodded.

"Yeah, that's him. We met each other about a week ago, and we're pretty good mates. Only problem is his sister's going out with my best friend," he chuckled.

"Why don't you put that on a memo and title it '_stuff I don't need to know_'?" Wynter scoffed, rolling his eyes. "But I'll take you up on the offer. Where's your match, and what time?"

"Stadium 1, ten sharp."

"Righto, see you there," Wynter agreed, putting his hand forward to shake. Leoric met it roughly, and the elevator beeped and opened up to show that they had arrived at their floor.

"Ah—!" he nimbly sidestepped the boy and stood outside the small box, "you're not getting me again!"

"Like I was gonna. Besides, you're still queer for asking me out on a date to watch your battle," Wynter sneered, striding past him and waving his hand lazily over his shoulder. "Catch ya round, _Gay_-oric!"

"_It's Leoric, you—_! Oh, never mind," Leoric grunted, slumping as Wynter turned the corner in the hallway. Swinging his head from left to right, he saw his room at the far end and sprinted towards it, thumping his hand against the door handle so quickly he almost tore it in half. "Mmm, shower-time!" he sighed with a smile, throwing the door open with a bang as it smacked against the wall, and he strode down the hall and into his room, throwing his red-silver jacket onto the double bed with careless abandon.

"Ari's not gonna be back for at least an hour, knowing Dawn," he told himself, rolling his eyes as he tossed his shirt over the jacket and slipped his shoes off. "I swear, those kids haven't known each other a fortnight and they're already acting like they've been together for a year. He's setting himself up for a big fall…" he thought, although he'd have preferred not to say his opinion out loud as he unbuckled his belt, where it joined his shoes on the floor.

"Wonder what he sees in her, though. She's just a kid; not even thirteen!" he muttered, scratching his hair. _She's got nothing on Candy…_ he said silently, and his mind flashed back to the conversation he'd had with Wynter minutes before. He closed his eyes and reflected on wonderful memories as he stripped out of the rest of his clothes and trudged naked down the hall, turning into the bathroom and swinging the door shut behind him, which rested against the frame with a soft click without fully closing.

"I should go back there once the tournament's over… or at least I should give her a call… she must be lonely up there by herself," he mumbled, enjoying the feeling of the piping hot water as it flattened his normally spiked hair over his green eyes. "I'm sure she won't mind after everything… we're friends now. But that doesn't mean I can't think she's hot," he added with a laugh, running a soap-holding hand over his chest. "Hah, and to think—! If she hadn't put me in prison _twice_, we'd have never hit it off! Talk about a hero trying to change the world…" he shrugged, grabbing the shampoo bottle and holding it in front of his mouth like a microphone.

"_Hmm_… _another day, another fight~ another chance to make things right~ we will be strong, the way it should be~"_

* * *

"Don't worry about me; you two can go ahead back to the hotel. I just want to have a quick drink with Ari back at _his_ room before I come and join you, okay?"

"Alright, but don't take too long! Ash needs to get some sleep, and I'm pretty sure he and Pikachu wouldn't be very happy if you barged in during the dead of night and started causing a ruckus. Isn't that right, Ash?" Brock said mockingly, backhanding Ash's shoulder playfully.

"Exactly, so hurry up and have your drink!" Ash shouted, waving at Dawn from the entrance to the lobby, Pikachu and Chimchar imitating him from their spot on Ash's other shoulder whilst Brock rested his hand on the first. "We'll see you back at the hotel."

"Okay!" Dawn yelled back cheerily, slipping her arm into Ari's and waving back as the two boys and two Pokémon strolled out of the double doors and turned out of sight. "So how about we head up for that drink, yeah?" she whispered, as Buneary stared longingly after Pikachu from her spot at Dawn's feet. "Oh, there's no need to worry yourself, Buneary—" she swooped down and picked her Pokémon up into her arms, along with Piplup, who was standing alongside her, "you'll see Pikachu in the morning, and you can cheer for him in Ash's match tomorrow, okay?" she said motherly, and Buneary nodded her head happily at the prospect.

"_Bun bun!_"

"Alright then, I think you two need some sleep," Dawn decided, cradling both Pokémon in one arm as she fished around for their PokéBalls with her other. "Goodnight, Piplup! Goodnight, Buneary!" she crooned, as each Pokémon was returned to her respective PokéBall with a flash of red light. Stowing the balls safely away, she turned back to Ari and asked, "why didn't you let Calli or one of your other cute little Pokémon out tonight?"

"Well to be honest, Calli's father isn't very, shall we say, _approving_ of her being out in the public at such a young age," he explained hesitantly, rubbing a hand over his chin as the couple walked through the enormous space between the door and the elevators at the back. "And he did such a great job of winning that Tag Team match today that I'd be a bit stingy by ignoring him," he added with a laugh as Dawn pondered his comment, her brow furrowed.

"So that would make your Magmortar… Calli's dad, right?" she asked, putting the pieces together. "Then… the mum would have been a Magmortar or Magmar too, right?"

"Yeah, but I'll save _that_ story for another night," he said anticlimactically, smiling at her as she scowled.

"Excuse me, Mr. DeVarro?" called a shiny-suited receptionist hurrying towards him. "You're Ari DeVarro, aren't you?" he asked impatiently, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet.

"Yes. Yes I am…" Ari muttered, confused. "What can I do to help?"

"Ms. Silver of Room 565 has informed Reception that you are planning to change your reservations shortly, is that correct?" asked the man formally, with a twitch of a smile. "If you could follow me this way, I must make the appropriate changes to the computer log database, and I'll need your signature to complete the changes so that they can come into effect at the proper time."

"Oh. Okay then." Ari ran a finger along the bridge of his nose in wonderment, before turning to Dawn, who was looking just as lost as he was. "Looks like I'm needed elsewhere," he chuckled, reaching for her hand. "You remember on the first day we met, after we went for ice-cream? I told you and the guys that Leo and I weren't sharing the same room after about a week?"

"Yeah, how could I have forgotten that day?" Dawn murmured, beaming from ear to ear.

"Right, well I'm apparently moving in with Anabel for the rest of the tournament, but I'm not totally sold on the idea. It seems she's gone ahead and locked me into it regardless, so I might as well straighten this out now… you can go upstairs and fetch a drink if you want; I shouldn't be more than five minutes, okay?"

"That's a good idea, actually," she agreed, shifting about on her feet. "Can I have your card key, then?"

"Sure thing, unless you wanna wait outside the door," Ari joked, poking his tongue out at her as he handed her the small square of plastic. "See you in a little bit, okay?" He squeezed her hand and gave her his charming smile before turning around and nodding to the concierge, following him into a room behind the wide counter at the lobby's side.

Dawn smirked and shrugged her shoulders, tucking the card into the breast of her dress as she walked to the elevator and slipped inside just as the doors closed. She smiled politely at the lift's other occupant – a girl not much older than herself, with mousy brown hair just above her shoulders and a few freckles across her face – and puffed out her cheeks in boredom as she waited to reach her floor, absent-mindedly tapping her fingers on the railing against her back. The girl looked up at the number as the doors slid open, and she gave Dawn a sweet wave before stepping out into the hallway, and the latter smiled back as the doors closed and the elevator whirred again, heading for her destination.

"What a pretty girl," she mused to herself, rolling her head on her shoulders. A pinging noise told her that the lift had stopped on her floor, and she jogged out as though worried that the doors would trap her inside suddenly; in actuality, she was in a rush to get to Ari's room for her own reasons. Dancing on the spot in front of the door to said room, she ripped the card out from her dress and sliced it over the door handle, only to find that she'd locked it in doing so.

"Oh, come on! What is this?!" she hissed, jamming the card in the slot and throwing the door open violently. She heard the indistinct noise of pouring rain, barely audible over the clang of the handle on the wall next to her, but she quickly let it out of her mind as she quickly shut the door. To her surprise, the rain outside seemed to stop the moment she did; not that she cared, because she haphazardly threw the key onto the table next to the door and ran to the hallway. Seeing that the bathroom door was ajar, she counted her blessings and nearly launched herself into it, too focused on reaching it to worry about anything else as she jammed herself down on the toilet in the corner.

"Ahh… that was a photo finish," she groaned, running a hand through her navy-blue hair as she heard a shower curtain being slid across its support bar next to her.

"_What the heck do you think you're doing in here?!_"

Dawn jumped at least a foot in the air, and for a split-second she was extremely thankful that she'd made the toilet a few seconds before, since she was nearly scared to death by the roaring voice in her ear. Throwing her dress back down over her legs, she swung around to see Leoric standing barely two feet away from her, his eyes smouldering like coals as he hastily tried – and failed – to cover himself with a large yellow towel and most of the curtain itself.

"Oh—! S-Sorry, I didn't think anyone else was here—!" she stuttered, waving her hands in self-defence as she tried not to look below his waist.

"_Get out! NOW!_" he screamed, pointing at the door with some difficulty – he was struggling to hide his nudity with one hand – and Dawn didn't need to be told twice. She shouted another hurried apology and sprinted full-pace from the bathroom, leaving a fuming Leoric to curse loudly after her as he fixed himself properly. "Stupid bit—didn't even flush the damn _toilet_!" he hissed, punching the button on top of the cistern.

* * *

Anabel heard a loud shout from one of the floors above her head, and she immediately recognised the voice as being Leoric's, so she allowed herself a giggle before quietly opening the door to her own hotel room. She'd said her goodnight to Dawn and the boys – needless to say, Ash in particular – ten or so minutes ago, and she was glad to walk back into the familiarity of her room; as much as she enjoyed her new boyfriend's company, she was thoroughly exhausted from a big day of battling and an equally big dinner. Closing the door behind her just as quietly as she'd opened it, she tiptoed across the small gap between the kitchen and lounge-room, spotting both Brandon and Noland sitting in the latter and watching a documentary on the television.

"Ah, welcome back, Anabel," Brandon muttered, his eyes never leaving the screen in front of him. "How was the date?"

"I wouldn't call it a date, Brandon," Anabel laughed, giving up the attempt of silence and leaning on the large couch closest to her, "more like a celebratory dinner for us. We both made it to the fifth-round, and apart from that, Ari and Leoric advanced as well and won their Tag Team match this afternoon—"

"—We know—" Noland murmured, his eyes half-closed with sleep.

"—So I'd say we had plenty of reason to celebrate!"

"And a reason to get all nice and dolled up for your man, am I right?" smirked Noland, stifling a huge yawn as he scratched at his chin. "Personally I don't see much of a… _Point—"_ he yawned the last word, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Whatever," Anabel sighed, jumping over the back of the lounge and kicking her heels up. "Whatcha watching?"

"What _Brandon's_ watching—"

"—is a report on some ancient artefacts that were found in Peru last week," Brandon finished, pretending to throw the remote at Noland. "They were doing a dig at some ancient Aztec ruins in Cuzco, and they stumbled upon a chamber that the archaeologist calculated to be thirty-seven thousand years old!"

"That's about as old as you, isn't it?" Anabel laughed, tipping her head sideways onto the arm of the lounge.

"Oh ha-dee-ha-ha. But that's not the only thing; apparently they found an inscription forged into a shining plate of glass in the centre of the chamber. At least they're calling it glass; it doesn't look like anything I've seen that comes close _to_ it. Along with that, the inscription's in an ancient language that no-one's used since—well, not for millennia, anyways," he continued, a fervent expression on his face that Anabel had come to associate with his maniacal love of anything out of the ordinary. "It reminds me of something I heard about on this island last year from a barman. According to him, there's a cave underneath where they built the Igloo, and there are rumoured to be ancient cave paintings and objects inside, including a plane of glass that shines as though the sun was coming out of it…"

"Sounds intriguing," Anabel said honestly, propping her head up with her hands, and Brandon nodded his head vehemently in reply.

"Yes, I've been meaning to check it out, but I'd forgotten about it until about half an hour ago…" he muttered, more to himself than her. "I should take my Pokémon down there and try to excavate some rare finds… well, once I'm officially out of the tournament of course!" he added jocularly, with a grin. "I don't want to compromise my chances by splitting my duties between my battling and my tools."

"You and your tools, Brandon… honestly…" Noland grunted, folding his arms in his armchair as his beret-like hat fell in front of his eyes, and so he was oblivious to the cold stare that Brandon shot at him.

"Seeing as how I'm _looking_ at one right now, it's not surprising that I know so much about them," he retorted with a chuckle.

"Pity you don't know how to use _yours_, though," Noland fired seamlessly, whip-cracking the air with his hands.

"You two truly are hopeless," Anabel sighed, rolling her eyes as she stood up from the lounge. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be going off to bed, and I'd like to think that you two can be nice to each other until I'm sound asleep."

"We will, _mum_," Noland sniggered. "And don't worry, we've done all our homework for school tomorrow, too."

"Tool," Anabel muttered, earning herself a raucous laugh from Brandon as she shook her head and walked down the hallway to sleep.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***The term 'Arisiol' is a corruption of the Japanese pronunciation of Arceus, 'Aruseus'.**

***In this chapter, Leoric sings the first few lines of the movie version of "We Will Be Heroes", a Diamond-Pearl opening song in the anime.**

**Quiz:**

***In Pokémon Platinum, name **_**two**_** of the three locations that contain a Regi-ruin after receiving the special event Regigigas.**

* * *

**I know that there hasn't been any battling in the last two chapters, but that's because there's going to be some in the next one! So if you're worried that there aren't enough action chapters, you should hold out maybe a chapter or two longer, because I don't like staying away from that for long.**

**Don't forget to send me a review with your thoughts on the chapter, or any reviews regarding what you'd like to see in the next few chapters. Thanks to burgekev000, Blake Wilson, Blue Bongo, Araleon, "Kasuchi, Koichi", and "lightscreener" for their contributions last chapter. Keep up the good work, guys and gals!**

**Chapter 70 (Prison Break) will be posted this time next week, and I think you can guess from the title what it's going to be about. Nonetheless, stay tuned until then and be sure to vote in my poll if you want your favourite to win the crown!**


	70. Prison Break

**CHAPTER 70 – PRISON BREAK**

Mark coughed and spluttered as he fought to regain his breath, lying in a sprawled heap on the floor of his jail cell. He'd been in unbearable pain for close to six hours on end, and only now was it beginning to slip away. Clenching his tongue between his teeth, he gripped the corner of his shoddy, filthy bed and dragged himself up, the top half of his body spread-eagled over the soiled mattress while his legs trailed out behind.

_Thank god it's all over…_ he thought, his dull grey eyes looking over to the stone sink on the far wall. The tap was running, and he could hear the hollow gurgling noise as the putrid water swirled down the drain, but he could also hear the sound of water splashing against metal, and he knew that it was his Houndoom's PokéBall that was in there. He didn't want to reflect on how he'd reclaimed his faithful Pokémon, so he clawed his hands up the wall to get back on his feet and stumbled over to the basin, grabbing at the chipped and worn rim with his bloodied and torn hands.

"Ah, there we are…" he sighed with a shadow of a smile, seeing the tiny red-white sphere rolling around in the bowl, amongst a pattern of hair-thin swirls of mahogany-stained water. "I put myself through hell to keep you away from the cops, and I get the feeling that it's gonna be worth it," he whispered, turning off the taps and lifting the PokéBall out of the small pool. Holding it above his head, he shook it thoroughly to rid it of the murky water and dried the rest off on the rim of his shirt.

There was the echoing sound of a doorknob being turned far away, and Mark jumped as he realised that Officer Jenny was coming back for his information on Shane. He quickly stuffed the PokéBall into the front of his pants – the one place she had never searched on him on their previous encounters – and threw himself onto his bed, trying to look as relaxed as possible in his current condition as he heard the tap of her heeled boots come marching his way.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, _officer_?" he growled, putting as much venom as he could in the last word as he gazed at the barred window above his head.

"You know very well what," hissed Jenny's voice, rattling her baton on the mesh gate between the two of them. "Now tell me everything you know about your immediate superior."

"I told you, his name's Shane Hayes! His kid was in the tournament!" Mark shouted, his eyes snapping around to glare at her. "He's about six foot three, thick green hair, and he—! _Fuck—!"_ he punched the wall next to his face in frustration, livid with himself for not thinking of it earlier. He jumped to his feet and strode stiffly to the grate, digging his fingers into the wire and standing barely a foot away from Jenny. "He took a ferry to South Mandarin Island nearly two days ago! He's headed for Shamouti Island to steal the Titans' Spheres!"

"The Titan's Spheres?!" Jenny repeated hollowly, her eyes widening in shock. "That's impossible! Those treasures are guarded by the legendary bird Pokémon!"

"But are you willing to take that risk?!" Mark pressed, his sunken eyes bulging from their sockets making him look deranged. "The last time someone tried to mess with those islands, do you know what happened?!"

"The Beast of the Sea…" she muttered, her expression turning to stone as she said it.

"That's right, the whole world nearly turned to shit! Some cocky kid and his friends managed to stop it – by some miracle of luck – but this time around I don't think we're all gonna be so lucky! And even if _Shane_ doesn't succeed, the Boss is gonna send an army in his place to get them!"

"So you and Shane work for someone higher up, do you?" Jenny questioned, and Mark silently cursed himself for the slip of his tongue. "Tell me who this commander of yours is, and we'll see about getting you a plea bargain in court," she offered, watching as Mark looked blankly at her for a few moments. Then he laughed; it began as the quiet, shaking laugh that one gets at hearing a strange joke, but it overtook Mark and turned into the hysterical laughter that only a villain could give as he watched his enemies fall.

"You don't get it, do you?" he said icily, still quaking with laughter. "I don't give a flying _fuck_ about a plea bargain! I don't care if I have to wait _thirty years_ to get out of here! All I care about is avenging my team-mates, and that means taking down Shane _and_ Team Galactic _personally_! You can look for the Boss all you want, but you'll never find him! There're only a dozen people in the _world_ who know who he is, and I sure as shit ain't one of them! So you can shove that plea bargain of yours!"

"Fine. I see how you want it. In a way, I'm glad you turned down help, because it means that you're going to be punished for what you've done." And with that, Jenny turned on her heel and marched down the hallway, slamming the door shut behind her with an immensely loud _clang_.

"Thought you'd never leave…!" Mark whispered fiercely, his hand already retrieving Houndoom's PokéBall and enlarging it. "Houndoom… stay perfectly silent…" he hummed into the edge of the ball, opening it with the press of the centre button, and it split open with a flash of light that made him throw his arm over his eyes; he'd spent far too long in this half-dark. Houndoom formed out of the shaping light on the floor and tilted its horned head towards its master, who knelt down and ran a hand over its long muzzle.

"_Hou…_" rasped the Dark Pokémon, smiling and rubbing its horns against Mark's arm.

"I missed you too, buddy," Mark said warmly, smiling back at Houndoom and patting it on the back of the neck. "But we've got a lot of work to do. We need to get our Staraptor and the other Pokémon from the evidence locker. After that I need to… I need to see Emily one more time before we leave this island for good, okay?" he explained, a tear forming in his eye at the mention of his fallen comrade. Houndoom gave him a whisper-quiet howl of remorse, and his mouth twitched to the side as he put his emotions to the side for now.

"But before that," he continued, standing to his feet and poking a finger through the Torchic-wire gate, "I need you to get us out of this cage! I know you didn't get healed after that battle on the helipad, but you won't have to do much after this little task, yeah?"

"_Dooooom…!_" nodded Houndoom, its forked tail swinging back and forth as it rested its front paws on the wire about one-third of the way towards the roof.

"Use your Flamethrower, but keep it pencil-thin; we don't want to make any more noise than necessary," Mark advised, grabbing a large section of grate with his hands. "Burn down and around my outline. Now go!" he ordered, and Houndoom's jaws opened wide with a red glow, blasting the wire next to Mark's left hand with a thin beam of flame. Mark winced as the flames licked at his injured hand, but he held the wire fast as his Pokémon worked its way south. The wire hissed and crackled as it gave way to the searing heat of Houndoom's attack, and although it sounded like a smelting factory to Mark's ears, he knew that no-one could hear him from beyond the thick walls of the holding cells. Within less than a minute, Houndoom had burned a narrow gap in the mesh that reached from Mark's hand right down to the floor, and with a jerk of the head from its master, the Fire-type repositioned itself on the other side.

"Now do this side," Mark gasped, feeling the weight of the wire in his left hand as a few drops of liquid metal sizzled and fell to the floor next to his foot. Houndoom launched another jet of tiny flames at the wire near Mark's right side, steadily working its way down to the ground as it burnt through the flimsy metal. "Good work, boy!" he encouraged, seeing that his Pokémon had reached the floor again. "Now, burn through the bottom…" he muttered, bracing his feet further apart and resting his knees against the searing edges of the already cut wires. "Hurry…!" he hissed, baring his teeth in pain as he felt a drop of molten wire hit his pants and begin to burn through.

"_Gahooo…_" Houndoom snarled, sweeping the tip of its nose against the wire in front of Mark's shins as its Flamethrower tore through the mesh gate from each side of the holes that it had forged earlier. Once it was finished, Mark looked down and smiled when he saw three sides of a perfect square, each one outlined by a hazy line of red-hot metal at the edge.

"Excellent, just one side left to get through," he grinned, getting to his knees and gripping the square's centre with both hands. "Houndoom—" he turned his head to the side to see his Pokémon standing next to him, "rest your forelegs on my shoulders and burn through the last side," he instructed, feeling the pinch of his shirt as Houndoom obediently propped itself against his back and opened its jaws. _Argh…!_ He hissed as Houndoom's Flamethrower torched his hands again, but this time it was almost a pleasurable pain, because he knew that his last obstacle to freedom was slowly melting away before him.

"Almost there," he grunted, seeing that Houndoom was almost finished. "Three… two… one… _now_!" he hissed, wrenching the grate away from the rest of the wire and falling onto his back with the weight of it as Houndoom leapt away. "Fuck, this is heavy!" he groaned, the muscles in his arms straining as they struggled to move the grate away from his stomach. With a huge pant of effort he threw the wire away, and it clattered on the concrete ground next to his bed as he lithely jumped to his feet with Houndoom at his heels.

"Okay, let's move! We need to get to the evidence locker as quickly as we can!" Mark whispered, edging through the hole in his cell and creeping down the hallway towards the door. Houndoom trotted along in its Trainer's wake, and it howled in discomfort as it bumped its head against his legs, but Mark had stopped to peer through the window-grille that gave him a view of the station outside. Squinting through the lattice, he could see a directional plaque mounted on the wall across from the door, and it told him that the evidence locker was to the left of the sign.

"Houndoom, I need you to take the lead," he commanded softly, pressing himself against the wall as a police officer strolled past, laden with files and papers. "Use Fire Blast on the first officer that gets in our way, then we run!"

"_Haooo!_" barked Houndoom, its eyes glinting malevolently as Mark slowly turned the doorknob and opened the door. Poking his head out from the open space, he quickly looked left and right and waved his hand forwards from next to his hip, ushering Houndoom to run whilst the coast was clear. Stalking after his Pokémon, Mark didn't bother to close the cell door behind him; he would be discovered soon enough, and he didn't want to waste precious seconds.

"Go, go!" he whispered, steeply turning the corner and sprinting down the corridor after his Pokémon. Counting his blessings that the way ahead was devoid of obstacles, he rounded another bend and slowed to a stop when he saw the words '_Evidence Locker_' engraved on a large wooden door to his right. "Houndoom, you know what to do!" he grinned, and Houndoom breathed a wave of white-hot flames from its maw, incinerating the door. Mark triumphantly strode over the threshold just as the blackened lock fell to the door with a clang, and Houndoom leapt in after its master just as an officer turned the corner.

"What the hell—?!" he gasped, grabbing a PokéBall and running forwards to the lock. He looked left and saw a red glow seep out from the corner of the locker, and his hand instantly reached for his radio. "Attention, we have an intruder in Evidence! I repeat, we have an intru—!" he roared, but he was cut short as a blue fist materialised out of nowhere and drove itself into his face, crushing his nose and knocking him unconscious.

"Looks like we've been spotted, I'd say," Mark chuckled, stepping over the officer's body and stealing his radio. _This might just come in handy, _he thought, clipping it to his belt as Houndoom and Machoke appeared at his sides. A siren exploded with noise that filled his head, and he heard the pounding of footsteps on the floor above, so he whirled around and ordered Machoke to drag the officer into the locker. Machoke obliged, and Mark and Houndoom followed him as he dragged the helpless man's body into the darkened room.

"I do hate uniforms…" Mark growled, but he quickly set to work undressing the man and taking his clothes. Straightening up, he allowed himself a moment to admire his new outfit, thankful that the man was of a similar build to himself, before he recalled his Superpower Pokémon and strolled into the hallway, holding the radio to his mouth. "Sorry about that! False alarm… but we should get the fire department around here quickly! There's been an explosion in the evidence locker, and the shit's gone everywhere!" he shouted into the receiver, making for the stairs at the other end of the building.

"Are you sure you're okay, Richards?" crackled a reply. "You cut off for a while there…"

"Yeah, sorry about that," Mark said, quickening his pace. "I could smell the explosive, and I was worried that if I kept talking I'd inhale something dangerous. I'm fine now, and I'm heading back up, but I wouldn't have anyone come down here until the fire guys get down here and check it out," he added, smirking at his own genius as he leapt up the flight of stairs three at a time, Houndoom keeping quick pace behind him. _Now all I have to do is walk right out the front door…!_ He giggled at the thought of being allowed to leave so easily, and he reached the top of the stairs with a cocky grin spread across his face as he strutted into the main room of the police station.

"Hey, you're not Richards!" shouted a purple-haired woman sitting at her desk, and Mark swore to himself as he realised that she was the officer he had talked to over the radio just then. "Jynx, hold him down with Psychic!" she roared, throwing a PokéBall towards him.

"Houndoom, use Smog!" Mark seethed, and Houndoom loosed a billowing cloud of acrid smoke onto the floor as the policewoman's Jynx appeared from her PokéBall. The Smog quickly swarmed over the Ice-type, and both she and her Trainer were helpless to do anything but cough and cover their eyes as Mark and Houndoom ran at full speed across the station, making for a set of double-glass doors ahead of them.

"Come on, Houndoom!" he roared, but he skidded to a stop when he saw a dozen guards filing in through a maze of doors beyond the glass, PokéBalls at the ready. "_Fuck!_ Rhyperior, come on out!" he bellowed, tossing a PokéBall of his own into the air. His Rhyperior thundered out of the PokéBall with a mighty roar, its clubbed tail sweeping behind it and sending desks and chairs flying through the air like matchboxes. "_Chaaaaaaaaarge!_" he commanded, pointing at the hallway where the guards were massing.

"_Rhyyy-perior!_" boomed the Drill Pokémon, crashing through the cluttered space in front of itself with complete disregard; everything in its path was crushed underfoot or splintered by a telling blow of its huge arms, and just as the guards released their Pokémon onto the ground it speared through the glass double-doors and roared with such ferocity that the guards actually shrank back a step or two before rallying behind the Pokémon they had sent out – a collection of Arcanine and Poliwrath that stood side-by-side as they barred Mark and Rhyperior's paths.

"Arcanine, Extremespeed! Poliwrath, Dynamicpunch!" barked the guards, and the two sets of Pokémon leapt towards Rhyperior and Houndoom, the Arcanine roaring as they were covered in swirls of white light, and the Poliwrath cocking their glowing white fists backwards en route to their foes.

"Rhyperior, tank against the Arcanine, and use Rock Wrecker on the Poliwrath!" Mark roared, himself and Houndoom taking cover behind the Drill Pokémon's enormous frame as it sucked up the closest Poliwrath its arms could reach. The Arcanine all whimpered as their Extremespeed attacks bounced harmlessly off Rhyperior's tough carapace and sent them sprawling across the carpeted floor now strewn with fragments of furniture.

The Poliwrath in Rhyperior's grasp groaned as its captor aimed its craggy arm towards the cluster of its fellows and jettisoned it with a colossal blast of air. The other Poliwrath didn't stand a chance as they were either knocked to the ground by the Pokémon-turned-cannonball or blown into the wall by the wind sock behind the attack, and the few short seconds that the Pokémon spent recovering were the ones in which Mark made his move.

"Houndoom, burn the guards with Will-O-Wisp! Rhyperior, juggernaught the left wall!" he hissed, scrambling up the latter's back as Houndoom pounced towards the guards and gave a deep, venomous hiss and opened its jaws wide. A ring of twelve hovering, bluish-grey fireballs flew out of the Dark Pokémon's maw and homed in on the terrified guards, who ran in a screaming flock across the floor to avoid being hit; they knew the powers of a Houndoom's flame, and the effects of its burn were something that none of them wished to experience, ever.

"Houndoom, come back!" Mark shouted, recalling Houndoom safely to its PokéBall and bracing himself on Rhyperior's back just as the Pokémon bellowed and charged headlong at the solid wall to its right, smashing through the bricks and reducing them to mortar and powder as it tore through to the other side. "Keep going! Don't stop until we're outside!" he bellowed, wincing as a stray brick conked him on the head, and Rhyperior impatiently obeyed, swinging its long arms to and fro in a see-saw motion and crippling everything that came between them, whether it was paper, wood, brick, or human.

Mark could hear the sirens wailing, the footsteps pounding and the voices screaming amidst the chaos that he and his Pokémon were causing, and so he urged Rhyperior forwards again, digging the heels of his shoes into the soft spot between its back armour-plates. An orange jet of light hit the plate squarely between his feet, and he looked around to see one of the Arcanine racing through the destruction behind him, snarling and indiscriminately blasting Hyper Beam attacks in his direction.

"Walrein, use Sheer Cold! Rhyperior, take a left and grab Walrein as you go!" Mark hissed, expertly tossing a PokéBall into the space in front of Rhyperior. His Walrein appeared in a flash of light and barely had time to clap its flippers together before its fellow Pokémon scooped it up with a gouging swing of its arm, throwing its weight to the left and crushing through another wall. Walrein clicked its tongue against its enormous tusks and exhaled a breath of bone-chilling ice from its mouth, and the ice formed a prism of cold that wrapped itself around Arcanine and froze it solid, creating a barrier between the escapees and the rest of those in pursuit.

"Geez, how big _is_ this place?! How much crime could possibly go on here?!" Mark groaned, peering forward over his steed's shoulder to see it tear down yet another obstructing wall. He breathed a sigh of relief, however, when he saw a twinkling blanket of black and silver above his head as the police station, finally, gave way to the outside world. "Rhyperior, that's enough work for now. You've done well," he muttered, taking Rhyperior's PokéBall and tapping it against its horned head, where it was sucked back into the ball with a flash of red.

_Now… which way to go…?_ he wondered, his grey eyes flicking left and right as he tried to formulate the next step of his escape.

"Halt!"

Mark's head shot upwards to follow the source of the command, and he squinted his eyes to see at least three helicopters hovering overhead, the incessant whirring of their rotor blades reaching his ears loud and clear.

"This is the Ayers Island Aerial Police! We have you in our sights! Surrender at once, or you will be taken in by force!"

"Houndoom, use Smog…" he whispered, tapping his Pokémon's ball. Houndoom sprang out of the PokéBall with a white flash and spewed another thick cloud of noxious gases from its mouth, completely obscuring the pair of them from the helicopters above. "Houndoom, back with me! Staraptor, get us out of here! Use Agility!" he snapped, switching his recalled Houndoom's PokéBall for a fourth one and summoning his Staraptor in a flash. He lithely hopped onto its back just as it spread its wings wide and took off with incredible speed, and to the officers in the sky it looked like a grey bullet had shot out from the cloud and had already disappeared into the gloomy darkness of the tropical night.

* * *

Mark's figure slumped as he stood in a brightly-lit room arranged with cold, steel tables all perfectly aligned in a row. The morgue's operator, a hard-faced but kind-speaking man in his early-sixties, gave him a grim smile and a curt nod of the head as he hurried towards the locker-formation of inlaid trays at the far wall, searching along them for the name he had been given.

"Here she is, my friend," he wheezed, his firm hands swinging the hatch open and dragging the tray out into the light with relative ease for someone of his age. "Come closer; I'm glad to say that she won't bite…" he chuckled, quickly shutting his mouth as Mark edged closer. The Galactic Grunt purposefully looked anywhere but at the tray, and when he was standing right next to it – alongside the old man – he closed his eyes and took several sharp, short breaths, as if afraid to take the final step and actually look down at what was lying in front of him.

"It's alright… it's alright… it's alright…" he told himself, chanting the words as though they would give him the strength to go on. "You saw her picture in the interrogation room… this isn't any different…" he whispered, half-wanting to snap his eyes open and look, half-wanting to stay in the dark because it still entertained the minute shred of thought that said she was still alive.

"Okay, I see how difficult this is for you…" said the operator's voice, and Mark felt a hand rest on his shoulder in support. "Tell you what; I'll close the hatch, and you can come back whenever you're ready to." Mark simply nodded his head, keeping his eyes tightly screwed shut, and he heard the man's footsteps move around to the other side of the tray. There was the noise of the tray being slid into the recess, and the sound of the hatch banging shut against the wall, so he opened his eyes and looked down.

"I do hate to trick people at times like these…" the man sighed, closing the hatch of the adjacent recess and hastily walking out of the room as Mark stared down at the final, broken form of Emily Harper.

"But—" he gasped, his eyes welling with grieving tears. She was the same in death as she was in life; she looked as perfect as she had been when he'd so cockily smirked at her in the hot springs for the last time. Her eyes and mouth had been closed after her demise, but her pale blue lips were parted just in the middle, and Mark held back a sob as he remembered how often he'd imagined touching them with his own one day. Now he would never get the chance; not now, not tomorrow; never.

"Emily…" he whispered, leaning forward and bowing his head towards her face. He raised a shaking hand and reached forwards an inch at a time, fighting back tears all the way as he rested the tip of his fingers on her cold, cold forehead. The moment he made contact with her body, he threw his head back and gave an inhuman howl, like a wounded animal about to die itself. It was filled with all the sadness, anger and helplessness in all the world in just one sound, and when he was finished howling, the tears began to fall down his hollowed cheeks, the first ones throwing themselves off his chin and splashing against the cold steel next to Emily's head.

Ten minutes later, the tears had finally ceased to flow, but only because he had forced himself not to cry any longer than he already had. He had collapsed next to the cold steel tray, his knees numb with the cold tiles on the floor, and his head resting sideways next to his team-mate's – rather, his love's – face. His sobs had quietened down into whispering shudders, and he barely had the strength or willpower to stand up. But he clambered to his feet, every movement an effort in the face of what he'd just come to terms with, and he stood over Emily's corpse for the final time, and leant in over her head again.

"_Mark_ my words, Emily," he whispered, his breath blowing over her bright blue hair as it fell towards the ground, "I will avenge you. And then I'll be happy… to meet you again…" he swore, sealing his oath to her memory by resting his lips on hers for the briefest of moments before standing tall again.

"But first, I need to head back home."

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Mark's Parasect is the only one of the six Pokémon he had (at the time he was captured) that did not make an appearance in this chapter.**

***The mentions of a Houndoom's burn are taken from Houndoom's Gold version Pokédex entry.**

***All the police-force Pokémon that were used to try and capture Mark come from Generation I.**

**Quiz:**

***Where in Pokémon Platinum does the player first encounter a member of Team Galactic?**

* * *

**There it is; Mark's finally gotten out of prison. I hope it wasn't too unexpected, because I did give hints of it during Chapter 66, after all. And it was nice to put some more Pokemon battling in the mix of things, since it's been a little while since any of that has been in the story. Not since... the Tag Team battle, I think. Be sure to review this chapter and give me your opinion, and feel free to suggest what you might want to see happening in later chapters.**

**Chapter 71 (Operation Of A Lifetime) will be submitted next Friday, on April 17th. Until then, make sure to vote in the profile poll, and also check out the WPC forum and post something on there if you want a more personal response than a review reply. Until then, make sure to review, and stay tuned!!!**


	71. Operation Of A Lifetime

**CHAPTER 71 – OPERATION OF A LIFETIME**

Somewhere in the vast Sinnoh region, far away from the Championships that all eyes were focused on, one man stood at the front of an enormous building overlooking the ocean. He looked the complex up and down, unimpressed even though he was the one who had commissioned its construction, before he dug his hands into the pockets of his suit and walked through the doors. Gazing beyond the receptionist's desk, he saw a beautifully fashioned, gold-coloured 'G' ringed with black mounted on the back wall and allowed the ghost of a smirk to form at the corners of his mouth.

"G-Good morning, sir! Welcome back, sir!" squeaked the woman at the desk, jumping to her feet and bowing respectfully at him. He merely gave her an indiscriminate nod and continued on his way, pushing the next set of doors open and walking down the long hallway on the other side, dotted with doors and other paths every so often. As he walked, he could hear the whispers of the men and women behind the doors who shrank back at his approach, but he was used to it; it was a sign of respect and of fear, and he preferred them that way.

"You there," he barked, advancing on a man with spiky, turquoise-coloured hair who jumped a foot in the air and turned, trembling, to face him. "There's no need to be afraid of me," he chuckled, clamping a hand down on the man's shoulder, and the latter gulped nervously before cracking a forced smile. "Do you have any new developments on our latest project?" he asked calmly, giving the man a reassuring smile of his own.

"N-No, sir," stammered the man, refusing to meet his eye. "I'm part of the expedition team; we're, uh, still waiting on the, uh, tech crew to give us the exact location of the, uh…"

"Oh, my mistake. Sorry to have wasted your time, then," he sighed, offering his hand for the man to shake. "What's your name?"

"Thorn, sir," he muttered, shaking his hand.

"Thorn, you need to loosen up if you're going to be climbing Mt. Coronet in two days," he reminded Thorn, who swallowed again and nodded his head. "Seriously, I think you should take a rest; I don't want one of my top men too exhausted to make the trip! Consider yourself relieved of duty for the next twelve hours," he said enthusiastically, clapping Thorn on the shoulder again before walking past him down the hallway.

_If you can't handle the pressure now, you won't when Hayes delivers the Spheres,_ he thought bitingly, shaking his head as he reached the end of the corridor. _And then I might not let you come back down Mt. Coronet,_ he added, sticking his hand onto a large black panel at the side of the door. The panel read his hand- and finger-prints before beeping once, and the door slid aside to reveal a magnificently furnished office, with an entire wall dedicated to a large window with a perfect view of Sinnoh's north-western landscape. To the left, he could see a tiny pinprick of brown on the blue ocean that was Iron Island, and to his right was the winding, snow-ridden lands of the north that led to Snowpoint City and, more importantly to him, Lake Acuity.

Both sites – the island and the lake – were of great importance to him, and he let his gaze linger on the former for a fraction of a second before turning away and looking at his desk, made of crafted rosewood and seamlessly polished. _One of the luxuries of success, _he grinned, taking his seat and throwing up his feet. He glanced at the pile of papers on his left and took the topmost one, reading the title at the top of the folder which read '_CLASSIFIED_'.

"Let's see what Saturn managed to dredge up in my absence," he muttered aloud, resting the folder on his lap and flicking to the first page. "Well, well… _someone's_ been making good use of their time, I see…" he said with a surprised smile, his blue eyebrows shooting upwards as he reached for the phone on his desk with one hand and threw the folder back in its place with the other. The page it had been opened to was still visible, and taking up the top half of the page was the image of a middle-aged man with short, cropped dark hair which continued across his jaw-line as a rough beard, and a moustache was at the corners of his mouth.

"This number had better work," he grumbled, pressing the buttons and holding the cordless receiver to his ear. There were a number of beeps on the line as the transmission was scrambled; he didn't want the police knowing about any calls coming in or out of this building. After a few moments of silence, he heard the call connect, and a voice answered the phone, rough and edged with sleep.

"You've reached the Hoenn—" he began, but he broke off with an enormous yawn that lasted at least ten seconds, "—the Hoenn Aquatic Research Team here in Mossdeep City. This is Archibald—"

"Yes, I know who you are, _Archie_," sneered the man who had placed the call. "Tell me, whatever happened to turn Team Aqua into a research team?" he asked mockingly.

"Your voice sounds awfully familiar…" muttered Archie, staying in silence for a few moments as he tried to place it. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

"My name is not important. I'm the leader of Team Galactic, so you can call me _Boss_," answered the man, whose name was actually Cyrus.

"Team Galactic? Look, you've obviously got me confused with someone else. Some kind of _criminal_, by the sound of it."

"We both know that's a lie," Cyrus said coldly, pacing back and forth in front of his window. "I am not the police, so there's no need to play stupid. I called you, the leader of the former Team Aqua, to propose a business offer."

A few more moments of silence. Then, Archie whispered back to him, "How do you know who I am?"

"That isn't something you should worry yourself over," Cyrus laughed, his voice like meat on a spit. "Your only concern should be what I have to say."

"Wait," Archie said swiftly, and Cyrus could hear the sound of footsteps, chattering and a door being locked in the background. "Okay, start talking. I haven't got all day… or all night, as it seems to be at the moment."

"Before I say too much, tell me a little about yourself, Archibald," he said curiously, throwing Archie completely off-guard for a second or two.

"Look, I already said I'm short on time, and frankly it's not a good sign when the leader of a rival criminal organisation calls you in the dead of night. This call could be being traced as I'm talking!"

"Do you take me for some kind of fool?!" Cyrus hissed, his face twitching with anger.

"Yes!" was the quick reply. "Now you've got three seconds to start telling me why you _really_ called me so late, or I'm hanging up now!"

Cyrus smirked as he knew that Archie was a cautious man, too, and he decided that there was no point in delaying proceedings any longer than what he already had. "Oh it's quite simple, really…" he said softly, being sure not to sound too eager or enthusiastic. "One word; _Kyogre_…"

"Oh no, I'm not getting caught up in that business again!" exploded Archie, and Cyrus ripped the phone away from his ear in pain and held it at arm's length. "I tried controlling that Pokémon once, and I'm wise enough not to try anything to do with it now!"

"That's because you're an incompetent failure," Cyrus seethed, spitting his words into the phone as he put it back to his face. "You allowed your greed to get the better of you, and in the end it was _Kyogre _that was controlling _you_, through the power of the Red Orb…!"

"How do you _know_ all this?!" Archie groaned, and Cyrus waited a few moments to calm himself down before replying.

"I told you before; you needn't worry about what I do or don't know. I'm not a man who's fond of repeating himself, so stop asking me pointless and repetitive questions," he explained, waiting as his words sunk in.

"Then what's your point with this Kyogre thing?"

"_What's my point?!_" Cyrus roared, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. _How can this idiot have been the head of a criminal team?! _he thought incredulously, shaking his head before turning his attention back to the conversation. "My _point_ is that while Team _Aqua_ merely went into hiding, Team _Magma_ has disbanded completely! As such, now is the perfect time for you to reclaim your glory as Hoenn's villainous organisation! To reclaim what you've been working for so long towards! To do that, I hope that you and I can come to some sort of… _arrangement_—" he smirked as he said the word, "regarding Kyogre and its role for Team Aqua."

After nearly an entire minute of absolute silence on the other end of the line, Archie finally responded, and when he did, he chose his words carefully.

"What kind of arrangement are we talking about?" he asked, and Cyrus could hear the greed in his voice.

"Oh, it's the simplest arrangement there is. You help me, and I will help you."

"So a mutual agreement, then?"

"You could say that…" Cyrus said suggestively, preferring to say as little as possible and let Archie do most of the work for him.

"I still don't trust you," Archie said flatly, and Cyrus' mouth twitched in annoyance, "but tell me; what kind of deal are you putting on the table?"

Cyrus smirked. "Quid pro quo, Archibald," he said patronisingly. "Before I can tell you, I need to know that you're in on the agreement."

"Give me one good reason to believe that it's a good deal!" Archie retorted stubbornly.

"I can give you Kyogre," Cyrus said simply, as though he was making the same offer to a five-year old.

"That's impossible!" Archie yelled, forcing Cyrus to jerk the receiver away from his ear again. "You can't seriously expect me to believe something as ridiculous as that! '_I can give you Kyogre_'; what a crock! _I _spent most of my adult life researching the legends, following them down to a tee, did everything that was required of me to be done, and that _still_ wasn't enough! Are you honestly telling me that _you_, a stranger from the Sinnoh region, can give me something as powerful as the legendary Kyogre, just like _that_?!"

"In a word, yes. That's the reason for my call," Cyrus replied, beginning to grow impatient with Archie's stubbornness. Things always worked out much better if his terms were agreed on in the beginning, and he knew that he would have to put up quite the argument to sway a fellow mastermind.

"I think you're full of shit," Archie hissed, proving the same stubborn attitude that Cyrus had just thought about, and the latter decided to take things up a gear.

"Archibald, have you ever heard of a man called Blake Hall?" he asked rhetorically.

"No," Archie spat, a little too quickly, and Cyrus smirked. "Never heard of the man. Why, is it somehow important?!"

_Obviously, or else I wouldn't be mentioning him, _he thought irately. "Five years ago, long before Kyogre came under your control – or should I say before you were under its control—"

"Just get to the point…!"

"Hall funded a scientific project with a group of world-class scientists and engineers, who all worked for the Altru company in the Almia region southwest of Sinnoh. They succeeded in creating a machine that would, in essence, function in much the same way as a Shadow Machine," he told Archie, who quickly inhaled at the mention of the term 'Shadow Machine'. "I take it that you do know of _Shadow Machines_, correct?"

"Of course I've heard of them!" Archie growled. "I'm sure that even _you_ would have quaked in your boots like the rest of us when you heard of what those—_things!_—could do! Those fools from Team Cipher had no _idea_ what they were messing with, creating a Shadow Pokémon! Pokémon without souls! And if Hall managed to do the same thing in a different way, he's a fool too!"

"Fool or no fool," Cyrus muttered darkly, looking back out his window at a blizzard moving south from Route 216, "Hall and his team created what is known as a Gigaremo unit. These units are capable of brainwashing any Pokémon within a designated radius around itself."

"How is this relevant to your supposed '_arrangement_' of handing me Kyogre on a silver platter?" Archie drawled impatiently, and Cyrus' eye ticked.

"It's _relevant_," he hissed, "because I recently acquired the schematics for these Gigaremo machines. With several modifications I've been able to make, they've become exponentially more powerful than what they were before, and although I won't go into the details, I'm willing to share the designs with you and your '_research team_'. Only if you're interested, that is…" he added cockily, knowing full well that a greedy mind like Archie's couldn't pass up the opportunity.

"So let me get this straight," he muttered. "You're offering to just _give _me plans to build Pokémon-brainwashing machines, so long as I go along with whatever it is that _you've_ got planned, is that it?"

"That is correct."

"What are these '_modifications_' you said you'd made?" Archie asked dubiously.

"I told you before, I won't bother going into the _specifics_," Cyrus muttered drily, running a hand over his spiked, metallic-blue hair. "But by changing the signal that the Gigaremo emits, the target Pokémon _can_ become uncontrollable in all circumstances. Similar to—"

"To the Shadow Pokémon in Orre…" Archie finished, and Cyrus could sense that he was beginning to win the Aqua leader over.

"Exactly. The new designs are much stronger than the ones that were used by the organisation known as Team Dim Sun. If they were given an adequate power supply, and with a cluster core at the centre, three of _my_ Gigaremo units would be able to blanket the entire Hoenn region if they were strategically placed."

"But will they work on a legendary Pokémon?" Archie pressed eagerly. "Because if not, I don't want to hear another word."

"During their initial run in Almia, a large prototype Gigaremo, codenamed the Incredible Machine, was capable of covering the entire region, along with rendering a Darkrai under the control of Team Dim Sun," Cyrus said quickly, hoping to seal the deal right there and then. "With a Hoenn counterpart, the same result could be achieved with Kyogre," he added tantalisingly.

"A Darkrai…" Archie murmured, still harbouring doubts, and Cyrus reached the limit of his patience.

"You have—" he checked his watch and saw that it read midnight, "ninety-six hours to make your decision. Consult your subordinates if you wish. Once the deadline is reached, I will contact you again and expect your definite answer," he said succinctly, and he promptly ended the connection and stared at the countryside again. He watched impassively as a lone Pokémon flew over the northern skies; a bright blue bird with astonishingly beautiful wings and a trailing tail that looked like it was fashioned out of crystal. The edge of his mouth twitching into a smirk, he turned back to his desk and shut the file on Archie, throwing it into the bin beneath; he had no use for it any longer.

_Men of greed are men in need,_ he mused, juggling the phone in his large hands. "But they aren't the only ones…" he added with a frown, but his thoughts were disturbed by a loud knock at the door. "Come on in," he sighed, leaning back in his chair as the door opened, and a young female face, framed by a thicket of flaming red hair, appeared from behind it. "Ah, Commander Mars…"

"It's good to see you back, Boss," Mars said politely, beaming as she curtseyed. "Where did you go for your latest trip?"

"Oh, here and there," he said gruffly; no matter how disciplined he was, there was something about his youngest Commander's constant curiosity that always unnerved him, as though she needed to know where he was and what he was doing. "I stopped by Canalave City to do some research regarding Project Tartarus. Reading up on the old legends, making sure there's nothing I've overlooked, and so on. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering, sir; that's all," she replied with yet another smile. "Here's the information you asked Jupiter and I to gather while you were in Canalave," she informed him, producing a manila folder from behind her slender back, and she brought it over as Cyrus beckoned for it. "Although I'm not exactly sure _why_ you wanted intelligence on _this_ man…" she added, her voice wavering ever so slightly as her boss shot her a cold stare.

"My intentions are mine alone," he hissed, snatching the folder away from her. "I'm not required, nor am I inclined, to share them. Now please leave me. I have to place some calls," he ordered, motioning towards the door. Mars apologised repeatedly for her rudeness, bowing at him before hurrying towards the door as he turned back towards his desk with the folder between his hands. Because his back was turned, he couldn't see Mars sneak a discreet look at his backside, or the blush that flashed across her face as she stared, but she was gone before he turned back around, and his mind was solely focused on the numbers he was dialling.

"Now we find out if you truly are a father to your children," he sneered, tapping the _Connect_ button and holding the phone to the side of his face. Seven rings later, the call went through, and Cyrus grinned evilly when he heard a sharp, cold voice on the line.

"What do you want?!" barked the man.

"Greetings, _Giovanni_…" Cyrus whispered, talking into the phone rather than keeping the receiver near his ear, and a split second later it was revealed why.

"_YOU! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, YOU M—?!_"

"Spare me the pathetic lecture, Mortiego!" Cyrus shouted over the top of him, the hand holding the phone tightening its grip. "I'm here on a business matter!"

"THE ONLY '_BUSINESS'_ WITH ME YOU'LL BE HAVING IS YOUR EXECUTION AT MY HANDS!" Giovanni bellowed, his voice pounding through the open line, and Cyrus made a snap decision to resort to a different approach.

"What a pity," he said calmly, slowly moving the phone back to his ear. "Now it will be so much easier for me to end your sons' miserable existences, knowing that you refused my help," he added emotionlessly, and he could almost feel the leader of Team Rocket tremble on the other end of the connection.

"Y-You wouldn't dare—!" he gasped, his voice shaking with a fear that made Cyrus laugh ruthlessly.

"Do not think for a moment that I wouldn't. As I'm sure you must be aware, one of them in particular has been quite the thorn in my side recently, and I would almost _relish_ the chance…" he muttered darkly, letting his voice trail away at the end to instil more fear into Giovanni.

"What do you want…?!" he finally croaked, after a prolonged silence.

"That's better," Cyrus said mockingly. "I want to perform an act of charity for you, Giovanni."

"Charity? _Charity_?!" he exploded, his voice making the Galactic leader swear at the pain in his eardrums. "Nothing you could ever do for me would be considered _charity_!"

"Not even… bridging the void between yourself and young Paul?" taunted Cyrus.

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?!" he seethed.

"I know that your relationship with your son has been quite strained for many years now," Cyrus laughed, lowering himself into his comfortable chair. "Due, might I add, to your ridiculous failures as both a businessman and a father."

"You're one to talk!" Giovanni retorted, his voice rising again as Cyrus leant back in his chair.

"Being one with no family, I suppose I am," he sighed, rolling his eyes. "After all, I am the one extending the olive branch at the moment."

"Well, your supposed '_olive branches_' have a nasty habit of igniting on contact and burning away at everything they meet," Giovanni snapped.

"That may be," he conceded, "but in this particular instance, it was _your own actions_ that segregated your son, and by that I mean your order to assassinate that unfortunate young girl, Tina Girard."

"How—?!"

"Oh, I know many things, Giovanni… many, many things…" Cyrus whispered cruelly. "I also know how you can reconcile with Paul."

"_I_ don't pretend to forgive myself for what I've done to hurt him, and he won't try to forgive me either! What makes you think that you – _you_, of all people! – can mend that?!"

"The fact that Tina's death was the only cause for your estrangement—"

"—If that isn't already painfully fucking obvious—"

"—makes me think that I can offer you the chance to redeem yourself in his eyes by _reversing_ your actions," Cyrus suggested, allowing his words to fully settle into Giovanni's mind.

"…You're joking, right?" he asked, with a near-hysterical laugh. "Reversing _death_?! I may be a powerful criminal, but I'm not the Creator himself!"

"Then it's fortunate for you that such a Pokémon exists that _can_ do such an act," Cyrus pressed.

"What _are_ you talking about?!"

"The great phoenix, Ho-oh…"

"Ho-oh…" Giovanni repeated, the truth finally dawning on him at last.

"You know of Ho-oh's powers of reincarnation, do you not?" Cyrus inquired.

"I do… but they're only things told of in legends that were forgotten ages ago…" Giovanni murmured, his words running together and becoming incoherent.

"Then you would also know that, if under your control, you could command Ho-oh to return anyone you wanted from the afterlife. A friend, a deceased Pokémon… Tina, perhaps?" he suggested silkily, but his words were promptly cut short by the Rocket leader's reply.

"That's utterly impossible," he said flatly. "No-one has confirmed a sighting of Ho-oh in these parts for a long, long time. In fact, the last person to photograph the Pokémon was _me_, nearly sixteen years ago over the skies of—my hometown here in Kanto!"

"Then you clearly have an affinity with the Pokémon," Cyrus said simply, resting his legs on the desk.

"Even so," Giovanni continued, undeterred in his view, "a legendary Pokémon like the great Ho-oh cannot simply be _captured_ and controlled with a PokéBall or such! Ho-oh is a peaceful Pokémon, and one of the few species to _never_ be captured by anyone, past _or_ present! Controlling Ho-oh is absurd!"

"And there is the flaw in your logic, Giovanni," Cyrus muttered triumphantly, his lip curling. "You assume that Ho-oh must be _captured_ by conventional means. I propose that Ho-oh can be manipulated without being captured at all."

"Now _that_ is absurd. Pokémon need to be captured in order to be controlled."

"Unlike mine, your memory seems to be failing you in middle age," Cyrus cackled. "_I _seem to remember a certain Rocket operation that took place in Johto several years ago that accomplished exactly what I just proposed. Incidentally, I think it started that chain of events that drove Paul away from you. An '_Operation Mayfair',"_ he hissed.

"No."

"No?"

"Absolutely not," Giovanni growled. "I am not going to risk destroying an entire region _again_. If Mayfair had been successful at Goldenrod City, the fallout would have wiped out half the countryside, and it would have spilled over into Kanto!"

"Yes, it would have," Cyrus agreed, another smirk playing on his mouth. "But I am offering a _different_ approach. One that will bring Ho-oh under your control, Tina back from the dead, and you and your son together again."

"What approach is this?!" Giovanni demanded, but he gave himself away with the vain, despairing hope in his voice, and Cyrus just couldn't pass up the opportunity.

"I'll be in touch, Mortiego," he said at last, ending the call with the press of a button. "Ah, it's always a welcome change to torture that man…" he sighed, grinning as he stretched his limbs and rested his hands on top of his head. His eyes flicked towards the folder that Mars had brought him moments ago, now lying on the corner of his desk as he'd gone to call Giovanni, and his hand shot out and grabbed it to bring closer to his face.

"Hmm… Victor Graceland…" he muttered, scanning the top line of the profile on the first page. Opposite the lists and information was a black and white prison mug-shot of a sinister-looking man with short brown hair, accentuated by a tiny mohawk poking up at the front. His tiny eyes glared out from the page, but the most surprising thing about the man's face was the enormous shock of dark brown hair that hung down from his chin, like an unkempt goatee.

"This looks like my kind of mercenary," Cyrus muttered, raising an eyebrow at the mug-shot before running through the other details on the opposite page. "'_Currently working as a Team Rocket lieutenant in the Johto region_'… '_previous experience with capturing legendary Pokémon (see page five)_'… what's this—?" he jerked forwards in his seat and squinted at the tiny postscript at the bottom of the page, "known relatives… younger brother – Newton Graceland, inter-dimensional field researcher based in Sinnoh…"

"How intriguing…"

* * *

**Trivia:**

***The chapter title is a play on the phrase 'opportunity of a lifetime'.**

***The only head of a villainous team from the anime (active or not) that wasn't mentioned in this chapter was Team Magma's Maxie.**

***Incidentally, both Team Cipher and Team Dim Sun **_**are**_** mentioned, a reference to the storylines of both Pokémon: XD and Pokémon Ranger: Shadows Of Almia.**

**Quiz:**

***Which legendary Pokémon mentioned in this chapter debuted before its generation in the anime?**

**

* * *

**

**Cyrus has finally made his on-screen (or rather, on-page) debut in the story, and he's been getting in touch with his fellow criminal leaders... bring out the tea and crumpets, eh? And there's just a hint of BetelgeuseShipping thrown in for good measure. I figured it was about time that the _real _crooks got a little time to shine, and this is the first chapter of many to come. Going on from that, this is possibly one of the most important chapters in WPC, and you'll see just why that is at a much later time. **

**Thanks to "heynello" in particular for your review; I'm just doing what I can, and I guess I should thank you for thinking that this story is "possibly the best one ever". Really, although you can't tell, I was kinda dumbstruck reading your words. So thanks again! **

**Also kudos to Blue Bongo, RREA436, "Kasuchi, Koichi", katfairy, ishida373 and Blake Wilson for their reviews, which were just as welcome. Keep 'em coming!**

**Phew... that was a lot of stuff... you can tell things have been a bit busy lately, eh?**

**Well I think that's about it for this chapter. Chapter 72 (From Hunter To Hunted) will make its way onto the site on April 24th, a week from today just like the last few chapters have. But until then, be sure to slap me with another wonderful review, vote in the poll if you haven't already done so, stick a post in one of the forums, and enjoy!**


	72. From Hunter To Hunted

**CHAPTER 72 – FROM HUNTER TO HUNTED**

Mark threw himself to the side, taking shelter behind the thick trunk of a palm tree next to the sidewalk, as he heard the pounding footsteps of someone approaching. Whether it was his pursuers or not was unimportant; maintain absolute secrecy was the one thing he needed to do above all others. The entire police force was probably scouring the island for him, and he instinctively knew that they would have shut down all modes of transport off Ayers Island, or at least set up security checkpoints to make sure he couldn't escape that way. His mind flashed back to the present to see a young man jogging past his hiding place with an Alakazam keeping pace close behind.

He instantly panicked when he saw the Psychic-type, and he prayed that it wouldn't be able to sense his presence from the darkness. So he cringed when he saw the Psi Pokémon pull up short and turn its head towards him, drawing the attention of its Trainer. Alakazam's Trainer was tall, thin and wiry, with long black hair that was tied behind his head in a ponytail, which would have seemed odd to Mark normally, were he not running for his life at the moment. As the man's face came into the light, Mark swore under his breath when he saw a distinguishing feature on his face that made him instantly recognisable; there was a large tattoo of a red Rayquaza running above his left eye and across his cheek.

"What is it, friend?" asked the Trainer, who Mark knew to be Edwin Landomere, a South American man who was competing in the tournament. "Come on, we've got a lot of training to get back to! Our next battle? Any of this ringing a bell? Whatever it is can wait until morning," he hissed irritably, and after a few moments of resistance his Pokémon finally obeyed and continued their jogging.

Back underneath the palm tree, Mark thanked his lucky stars and headed off once again, slinking across the street and pressing his back to the corner wall. _If that Alakazam had seen me, I was done for,_ he thought, peering around the corner to see a long pier leading out to the ocean. _Finally! The ocean! Let's see…_ he looked skyward to see the stars twinkling back down at him from afar, his eyes searching for just the one that would lead him to safety down on Earth.

_North, north…_ he urged himself, at last finding the pointer star somewhere to his right, shining down from next to the Entei constellation. _Okay, so once I leave the pier, I'll have to make a right to head towards Mikan Island…_ he calculated, at the same time taking his Walrein's PokéBall from its clip. Checking one more time to make sure the coast was clear, he threw caution to the winds and ran down the street to the pier, pinning himself against a mercifully malfunctioning streetlamp about three-quarters of the way along.

"Walrein, come on out…!" he whispered, pointing his aquatic Pokémon's ball towards the water and opening it. Walrein appeared in the ocean with a flash of harsh white light and splashed its flippers about, enjoying the chance to be back in its preferred habitat for once. Mark grunted and jumped down into the water next to it, coming down with a loud splash and an explosion of water that, unfortunately for him, attracted the attention of two of the police officers still chasing him.

"Did you hear that?" one of them asked, hurrying towards the pier with a flashlight in one of her hands and a PokéBall in the other. Her companion raced up behind her and shone his flashlight into the water to see Mark climbing onto Walrein's back, and he immediately took his radio and informed the station.

"You there! Stop now and surrender quietly, or we'll be forced to take you in ourselves!" shouted the female, throwing her PokéBall onto the pier. With a loud roar, the officer's Pokémon appeared and trotted to the edge of the wooden planks. It was a blue, feline Pokémon with a whitish frill around its neck and large, batlike ears ridged with a darker blue than the rest of its body. Its tail made it look more similar to a mermaid than anything else, and as it nose-dove into the ocean below, it seemed to melt right into it, leaving no hint that it had slipped into it at all.

"Vaporeon, stop that fugitive!" she roared, pointing squarely at Mark and his Pokémon.

"Walrein, let's get the hell away from this island! Move it into high gear, hyah!" Mark spat, smacking the inside of his shins against Walrein's flanks, and the Ice Break Pokémon reared into action at once, powering through the salty water with every stroke of its muscled flippers and large tail. Mark clung on grimly as the spray of the water rained down upon his face and body, chilling him to the core, but within about a minute the bright lights of Ayers Island were now winking at him from the horizon, and he allowed himself to relax a fraction when he didn't see any Vaporeon rising out of the water around him.

"Alright, Walrein; slow down your pace, but keep it at a nice rhythm, yeah?" he instructed to his Pokémon, laughing genuinely for the first time since his incarceration two days ago. He closed his eyes and rested his head against Walrein's blue, fuzzy body, allowing himself to bob up and down in the motion of his Pokémon as the two of them slowly made their way north towards the Orange Archipelago.

Fifteen minutes later, as the Galactic fugitive began to slip between consciousness and sleep, a low sound reached his ears and made him open his eyes. Raising his head to look around, he saw that he was surrounded by tiny icebergs that were floating along in the current beside him. Mark scooped a hand under the cold water and splashed it against his face, shuddering at the freezing wetness, but when he opened his eyes the bergs were still there.

"What in the world…?" he murmured, leaning over on Walrein as he tried to get closer to the surface of the water. "This is a _tropical_ ocean… what are icebergs doing here…?" he wondered aloud, peering down at the inky blackness as it reflected the starlight back into his face. "I'd expect this if I was near Snowpoint City or Chōsen Island, but not here—!"

"_Giyaaah!_"

"What the fuck was _that_?!" Mark gasped, his head snapping around to look behind him. His heart dropped into his stomach when he saw three Pokémon, looking more like moving flickers amongst the stars, advancing on him from the direction of Ayers Island. Their speed was frightening; within moments they were close enough that he could see what Pokémon they really were. The one on the left was a Salamence, a lot like the one belonging to the fair-haired boy he had battled at the harbour the other day, although it was massive; it must have been at least ten feet tall, and twice as long, and it was the one that had roared at him just now.

The Pokémon on the right was another Dragon-type; a great, green Pokémon striped with sky-blue, with a long, thick tail that ended in a green-yellow fan of sorts. Its strong wing-beats blew up splashes of water in the ocean below, and its tiny eyes, hidden behind vast golden globes that stuck out from the sides of its head, were narrowed and, worst of all, visible to the Galactic stranded in the sea. It was a Flygon, and a rare one at that, roaring from behind the slipstream of the leader in the middle.

Leading the chase was a large insect Pokémon covered from head to toe in sleek, shiny red armour. Three large horns sheared out from the top of its head, and two yellow eyes glared out from under its sharp brow. A pair of butterfly-like wings was spread wide, riding on the turbulent air currents that blew across the ocean, and the Pokémon's thin arms were thrown out to the sides as well, each one ending in an intimidating pincer. The Trainer on board shrieked a command to it, and it swooped down towards the sea, kicking up a plume of water in its wake as it shot back into the air, the two Dragon Pokémon following close behind as always.

"Staraptor, come on out! Walrein, dive down and use Ice Beam attacks on the Salamence and Flygon! Come on, Staraptor, we'll take care of the Scizor!" Mark roared, opening his PokéBall with a flash and climbing onto Staraptor as it emerged from the light. He and his Predator Pokémon wheeled into the air as Walrein slipped below the surface, neither leaving little more than a ripple on the black surface of the water as the flying pursuers closed in.

"You'll never take me alive, bitch!" he screamed, the cold wind snapping at his eyes and nose as Staraptor soared ever higher.

"That's the idea, _murderer_!" roared the Trainer, clinging onto her Scizor's shoulders. "You're not getting away! Salamence, use Hyper Beam!"

"Staraptor—Agility!" Mark hissed, almost being ripped away as Staraptor picked up speed and tore over the water, the blast of orange energy whizzing past his Pokémon's outstretched wing. "Walrein, use those bergs for your Ice Ball attack!" he bellowed into the water, watching as a large chunk of ice flew into the air and struck the shiny Flygon in the wing. Screeching, the Mystic Pokémon plummeted towards the water and fell through with a colossal splash, but the Scizor and its Trainer swooped down to help it out. Mark and Staraptor were about to finish them off, but just then the Salamence roared and fired another Hyper Beam.

"Hard left!" he ordered, his scrabbling hands wrapping around Staraptor's neck as the latter wheeled. "Use Quick Attack to move in on that Salamence!"

"_Starap!_" cawed his Pokémon, about-facing and streaking towards Salamence at incredible speeds, and the Dragon Pokémon was taken completely by surprise. Roaring to try and scare its foe, Salamence hovered ungainly as it wondered what to do next, but with a fierce cry of defiance Staraptor powered forwards and hit it across the neck with a cruel Steel Wing, sending its head whipping to the side. Mark took his chance and leapt onto the larger Pokémon's back, grabbing its leathery, red wings even as they fell towards the pitch-black water.

"_Never_ alive!" he seethed, snatching at the Salamence's wing joints and snapping them with one powerful sideways thrust. Salamence shrieked in agony and fell unconscious, but Mark had already jumped onto Staraptor's back as it hit the water face-first and kicked up a huge wave of freezing water. Flexing his fingers, the Galactic turned his attention back to the Trainer and her two Pokémon, who were back in the skies and screaming at him as they raced closer.

"You'd better help your Salamence!" he yelled tauntingly. "I just broke its wing, so I'm not sure how long it can last underwater!"

The woman's eyes widened in shock and rage. "_YOU BASTARD! Scizor, get me down there! Flygon, kill him!_" she screamed, pointing at Staraptor, and Flygon sped forwards to meet its prey as she and Scizor rocketed towards the ocean surface.

"Walrein, use Sheer Cold to take them down!" Mark roared, smirking as Scizor circled over the water, and as its Trainer dove in with her Salamence's PokéBall in hand. But there was no noise other than the howling wind and lapping waves, so he turned his head towards the patch of sea below himself and Staraptor to see Walrein fighting, it seemed, against the water itself, which was launching beams of ice and water at its body from all sides.

_What the hell—?!_ he wondered, his eyes narrowing as he saw a feline head appear from the water, shooting a thick torrent of ice towards Walrein, who batted it away with a splash of water to absorb the attack. _I knew it! There's another Pokémon in there, fighting Walrein! It's got to be that Vaporeon I saw when we left!_ he realised, but his chain of thought was cut short as the policewoman's Flygon – which Mark had completely forgotten about until now – charged at him and hit Staraptor with a swinging Dragon Claw, knocking both it and Mark out of the sky.

"_Staraptor, hang on…!_" Mark growled, holding onto his Pokémon's midsection for dear life as they plummeted towards the water. "Walrein, use Ice Beam to make a slide!" he screamed. Walrein turned its shaggy head towards its master and, despite the nuisance of the Vaporeon still volleying attacks towards it, blew a cold jet of ice from between its tusks while at the same time raising a colossal wave with its flippers. The Ice Beam froze the wave mid-break from underneath Mark, and he and Staraptor tumbled down the length of it to be at rest about a foot or so away from the water's edge.

"Good work, Walrein! Now take out that Vaporeon by using Powder Snow!" he ordered, releasing his hold on Staraptor and jumping onto its back as the latter spread its wings wide. Just as the Predator Pokémon took off to battle Flygon, Walrein bellowed and summoned a small blizzard that instantly froze the water all around its body. The hapless Vaporeon was trapped in the middle, and in its Acid Armor form it found itself wedged inside the ice with nowhere to go as Walrein lumbered over with a savage expression on its face.

"_Walreeiiinn?!_" it howled at Mark.

"Do it!" he roared back, watching as his Ice-type charged up a Hyper Beam and blasted the ice with it, catching the frozen Bubble Jet Pokémon in the middle and knocking it, appropriately, out cold. "Staraptor, pick up some more speed!" he hissed, digging his heels into his Flying-type's sides as they climbed higher. "Steel Wing, now!" he commanded, seeing the woman's Flygon charging towards him at high speed, and he shielded his eyes with one hand as Staraptor's wings glowed with bright white light.

"_Flaaaaiii_!" hissed the Flygon, its yellow eyes gleaming as it charged its Dragon Claw, but out of nowhere a huge brick of ice flew out from the ocean and hit it in the stomach, knocking all the breath out of its body. It shut its eyes in pain as the light of its attack faded away, but before it could open them again, Staraptor and Mark had reached it and struck it across the forehead with the former's Steel Wing attack, rendering it unconscious in an instant.

"Thanks for the backup, Walrein!" Mark cheered, saluting his aquatic Pokémon as Flygon plummeted into the icefloe behind him. "Now, return!" he called, aiming his PokéBall at the sea and returning his Pokémon to its depths with a flash of red light. "Now there's just that Scizor left, and I doubt it's gonna be chasing us now…" he muttered, watching as the policewoman finally surfaced and headed towards her stricken Flygon, lying on the frozen wave that had saved him and Staraptor minutes earlier.

"Still, we can't be too sure," he added, his eyes narrowing to slits as he urged his Pokémon downwards. "Houndoom, stop that woman from getting to her Flygon," he grunted, taking his Fire-type's PokéBall from his waist and aiming it at the patch of ice between the two. His Houndoom leapt out of the ball in a flash and thundered down onto the icefloe, baring its sharp teeth and growling menacingly at the woman.

"Scizor!" she shrieked, and her Pincer Pokémon appeared at her side in a flash, leaping lithely out of the water next to her. "Use Metal Claw—!"

"Houndoom, use Thunder Fang!" Mark snarled, lowering himself towards the ice as Scizor bounded forwards with a shining claw. Houndoom's fangs crackled with electricity as it pounced to meet the Bug-type, and as the Metal Claw struck it in the leg it clamped down on Scizor's head and loosed its Thunder Fang, paralysing Scizor and jolting it to within an inch of losing consciousness. Houndoom leapt away just as Mark and Staraptor touched down on land, and Scizor pitched sideways onto the ice, its body wracked with terrible shudders as its Trainer rushed to its side.

"Make one more move, and my Houndoom will bite _you_," Mark whispered dangerously, and the woman had no choice but to stay still. "Or better still, he can _burn_ you…"

"What do you want?!" she spat, trying to hold what little ground she still had.

"What do I _want_?! I want to be free!" he roared, making her back away in fright. "_I want to be free, damnit!_"

"That's too bad, because you're a wanted criminal!" she retorted, taking a PokéBall from her belt. "You've murdered innocent people, and we're—_I'm_—not gonna let you get away with it!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to do that…" Mark sighed, springing forwards like a snake, and within a fraction of a second he had disarmed her, tied her hand behind her back, and drawn his arm across her throat while the other held the top of her head. "I wasn't a murderer, I'll have you know," he panted into her ear.

"'_Wasn't_'?" she squeaked, and although Mark couldn't see it, there was fear in her eyes.

"That's right, I _wasn't_—!" he hissed, and on the last word he twisted her head a full ninety degrees and broke her neck, "—until _now_," he growled, letting her limp body fall onto the frozen ground in front of him. "Houndoom, return," he muttered, feeling no empathy for the woman on the ice as he recalled his Dark Pokémon to its PokéBall. "Staraptor, let's head north for Mikan Island. They'll come for us again before long, and I think they'll be bringing reinforcements," he barked, climbing back onto his bird Pokémon's back as it crowed and took off, flapping its powerful wings. Within moments they were swallowed up in the dark sky and howling wind.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Kudos to BlackShadowKnight for his OC submission of Edwin.**

***Chōsen Island refers to the Battle Zone. Its name is taken from the Japanese term meaning 'challenge' – chousen (****挑戦****), and not a corruption of the word 'chosen', although it is an odd coincidence.**

**Quiz:**

***Which main character in the anime owns a Flygon?**

* * *

**Well well, Mark is now officially on the run and heading for Mikan Island. I originally wasn't planning for Mark to be a major character in the story, but in Chapter 47 I made a snap decision to keep him, and I'm glad I have. You'll be seeing more of him in later chapters to come, and I think the next one is... I wonder what's gonna happen there...?**

**Now I know that I normally post these at the start of the Friday, but due to unforseen circumstances I was forced into publishing it early - ANZAC Day preparations and eveything.**

**I also know that I didn't give any warning about changing t****he story name, but it was going to happen sooner or later, and I figured I'd give everyone a while to get used to the difference before Act II comes out in November.**

**There's still 28 chapters left in this Act, and only two Championship rounds to get through before we hit the Top Sixteen... wow, that's a lot of chapters... I think so far, I'm averaging 16 chapters per round (63 to get past Tyson) so it should be do-able.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and to the people who posted on the forum. For those who submitted OC characters, if you want yours to have a more... 'active' role in The Rosewood Conspiracy, be sure to put up a little character description for the other readers to know a bit more about them. I may know a few things, but they might not, and it helps everyone if there's a better flow of information.**

**I'm still taking OC's for TRC, so be sure to send me in something if you feel that some new blood is needed.**

**Speaking of the OC's, I'd prefer it if all OC suggestions were posted in the WPC forum (in the OC Thread) as opposed to being sent in as a review. Review-space is for reviewing the story, and the OC-space is for OC's. Any suggestions that are sent as reviews will be ignored. Just giving you a heads-up.**

**So yeah, OC's in the forum... be sure to vote in the WPC poll, because it closes in a week!!!!! Only one vote separates the top three!**

**And don't forget to review!!!!**


	73. Smooth Criminals

**CHAPTER 73 – SMOOTH CRIMINALS**

Cyrus finished reading Mars' report on the Team Rocket lieutenant and tossed it back onto his desk, a slight frown on his face and a crease in his brow. From what his Commanders had been able to gather, he knew that the man he was reading about had all the qualities necessary for his operation, but there was one thing that made him uneasy. _Two things, actually,_ he reminded himself, getting up from his chair and walking over to the side wall on his left. He pressed a small green button hidden in the inlay of the wood, and a large panel slid aside to reveal a huge array of computer equipment, lights flashing red and green all over the screens.

"Time to check who you _really_ are, Victor," he said to himself, his fingers typing away at a keyboard off to the left. Bringing up a window, he punched in more commands, and he was met moments later with a large banner, depicting the words '_GLOBAL POLICE – POKÉMON G-MEN_'. His eyes focused on the banner, Cyrus ran his hands along the keys again and pressed _Enter_. A quick second later a green box appeared in the centre of the screen, this time with the words '_Access Granted_', and the Galactic leader grinned as he brought up a search bar.

"Here we go; V-I-C—" he muttered, typing a single word into the box. "Ah, just as I thought—" he scanned the topmost hit and clicked the entry, bringing up a police rap sheet listing numerous crimes. "Stealing government property, burglary, crimes against Pokémon, inciting violence, attempted capture of legendary Pokémon, evading capture… wow, this goes on and on…" he grunted, impressed as he scrolled down the extensive list. "Hmm, says here that the most recent is accessory to terrorism… very impressive…"

He tapped a red button next to the main display and brought up a video link, with a tiny window in the upper left showing his own picture. His eyes flared red for a moment as he saw the aging lines and dull colour of his face, but he quickly put it out of mind as he clicked on Graceland's picture in the profile. Then, remembering the information in Mars' profile of him, he typed in a fourteen-digit phone number and pressed _Enter_ again. Two minutes later the call connected, and he was staring at the same man as the one in the picture, although this one was decidedly more dishevelled than even the prison photo.

"What?!" he barked, rubbing his eyes blindly.

Cyrus hesitated for just a moment before saying, "Are you… Victor Graceland?"

"Yeah, what of it?!"

"Brother to Newton Graceland, the renowned inter-dimensional scientist?" he pushed, but apparently he'd struck a nerve with Victor, who growled irritably.

"Look, I already told you people; I'm not commenting for his biography! You locusts need to get a life…! And stay the hell away from me!" he roared, and Cyrus blinked foolishly.

"Huh—? No, no, this has nothing to do with your brother, Victor," he chuckled, realising the misinterpretation. "I called to make you a business offer, actually."

"Hmm…" Victor muttered, and he seemed to calm down, although he was still edgy from being woken up in the middle of the night. "What did you say your name was again?" he asked cautiously.

"Call me Cyrus."

"Cyrus… that's an odd name," he muttered, tugging a hand on his goatee. "I only know of _one_ Cyrus who might want to offer me a job… a Cyrus I—"

"I can assure you," Cyrus broke in, "that there is no coincidence. I am that Cyrus."

"Well I'll be…" he gasped, his face lighting up with admiration. "It's finally nice to meet the man in person!" he said merrily, taking Cyrus completely by surprise.

"E-Excuse me?" he stuttered.

"It's no easy feat landing a hit on the Boss, but you… you did it in spades!" he cheered, throwing his arms up in the air. "I've been trying for years, but you fucked him up something bad, you did."

Cyrus quickly recovered from his initial shock, and as Victor's last words registered in his mind he smirked, realising that his job might be far easier than what he had first thought. "I take it that you're not particularly fond of your leader?" he ventured, standing straight again.

"That'd be spot on, brother," Victor said casually, leaning back on whatever he was sitting on. "Personally, I'm just waiting for him to crack before I swoop in and take his place. Y'know, being the second-in-command and all. But you already knew that, didn't you, Cyrus?" he grinned.

"Yes, I suppose I did," he smiled. "Tell me, Victor—"

"Hey, call me Vicious," Victor said dismissively.

"Vicious…" Cyrus repeated, wondering why the man preferred his codename to his true name. "I see. Anyways, you once travelled to northwest Johto several years ago, did you not? Chasing a Celebi?"

"Yep, and I would have had it under my control too," he growled, his hands curling into fists, "except a bunch of interfering twerps and their Pikachu stopped me… That and those other Rockets and their talking Meowth…"

"A Pikachu and a talking Meowth, you say?" Cyrus said, an evil grin forming on the corners of his mouth. _I knew it… that Ketchum boy knows far more about legendary Pokémon than he let on in Celestic Town… and that trio of Rockets were there as well…! How interesting…_ "Well, it seems we have several things in common, Vicious!" he said brightly, clapping his hands together. "We've both had to deal with those two unfortunate crews of meddlers, and we both dislike Giovanni."

"Hear hear!" Vicious said, raising his hand in a fake toast. "Those punk kids are a real pain, eh?"

"Indeed they are."

"Where'd they cause you grief?" he asked conversationally, scratching his ear.

"A small town in my native Sinnoh region. Nothing important, absolutely insignificant, but irksome nonetheless," Cyrus muttered darkly, but the spark in his eyes was gone the next second as he looked back at Vicious. "But enough about me. Tell me something, Vicious; what's the one thing you want right now?" he asked silkily.

"I told you a couple of minutes ago; I want to be the boss of Team Rocket," Vicious answered greedily, and Cyrus grinned again.

"Well, I think I can help you out there…" he suggested, and the Rocket lieutenant was hooked immediately.

"How so?"

"We both need Giovanni out of the way to accomplish our goals. Now, while they might not be one and the same, we can work together on the method to take him out for good. As it so happens, I am in need of a mercenary with your specific talents, and you need me to help you usurp Giovanni's influence as the leader of Team Rocket. So, I suggest a dual partnership… what say you?" he explained, waiting as Vicious contemplated the tempting offer.

"You can really help me get the top job?" he asked, still slightly unsure.

"From what you've said about Giovanni, you know that I'm a man capable of doing what it takes. If I could accomplish what I've done in the past, I can certainly help you in organising a coup."

"You have a point there," Vicious said slowly, nodding his head. "Maybe we _can_ work together… form some kind of _agreement_…"

"Maybe we can," Cyrus sneered, knowing that the deed was done. "Can I call you back within the next week or so to discuss this '_agreement_' of ours in more detail?" he offered formally, and Vicious was unable to refuse.

"Absolutely!" he replied eagerly. "Just—" he pointed a warning finger at the camera, but there was still the smirk on his face, "not so late at night next time, alright?!"

"My apologies," Cyrus said, nodding his head forwards in an apologetic bow. "Until next time, Victor."

"Ciao, Cyrus," said Vicious, and the window went blank. Cyrus stared at the cool blue of the display, his eyes twinkling and a sneer still on his mouth, before he pressed the green button on the wall and walked back to his desk as the panel slid shut.

"That was too easy…" he murmured, staring out of his window again. The moon had slipped behind a cloud and plunged the northern landscape into a slightly darker night, but he was more worried about the world to the south; specifically, one in the centre of the Orange Islands. _Shamouti… I wonder if Hayes knows the perils of obtaining the Titans' Spheres…_ he thought, tucking his hands behind his back as he gazed at the falling snow outside his window. _Well, it's good to know I've got other agents in the area…_

"Now we begin," he told himself.

* * *

At that very moment, Shane Hayes landed at the shores of Fire Island, a stone's throw away from the same island that his boss had just been contemplating, jumping off his Tentacruel and onto the cold, rocky beach. Wordlessly recalling the Pokémon to its ball, he clipped it to his belt and took in the impressive sight of the island; it was like a sheer cliff on all sides, with a lone stone temple at the very top of an enormous, winding, climbing staircase. He cursed his miserable fortune for landing on the opposite side to the bottom of the stairs, wished that he had brought more food on his trip from South Mandarin Island last night, and began his hike around the wide beach.

"Just remember, _Commander Mercury_…" he told himself, smiling proudly at his imminent promotion as he trekked across rocks and pebbles that tumbled and shifted under his feet, "you're doing this for the good of Team Galactic! With the prophecy that these Spheres unlock, the Boss can make the world a better place, just like he promised he would!" he grunted, taking sharp breaths as the ground began to slope uphill towards the rocky mountain in the island's centre.

He shifted the rucksack on his back and walked the last hundred or so yards towards the base of the stairs and collapsed onto them; his pack was enormously heavy, and he threw it onto the stones next to him to grab himself a quick bite to eat before he tried to climb to the shrine at the top. Unwrapping a small roll of tin foil, he quickly devoured the small meal of sweet cakes inside and stuffed the crumbs back into his bag, picking at the corners of his mouth as he shouldered the weighty rucksack again.

"Well, no time like the present…" he sighed, shifting the bag again as he began to ascend the stairs. Each step was an effort, not only because of his extreme fatigue from travelling across the sea to get there, but also because of the sheer slope of the steps; he was having to move his legs further upwards than forwards just to reach the next one, and by the time he reached halfway, he was already beginning to tire again.

"How—did I get—so unfit—?" he panted, struggling the rest of his way up the stone steps to a large ring of stone that made the mountain's peak. The moment he reached level ground, he collapsed onto it and rolled his backpack away, where it sank into a tiny bank of snowflakes that had just begun falling down from the sky. "Hmm… it may not be an ice pack, but it'll do!" he shouted to himself, grabbing a handful of white and stuffing it against his lower back. The biting cold sent shivers through his spine, but it was enough to lower the pain of climbing all those stairs, so he didn't complain.

Shane crouched low in the piling snow for a few minutes, allowing his aching muscles to relax as much as they could. He hadn't slept in nearly two days, and he could almost feel himself drifting off to sleep on the natural blanket being made right underneath his feet. Shaking the cobwebs of sleep out of his head, he straightened up and spied the tiny stone shrine at the bottom of a smaller flight of stairs at the centre of the plateau, on a cliff-path overlooking a large crater in the island's centre; an inactive volcanic crater. Turning around to look at the ocean, he could see lights shining at him from across the water, and he suddenly remembered that the local townspeople were celebrating their annual festival.

_That's right… the famous Legend Festival!_ he thought, his eyes swivelling back to look at the shrine. _Every year, one visiting Trainer is picked as the 'Chosen One' and has to gather the treasures—!_ He gasped as he realised what that meant, and he ran forwards to the shrine itself, peering at the object in the middle of the stone arch, which was an intricate carved statue of a bird surrounded by flames. "Oh, thank god…" he sighed, grinning wearily as he saw a bright globe of glass resting in the bird's mouth, burning with a luminous red fire that shone from within. _If the chosen Trainer had have gotten to the Spheres before me, the Boss would have had my head on a stick,_ he thought, smirking as he reached a hand towards the Fire Sphere, symbol of the legendary bird Pokémon Moltres.

"Halt! What do you think you're doing?!"

Shane's hand recoiled, the tips of his fingernails scraping on the edge of the orb, as he swung around to see two fearsome-looking creatures standing at the top of the staircase leading into the crater. Both of them looked human from the neck down, with arms and legs and even clothes, but their faces were that of enormous birds, covered with feathers and with furious expressions. The Galactic Commander-to-be instantly reached for the PokéBalls at his waist, but the bird-people saw this and froze.

"So _you're_ the Trainer we've been waiting for!" one of them screeched, hands reaching for its head, and the bird-face was lifted away to show a woman with short green hair looking at Shane, whose jaw dropped on cue. "Those PokéBalls! And look, you made it all the way to Fire Island on your own! But wait—" she looked at the other person, who lifted his bird-mask off of his head as well, "we haven't even started the ceremonies, so what's he doing here _now_?!"

"I'm not sure…" muttered her companion, an elderly but sharp-faced man with a shock of a moustache that that wound across his face. "Tell me, warrior; what is your name?" he asked dramatically, taking a step forwards as he held his mask in one hand.

"I—my name is—Mercury," Shane stammered, his head turning towards the Fire shrine for the briefest of moments as he gave his answer. "What is your name?!"

"My name is Marius," growled the man. "Why are you here, Mercury, at the roost of the Titan of Fire, Moltres?!"

"I—I have come to—to seek the Titans' Spheres," he admitted, but he stood his ground as he stared back at the man called Marius. To Shane's enormous surprise, Marius' face split into a huge grin, and he roared with echoing laughter.

"Well, you have certainly come to the right place for that! And at the right time, too! For _you_ shall be this year's Chosen One at the festival!" he declared, raising his mask-free hand towards the night sky. "Maren, could you head back to shore and ready the boat?" he asked the woman, who nodded and began climbing back down the stairs that led to the island's edge. "Now, warrior Mercury; come with us! There has been dancing, and dining, and much excitement had by all on this wonderful night! Your arrival only strengthens the spirit of the Legend Festival!"

"But what about the Spheres, Marius?" Shane asked impatiently, as the old man lifted his rucksack with ease and dropped his mask back over his head. "I need the Spheres!"

"Yes, we _all_ need the Spheres, so be patient, warrior," Marius chuckled, his voice muffled by the mask as he threw an arm around Shane's broad shoulders and guided him towards the staircase. "But your hunt can wait until tomorrow. Tonight, we will enjoy the fine company, the fine food and drink, and the fine festivities that Shamouti Island has to offer!" he shouted enthusiastically, drawing an uneasy smile out of the otherwise furious Galactic.

"Actually—I'd much rather just get the Spheres _now_—" he said brokenly, turning his head to watch the shrine slowly move further away. "I mean—" he winced as he felt Marius' grip on his shoulder tighten warningly for a moment, "how can I say '_no'_ to that?" he corrected himself with a laugh. "I'd love to come back with you to Shamouti Island."

"Excellent, then we shan't waste a moment in getting there!" Marius cried triumphantly, leading Shane up to the rim of the crater. "Have you ever been to Shamouti Island before, Mercury?" he inquired, as the two men began their long trek down the staircase.

"No, I haven't, but a—uh—colleague of mine suggested that I should come visit—around this time of year—so I figured, '_why not?_'," Shane lied, trying to sound in high spirits as he was led away from the shrine. "I guess I came at the right time, in that respect."

"Yes, you did!" Marius agreed, smiling despite the mask obscuring his face. "Oh, excuse me—" he lifted the top of the mask on a hinge so that his face was visible without taking the mask off, "—there we go; much better—! Yes, do you know what happened here at Shamouti Island—I believe it was _four_?—years ago?" he asked.

"No, I'm afraid I don't. I was overseas for most of the year," he responded, a slight frown on his face. "My flight back to the Kanto region was delayed for two weeks because of a freak snowstorm, if I remember correctly."

"That would coincide with the very event I was about to tell you about!" Marius chortled, spying the bottom of the staircase although it was still a long way to go. "The entire world was stricken with strange weather, and the prophecy of the Legend Festival was actually _fulfilled_!"

"Fulfilled? Then why do you still celebrate the festival?"

"Because it is part of our tradition," he answered. "And, sadly, the festival draws many tourists from around the world, and we're too accustomed to all the hubbub not to celebrate, you see?"

"I do—" Shane sighed as he remembered what Mark had told him on the docks of Ayers Island, "Wait, I heard rumours of the appearance of a Lugia here around that time; are they true?"

"Indeed they are, Mercury," Marius smiled, making for the shore as it drew closer. "The Chosen One – a young boy by the name of Ash – appeared in much the same way as yourself, and he was the one described in the legend as the one to save the world from destruction. He and the water's great Guardian – the same Lugia you just mentioned then – quelled the fighting of the three Titans, and stopped the world from being destroyed by vicious storms and the Beast Of The Sea."

"What a fascinating tale, Marius," Shane commented, beginning to tire just as they reached the bottom of the stairs. He and Marius made a left turn and started hiking over the uneven rocks towards a large object at the water's edge.

"Maren, are you done preparing the boat?!" he roared, his bird-mask wobbling about on his head as he turned towards the large motorboat anchored at the edge of Fire Island. "We can't be late! The main ceremony is tonight, and our Chosen One needs to be formally crowned by the maiden, remember?! Melody's not going to be happy if she has to rush through everything like with last year's Trainer!"

_I wonder why I didn't see that boat when I stopped to eat…_ Shane wondered, halting in his tracks as he saw Marius hurl his huge bag onto the boat. _And even if it came after I went up, I would have heard it dock, especially with sound echoing so much off this kind of rock, _he added, jabbing the toe of his boot into the stone._ Hmm… something's not right; I'll have to be on my guard._

"—Good to go, Marius!" Maren was shouting back at the old man, her hands on the steering. "Hurry up and get on so we can get back to the festival, you hear?!"

"Yes yes, alright!" Marius growled, tossing his mask onto the boat to join Shane's bag. "After you, warrior," he added, waving a hand towards the steps at the boat's edge. Shane gave him a wan nod and climbed aboard, sitting himself on the railing as the engines kicked into life. "Maren, let's double-time it! We might still be able to catch Carol before she eats all those delicious Rowap fruits!" he chuckled, walking through the doorway to stand next to the green-haired captain as she manoeuvred the boat away from Fire Island.

Unknown to the three seafarers, a black-clad figure watched their progress from a rocky cliff-face at Shamouti Island. Above the person's head was an outcrop on which stood a small shrine and seven stone pillars; the shrine of the Water Guardian. But the shrine itself was of little interest; all focus was concentrated on the tiny vessel out at sea as it powered closer to the island through the waves.

"Kyōfu, this is Osore," said the figure in a female voice, into a tiny microphone mounted next to her mouth. "Mercury is headed our way. No signs of Hunter, Rose or Moon. Assume identity has been compromised, over."

"Kyōfu here," replied another woman's voice, crystal clear through the receiver in Osore's ear. "Understood. We'll have to be more careful around the Commander. My contacts told me that Hunter was arrested on Ayers Island but escaped several hours ago. Worst-case scenario is that he's pursuing Mercury; Rose and Moon are both dead," she added gravely, and the woman on the cliff inhaled sharply.

"When did you hear about this?!" she hissed, digging a claw in the heel of her boot further into the cliff-side.

"Not long after Hunter escaped," Kyōfu replied, and Osore could hear the sound of a drill in the background. "The way I see it, he's on the outer, so if he confronts Mercury, you should take him out to protect the Commander's mission. I'm almost done with preparations on this side of the island, so the seed should be planted within a day or two."

"I'm not sure we're gonna have two days…" she said uneasily, peering through her binoculars as Shane's boat docked at the small beach some way away. "When Commander Mercury steals those Spheres, the whole island's gonna be up in arms, and the first people they turn on are going to be the tourists. We may be Galactic Special Forces, but even _we_ can't hold off three hundred people…"

"Then have a little faith in your partner!" Kyōfu hissed. "Just stay on Mercury's tail. But don't let him catch on that you're there, or else our cover is blown! Only the Boss knows what we're _really_ doing here; the other three Commanders are just as clueless as this one," she reminded Osore, who swallowed and nodded grimly.

"Roger that, Kyōfu," she said shakily. Taking a deep breath, she looked around and pressed a small button on the inside of her palm, and three large metal claws shot out of the clothing on her forearms. "You don't wanna wake that Slowking…" she told herself, looking over at the tiny opening in the cliff to her right. Checking her footing in the rock, she dug the claws into the cliff and started to crawl across in a weird sideways crabwalk, making her way towards a small rope ladder she'd thrown down earlier.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***This is the third fellow criminal that Cyrus has proposed business with; coincidentally, all four criminals made their anime debuts in different regions.**

***The names of the two women introduced at the end of this chapter – Osore and Kyōfu – are two Japanese iterations of 'fear'.**

**Quiz:**

***What does a Rowap Berry do once it is activated?**

* * *

**Cyrus seems to be setting up some kind of criminal grand-slam, doesn't he? First the heads of Kanto and Hoenn, and now this elite Rocket from Johto... none other than the infamous Vicious.**

**And Mercury's finally landed at Shamouti Island to carry out his latest mission; stealing the Titans' Sphere for Team Galactic. Seems he's got some kind of distraction that's gonna hinder his plans for a day or so...**

**I apologise somewhat for deviating from the main characters for the amount of time that I have (this is the fourth Galactic-centric chapter in a row, I think) but it's been something necessary. I promise that I'll be focusing back on the main plotline (i.e Ayers Island) from the next chapter.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed From Hunter To Hunted!**

**The poll on my profile has been replaced; the Championship result poll has officially closed, now that I've gotten enough votes. I actually got my 100th vote a few hours ago, and so I have all the info I need. **

**The new poll is with regards to a new story I'm considering making - rather, a collection of stories - that were inspired by SuicidalToeSocks' alphabet challenge (26 Ways To Say I Love You). Be sure to check it out and vote!!!**

**Be sure to visit the forums if you wanna say something about WPC (or the Epic Stories community) that you don't feel should be in a review. **

**Also, OC submissions for the Rosewood Conspiracy are still being taken, but ONLY in the forums. ****As of now, review OCs and PM OCs are being ignored; several OCs vanished via the latter, so it's out of the equation as well.**

**Cheers to Blue Bongo for his recent work on The Verger Chronicles! If you want to see why he's getting this praise, be sure to check it out!!!**

**Chapter 74 (Caged Inside) will be posted on May 8th, in sticking with the regular updating system I've been using for the past month or two.**

**That's all for me for now, so keep up the good work!**

**Don't forget to review!!! Please!!**


	74. Caged Inside

**CHAPTER 74 – CAGED INSIDE**

Ash slowly opened his eyes and found himself staring at the open night sky, a mass of bright white stars twinkling down upon his face from the heavens. His dark brown eyes reflecting the night sky, he sat up to realise that he was lying on the cold ground of his hotel balcony, with Pikachu dozing on his stomach.

"Pikachu?" he mumbled, rubbing the sleep from the corners of his eyes. "Pikachu, we fell asleep outside!" he said a little more loudly, flexing his stomach muscles and jolting Pikachu awake. Pikachu's ears twitched upright, and he scurried away on all fours through the sliding door and into the room without a sound. "Pikachu, what is it?" he asked, wearily getting to his feet and trudging through the door in pursuit of his Pokémon.

"Pikachu, where've you gone to?" he whispered, tip-toeing across the carpeted lounge room floor, his head moving this way and that to try and get a glimpse of the little yellow mouse. Peeking around the corner of the kitchen wall, he looked down the hallway to see that, surprisingly, all the doors were unlocked and ajar, including Dawn's room._ Since when does Dawn leave the door open?_ he asked himself, forgetting all about maintaining silence as he walked towards the door and stuck his head through the gap.

Sure enough, Dawn was lying asleep in her bed, her back facing him as the sheets gently rose and fell in time with her breathing. Glancing back at the door, which was now about a hand's length away from hitting him in the nose, he shook his head and noiselessly closed it behind him, wincing at the tiny '_click_' that the catch made with the frame. He turned to look into Brock's room, but he could hear a soft yet distinct moaning noise coming from within, so he decided not to tempt fate by venturing further, closing that door as well.

_I could have sworn that they shut their doors before calling it a night,_ he thought with a frown, stepping into his bedroom. _And I specifically remember falling asleep in _this_ bed… look at that!_ he exclaimed, seeing the sheets pulled back and strewn haphazardly over the mattress. "I'm not normally a restless sleeper, am I?" he wondered aloud, grumbling inaudible curses as he hurried over and fixed the sheets to their proper positions.

He was so busy worrying about making his bed look like it could be slept in that he didn't even notice the rippling, wavering black shadow standing in the corner of the room. It was a shadow without an owner, with shreds that moved about in an invisible wind, and it slowly inched its way across the wall towards Ash's shadow, staggering about with him as he tucked the corners of his sheets into the mattress. But as Ash finished with the last of his work, he felt a deathly chill seep inwards from his shoulder, and he cried out and spun around.

"Whoa!" he shouted, his eyes scanning the room, but all he could see was his shadow on the ground, and the fluttering of the window curtains casting their darkness around it; the illusion made it look as though he were wearing a cape, and he grinned at the image as he moved to the window itself and stared outside. He could hear the musical chirpings of Nincada and Kricketot hidden amongst the grass on the ground, their voices reaching him up on his floor, and he looked out to the ocean on his left, where the rows of trees along its front were utterly peaceful, and perfectly still.

_Perfectly still…_ Ash thought shrewdly, his eyes narrowing as he spun around again. Seeing his rippling curtain-shadow on the floor, he swiftly stepped to the right – towards the door – and gasped as his shadow continued to waver about as though being tossed about in a twister. "What the—?!" he hissed, taking a frightened step backwards as the shadow grew larger and larger.

"_Ash_…!" growled a rough voice, coming from all around him. Ash spun around on the spot, looking for the person who had called his name, but all of a sudden the shadow rose out of the floor and transformed into a rippling black figure with a red collar and flaming white hair, fixing him with a cold stare of his clear, blue eye.

"Darkrai?!" Ash shouted, starting forwards. "I-Is this a dream?!" he demanded, and the Pitch-Black Pokémon answered by hitting him with a bolt of blue electricity.

"_Ooowwww!_" he grimaced, his body seizing up as the current tore through him. "Wh-What was _that_ for?!" he roared, shaking his head free of the Shock Wave as he raised a hand to his now electrically-charged hair.

"_No dream…_" hissed Darkrai, lowering his clawed hand to his side. "_This is real… danger is coming…_"

"Danger?" Ash repeated, raising an eyebrow at the Dark-type. "But hang on… you were in my dream two nights ago! You said you hadn't left Alamos Town! How did you get here so quickly, when Sinnoh is two regions away?!"

"_I… have ways of travelling… through unseen gateways…_" Darkrai muttered, his gaze never leaving Ash's face. "_But enough of that… there is great danger in store… for you… for everyone… for existence…_"

"Danger for existence? Alright, you've officially lost me now," Ash said sheepishly, scratching at his cheek. Darkrai growled and summoned a red-black orb from in front of his hands, launching it with the flick of a finger, and it swallowed Ash whole. Ash screamed as he felt himself being dragged lower and lower towards the ground, to the point where he actually felt himself pass through the floor and into a world of darkness.

"Was that really necessary, hitting me with a Dark Void?!" he shouted, looking around in the dark.

"_Of course it was necessary! You may have stopped two deities from destroying us all, but you can be as stubborn as a Granbull at the best of times!_" spat Darkrai, materialising next to Ash and making the latter gasp in astonishment; he never knew that Darkrai could get so angry over something so insignificant.

"Look, I'm sorry…!" he mumbled, looking away. "I didn't know this was so important, that's all…"

"_I don't have much time here, so I'll be blunt,_" Darkrai interjected, snatching at Ash's wrist and closing his claws around it. "_You obviously remember what happened to the two of us in Alamos Town—_" the world around Ash darkened and twisted, "_so it saves me having to remind you… but—_" a blinding white pinprick flashed in front of their faces, "_there are some things that you can't possibly know; that's where I come into it,_" he grunted.

"Where you come into it?"

"_Yes, my role is to warn you. What the others do is their concern._"

"There are _others_?!" Ash exclaimed, as the pinprick grew wider and wider. "Who are they?!"

"_You've met most of them at one time or another,_" Darkrai replied, looking straight into the light. "_They all will play their parts in stopping – or in some cases, aiding – the catastrophe about to befall us all…_"

"What are you talking about?! What catastrophe?!" Ash shouted, tearing his wrist out of Darkrai's grasp and rounding on him. "Is what happened at Alamos Town about to happen again?!"

"_Not in the way you are thinking, no. This time, things will be far worse_," hissed the Pokémon, raising a claw to the white sky. "_Alamos Town is but a speck of dust on the world, and all of existence is threatened by what is happening even now_."

"What _is_ happening right now?" Ash wondered aloud, his eyes widening as the light faded slowly.

"_Nothing that you can stop, I am afraid,_" Darkrai growled, and Ash's face turned to stone at his words. "_It is, unfortunately, inevitable._"

"Then what do you want _me_ to do?!" Ash howled, failing to see the point of Darkrai's argument.

"You_ are to protect the Keepers_!" he roared, snapping his fingers, and the world flashed to change into a scene of pure chaos. Thunderclouds sparked with crimson lightning every second, a thousand tons of polluted air swept past Ash in a torrent, and the stench of death and destruction was everywhere, filling his nostrils and making him scared to breathe. Just as he was about to shout at Darkrai for bringing him to this abominable place, a tiny black Pokémon whizzed past his ear and out of sight. In the fleeting glimpse that he got, Ash immediately knew that it was an Unown.

"What's an Unown doing in a hellhole like this?" Ash asked the Pitch-Black Pokémon sharply, and the latter folded his arms as a thousand-strong swarm of more Unown flew past, oblivious to the fact that there were two strangers in their domain. "Are they running away from something?" he asked this time, turning around in mid-air so that his eyes could follow the seething mass of living hieroglyphs.

"Two _somethings_," Darkrai barked, nodding his head towards the mass of stormclouds. Ash turned his gaze over to them, waiting apprehensively as more and more Unown sped past him and Darkrai in a seemingly never-ending stream. "_Look_—" the clouds parted for little more than a second, ripped apart by an enormous explosion that threw shockwaves over the Dark-type's hair and cloak. Ash squinted his eyes into the gap in the clouds, and although they closed a moment later, he gasped as he saw what they had been concealing; the two 'something's that Darkrai had just said.

The first _something _was a towering monster of a creature; a huge, dinosaur-like Pokémon that would have stood well over forty feet tall had he been able to measure it, and a Pokémon covered in thick, ridged, pinkish armour. Its tiny red eyes glared out from under a metallic grey brow, and its head jutted forward from the rest of its body like a snake. There were two rows of wing-like fins running along its back, and Ash had seen them split apart into three long, rectangular 'feathers' on each side, giving the impression that it was a flying Pokémon. Mounted on each shoulder of this gargantuan Pokémon was a large, grooved disc with a large pink pearl at its core, and its ridged arms ended in a wicked set of five-pointed claws. Its tail, thick as a tree trunk, swung underneath its belly and next to its clawed feet.

The other something was just as enormous as the first, and it, too, looked like a dinosaur, but it more closely resembled a sauropod. Its long, horned head was framed with a pair of metal ridges running along the length of its face that met in the middle, forming the brow under which the Pokémon's red eyes smouldered as they stared at the other Pokémon. Emblazoned on its front was a huge, shield-like protrusion with a large blue diamond at its centre, and two electric-blue ridges ran from the sides of the protrusion all the way down to the legs, which ended in three razor-like claws. On its backside were five metallic fins, webbed towards the middle, and its tree-trunk-like tail curled behind them as it reared up on its hind legs and roared at the other creature.

"Dialga and Palkia!" Ash roared in terror. "Where _is_ this place?!" he demanded, swinging around to face Darkrai again, the Pokémon's body obscured by the flood of Unown.

"_This is the gap between the real dimension and the dimension you humans call the Reverse World," _Darkraiexplained_. "It is a place where life and death do not exist, and eternity lasts for but a moment before being overtaken by a universe of chaos and purity._"

"Purity?"

"_Of course. The ultimate peace and harmony occurs within unbridled chaos._"

"That's ridiculous," Ash said stubbornly, waving a hand at the clouds covering the two legendary Pokémon. "Why have you brought me here?!"

"_To show you something of the utmost importance_," Darkrai growled. "_But first, we must get closer to Dialga and Palkia. Don't worry—_" he added, with almost a sinister laugh as Ash's jaw fell open in disbelief, "_they can't hurt you—for the moment._"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Ash hissed, reluctantly allowing Darkrai to grab his hand and guide them towards the clouds.

"_You will see in time, Ash…_"

"That's not very reassuring, y'know!" he told the Pokémon, his expression braced as they slipped into the clouds. Moments later, they appeared on the other side of the thick sheet of grey and red, the lightning crackling behind their heads, and they saw the two deities blasting each other with ferociously deadly attacks. "Look at them go…" he said, awe-struck. "Is this live?" he joked.

"_Every second of it,_" Darkrai said seriously, and Ash quickly shut his mouth to look back at the battle. Palkia roared as Dialga hit its shoulder-guard with a Roar Of Time, and it countered by charging a pink-purple Aura Sphere between its hands and launching it through the air towards the Temporal Pokémon.

"So these Pokémon are the _Keepers_ you were talking about before?" Ash inquired, watching on as the two continued to trade assaults. "How am I supposed to protect them? They seem pretty capable of doing it by themselves," he remarked.

"_They are not the Keepers._"

"They're not?!" Ash repeated, bewildered, and Darkrai shook his head as Dialga hit Palkia with another Roar Of Time.

"_They are the ones being _kept_ by the Keepers_," he said emotionlessly, his gaze shifting to Ash for the first time since they entered the dimension. "_The Keepers themselves are far more important._"

"More important than the creators of time and space?!"

"_Yes. The Keepers are the life-blood of Dialga and Palkia. Without them, these two—_" he waved a hand at the duelling Pokémon, "_would die, and time and space would be torn apart as though they had never existed at all._"

"So who are these keepers?" Ash asked, wondering who could possibly be as powerful as what Darkrai was making them out to be.

"_They are human manifestations of Dialga and Palkia, although they do not realise it,_" he replied, folding his arms again and closing his eye. "_One represents time and age, the other represents space and distance. They are mortal enemies, while their Pokémon are immortal enemies._"

"But you just said that Dialga and Palkia would die without them! That doesn't sound very immortal to me!" Ash rallied, pointing at Palkia as the latter's pearls shone with pink light.

"_Yes, but Dialga and Palkia can be reborn, whereas their human Keepers cannot. Their lives can only be prolonged for so long before they are finally laid to rest._"

"Dialga and Palkia can be reborn? How?"

"_That is not important,_" Darkrai said gruffly, his eye flicking back to see Palkia shoot a Spacial Rend towards Dialga. "_The Keepers must be protected at all costs. As fortunate as this may seem, you – Ash Ketchum, the fabled Chosen One – are the perfect person to protect them._"

"_Me_? The perfect person? How?!"

"_The Keepers are known to you, Ash,_" he said simply. "_I am afraid I cannot tell you who they are, though._"

"Why not?!" Ash pouted, crossing his arms.

"_Because the Keepers must be the first to discover their identities. You are not a Keeper, therefore you cannot know._"

"Fine, so I'm supposed to protect how many people—?"

"—_Two—_"

"—two people from whatever's coming their way, but I'm not allowed to know _who_ it is I'm protecting until they know, is that it?!" Ash growled angrily, his temper boiling even more when Darkrai nodded.

"_Yes, just like that which has been foretold. The Chosen One must protect the Keepers, lest the world fall into catastrophe,_" Darkrai told him, and he gave a dark laugh.

"Yeah, I've heard that before, although last time I had to get those stupid spheres from Shamouti Island," Ash muttered, understanding the reason behind Darkrai's chuckle. "What else has been foretold, anyways?"

"_This and that…_"

"Could you be more specific?"

"_Yes, I could,_" replied Darkrai, although he gave no indication that he was going to be. "_There exists an ancient prophecy, one that is, ironically, part of a pair with the Shamouti Island legend that proclaims you to be the legendary Chosen One._"

"A pair with Shamouti Island…"

"_It states that—actually, it would be better for me to spell it out for you,_" Darkrai decided, snapping his fingers. The Unown that had been ceaselessly flying past himself and Ash instantly stopped, and they began to form words in mid-air, their forms distinguishable from the lightning bolts and the flashes of light coming from the attacks of Dialga and Palkia.

"_Betrayed by the touch of the warmthless sun_

_His blood shall awaken an ancient one_

_Known by the few of centuries past_

_And yearning to be free at last_

_Banished and held by eternal rage_

_He fights to break free from his boundless cage_

_Where time space and death are undone_

_Where no human has ever yet passed_

_And an endless power lasts an endless age"_

"So you're saying," Ash said suddenly, rounding on Darkrai despite the Unown that continued to cluster below the rhyming verse, "that my blood is going to awaken something… in this dimension?! But all I see are Dialga and Palkia, and you told me that I'm not one of their Keepers!"

"_That is only _part_ of the legend, and it gives no mention of the Chosen One!_" Darkrai roared. "_I am showing you this because I am hoping you could shed some light on it! As embarrassing as this sounds, I cannot even understand the first line myself,_" he mumbled shame-facedly, and Ash hit himself in the face with the palm of his hand.

"You're kidding me, right?" he groaned, sliding his hand down his face. "You're telling me that I'm part of a prophecy about awakening something in an alternate reality, and that I _also_ have to protect two people that I don't even know about, and _you_ can't help me with a stupid piece of poetry?!"

"_I never said that I knew everything!_" said Darkrai defensively, and the Unown scattered. "_But I am concerned that the male referred to in the legend is a Keeper. If it _is_, I need to know if you know anything about this '_ancientone'_. Betrayal – in any language – never brings good fortune,_" he added darkly.

"_Ancient one_… well, it has to refer to a legendary Pokémon…" Ash deduced, his eyes flicking between the two such Pokémon in front of him. "Hey, it's a pair to the Shamouti Island legend, so maybe it's talking about the Lugia that lives at the bottom of the ocean!"

"_That may be…_" Darkrai muttered quietly, his eye narrowing at the thought. "_It would also explain the necessity of the Titans' Spheres…_"

"What'd you say?" Ash asked blankly, his head turning around to face the Pitch-Black Pokémon. "Something about a tightened spear?"

"_Spear_… Spear! _Of_ course!" Darkrai exclaimed. "_Ash, I do apologise, but I must go. Farewell for now!_" he roared, grabbing Ash's arm and throwing him skyward. Ash screamed as he felt himself rising through the stormclouds, and he could see the air above his head brightening into a harsh light as he came closer to it, spiralling ever upwards.

"Darkrai, what did you do, you f—?!" he roared, but the world went white.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***This is Darkrai's third appearance to Ash, the first two being in Chapters 24 and 49.**

***Darkrai's comment about chaos and purity is based on the scientific belief of molecular entropy (for the science buffs out there).**

**Quiz:**

***Out of the three legendary Pokémon in this chapter, the species name (or classification) of one was never written. Which Pokémon was it, and what species of Pokémon is it?**

* * *

**Ah, at last... the prophecy... did you remember that this thing actually existed? It was quite the big thing around Chapter 50, yeah? And now we get a look at it, to find out that Ash is a big part of it!**

**I'm now at 350,000 words! Holy smoke, it's come a long way since November, hasn't it?! And I've still got 26 chapters left to upload... I think I could easily break the half a million mark at this rate, and it's only Act I!**

**In case you hadn't noticed, the fact that Darkrai appears every 25 chapters was just a pattern I developed while I was planning the story out months ago (y'know, up until the end of the first act). On a side note, ****Dialga and Palkia make their first actual appearance in the story, which is a good thing; I'd been wanting to toss them in at some point, and this was the first chance I had.**

**Thanks to everyone who made the effort to review! Well, everyone with possibly one exception, but no man is immune to his criticism. And a****s usual, be sure to have your say in the profile poll (it's a Shipping one!) and check out the forums for anything you need. **

**To those who submitted OCs for the trilogy, make sure you put something about your character in the OC thread, for the benefit of the other readers. Of course, you might only need to do it when yours comes up, so I'll mention to Phillip Clark that you might want to post something on Warbird, because he's appearing soon. Same goes to Blue Bongo if need be.**

**Chapter 75 (Early Birds) will be posted on May 15th, give or take six hours - I'll be in Sydney for two days before then, and on a bus heading home during my normal posting time. If it doesn't come up right away, sit tight and give it a bit of time.**

**And I come with excellent news! Nintendo has announced that there will be Gold/Silver remakes released in Japan in the fall (about six or so months away! Boo-yah! I know I'll be getting my hands on "Pokemon HeartGold" when it finally comes out! I just thought I'd add that, having only just found out about it about half an hour before I posted it!**

**That's about it for now (short of some urgent catastrophe), so to the readers and writers, I say keep up the good work!**

**Make sure to review!!!**


	75. Early Birds

**CHAPTER 75 – EARLY BIRDS**

Brock awoke reluctantly as the first rays of sunlight slowly peeked out through his windows from the horizon. He rubbed his eyes and face with his hands and grumbled to himself as he hopped out of bed; he'd been having the most wonderful dreams about Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny. Well, wonderful for _him_, he admitted. As he walked into the hallway, he could hear Ash groaning about something in his sleep – no doubt something to do with battling, the breeder thought with a laugh – and he shook his head at his companion in the next room.

"When you stop thinking about Pokémon battles, Ash, is the day the world comes to an end," he joked to himself, peering into the small gap in Ash's doorway to see him sleeping spread-eagled on the floor in nothing but his boxer shorts, the bed perfectly made as though it hadn't been slept in. "That's odd…" he wondered aloud, sticking his head further through the gap, "and where's Pikachu?"

"_Pii… pii… pii…_" mumbled a tiny voice next to Ash, and Brock craned his neck to see Pikachu curled up in a ball behind Ash's head, his small body rising and falling with the sound of his snores.

"Cute," Brock whispered warmly, noiselessly shutting the door before retreating into the lounge room. Pouring himself a glass of cool water straight from the kitchen sink, he quenched his thirst and glanced at the clock on the wall above the door, which read a quarter to seven. "Wow, I thought it would have been no later than six, but there you go," he said, plonking the glass on the kitchen counter. He walked back into the hallway, heading for his bedroom, when he stopped and stood with his hands on his hips, deep in thought.

"Ah, nuts to it," he muttered, throwing his door open and crouching down next to his rucksack, rummaging through the side pockets. "I might as well get this stupid dare of Dawn's over with now, before she gets up and taunts me about it," he decided. "Ah—!" he grinned – but it looked like more of a resigned wince – as he pulled a small digital camera out of his bag and slipped the cord around his wrist.

"All I have to do is head outside, take a few shots of myself in my underwear, then hurry up back here before Ash or Dawn wakes up," he smirked, flicking a thumb against the elastic of his boxers as he opened the hotel door. "They'll never know I was gone, and I can save myself the embarrassment of being spotted by too many people in public. Pure genius, Brock!" he cackled, slamming the door shut behind him as he cradled the camera in his hand.

"Hey _genius_, ya forgot to put yer clothes on!" shouted a middle-aged man at the far end of the hall, laughing rudely as he strolled out of sight.

Brock slumped.

* * *

"Hey, Ari! I'm heading out for some training, alright?!"

"Nnnnnn… why'd you have to wake me up…?!" moaned reply from inside a bedroom, and Leoric heard the sound of a pillow being thrown onto someone's head.

"Because you should be up by now as well!" he shouted from inside the kitchen. He threw the last piece of jam toast into his mouth and walked over to Ari's bedroom, leaning on the door frame. "You. Should. Be. Up. You. Hear?!" he repeated, flicking the light switch on and off.

"Should, could, would…" Ari replied, stretching his limbs and making himself more comfortable, "but don't want to!"

"Fine, I'm outta here," Leoric grumbled, leaving the light on and pushing away from the door. "Don't wait up for me, but at least get out of bed before the sun comes up."

"I can't be bothered looking out the window; is that something I have to do now?"

"You slack lit—! _No_, you don't have to be up for another fifteen minutes, _Your Majesty!_" Leoric hissed sarcastically.

"Then go do your training and leave me alone…!"

"Energetic as a sack of crap, you are," he muttered, throwing his hands up in defeat. He strode back into his bedroom and quickly put his clothes on, clipping his six PokéBalls to his belt when he was done, and as he fixed his hair, he looked out the window to see a small park nestled between two large shops, completely empty except for the scurrying of a sparse few Pokémon here and there.

_That wouldn't be a bad place to get a little training done,_ he thought. "Whoops, almost forgot—" he shut the door and locked himself inside his room, checked to make sure that no-one was spying on him from the windows, and reached into the bag thrown into the corner. Digging his hand into the very bottom of the back pocket, he found what he was looking for and snatched it out; a pale, half-transparent sphere.

"If Ari ever caught me with one of these, I'd never hear the end of it," he said to himself, straightening up and slipping the ball into the side pocket of his pants. Hastily opening the door as though trying to catch Ari listening in, he calmed himself down and raced outside, jamming his thumb into the elevator call button.

Four short minutes later, he was standing in the middle of the abandoned park and watching the first few rays of sunlight peek out from under the horizon. Smiling to himself, Leoric took four PokéBalls from his belt and shifted them around in his hand, pondering over which ones to use first.

"Well, let's try… you two first!" he called, hurling the two in his left hand into the air. The first PokéBall split open with a flash, revealing a large green lizard that hopped lightly onto the ground and stood on two feet. Its arms ended in stubby three-fingered paws, and its legs similarly gave way to three-toed feet. Its stomach and lower jaw were a deep crimson colour that clashed with the bright green that dominated the rest of its body; its two thick tails were a deeper shade of green. Its sharp yellow eyes stared out from between a prominent brow and a button-like nose, and its slit-like irises widened in the lack of sunlight.

"_Tree-cko!_" whistled the reptilian Pokémon, spinning once on the spot to stretch its muscles as the other Pokémon jumped out of its PokéBall.

This Pokémon stood as tall as Leoric's Treecko, but it was about as far from a green lizard as could be. In fact, the only similarity between the two was that they both had multiple tails, only this new Pokémon had six scarlet tails that all fanned out from its rear, each one curling at the tip. Another three of these curls sat atop the middle of its vulpine head, and it brushed a chocolate-coloured front paw against the side of its orange-brown face, tapping against its tiny black nose. The Vulpix gave a gentle yap and shook itself vigorously, trying to wake itself up as Treecko hopped back and away from it.

"Oh, don't be such a scaredy-cat, Treecko," Leoric grinned, kneeling down between his two Pokémon. "I want the two of you to practise your offensives. Treecko, I want you to try and hit me as hard as you can with your Swift attack, alright?"

"_Tree!_" nodded the Wood Gecko Pokémon, running away to a spot about fifteen feet away. Leoric signalled for his Grass-type to stop before turning around to face Vulpix, who was busy licking its paw.

"Vulpix, after Treecko uses Swift, see if you can't get me with your Energy Ball," he instructed, patting his fire fox on the head before standing up and moving so that he was in between his two Pokémon. "And I don't want to see either of you accidentally hitting each other, you hear?!" he added, looking from one to the other. "You get me or nothing at all, just like in a proper battle! On three; one… two… three—!"

"_Treee…cko!_" barked Treecko, its tail glowing white and swinging around to shoot a dozen spinning gold stars at Leoric. The latter smirked and threw himself onto the ground, twisting at the last second so that only his head was facing the stars, and they all careened past him and buried themselves in the parkland, exploding with a flash of powdery light. Leoric immediately jumped back to his feet and whirled around to see his Vulpix already charging a pulsing, bottle-green sphere of energy in front of its mouth.

"_Vul!_" Vulpix shouted, sending the Energy Ball rocketing towards Leoric with a flick of its head. Leoric's eyes widened as the attack flew at him quicker than he expected, and it was all he could do to cross his arms in front of his mid-section as the green orb smashed into them and drove him off his feet, landing with a loud thump and a cry of '_Ouch!_' on the hard ground.

"Well, Vulpix, I think you've certainly improved your ranged attacks," he grinned, wincing slightly when he used his arms to push himself up. "Treecko, you try an Energy Ball too. Aim right here, buddy," he told his other Pokémon, smacking himself in the chest with his fist. Treecko sprang into action right away, forming a ball of energy between his hands and hurling it round-arm towards his Trainer, aiming instead for his knees. Leoric sighed and leapt forwards, watching with a hint of disappointment as the green orb sailed underneath his stomach and flew out of sight. Catching the ground with his hands, he rolled forwards and stood up almost instantly, hopping this way and that like a boxer.

"Come on, that the best shot you got?!" he asked provokingly, and his Treecko's jaw twitched angrily as he fired three more Energy Ball attacks in quick succession. The first went wide, slamming into the ground near Vulpix and kicking up a shower of dirt; the second was easily sidestepped by Leoric and disappeared; the third came close to hitting Leoric in the nose, but he accidentally – or by some miracle of higher knowledge – lost his footing and fell backwards, landing on his backside as it, too, failed to land a hit.

"_Treeeeeeecko!_" roared the lizard, leaping forwards in a frenzied rage with his tail aglow.

"Treecko, wha—?!" Leoric shouted, but he was cut off as Treecko swung his body around and pummelled him across the temple with a Pound attack. "_Argh, what the f—?! OW!_" he screamed, clutching the side of his head as he staggered to his feet. Treecko's eyes widened as he realised what he'd done, and he ashamedly tucked his hands behind his back and bowed his head, bracing himself for a punishment.

"You need to work on that anger, Treecko," Leoric grunted. "If you get riled up about not landing a hit on your opponents, I hate to say it but I'm not going to be able to count on you to give your all in any more battles, yeah? You've got to be able to listen to what I tell you without going overboard," he told his humble Pokémon, who dutifully nodded. "Now come on, no hard feelings," he added, extending a hand, and Treecko rested a paw on it before recalling himself to his own PokéBall. Leoric winced as he pressed his fingers against the sore spot on his head, but paid no attention to it as he turned back to Vulpix, who was resting its head on its front paws and lying quite complacently on the grass.

"That's quite a feisty little Treecko you've got there," said a man's voice. Vulpix yelped in fright and shot up at once, diving into Leoric's arms as the latter's head whipped around, but there was no-one to be seen, nor anything else save for the trees that were only barely visible in the dim sunrise.

"Who's there?" he asked sharply.

"I reckon that knock to the head's messing with your brain a bit," laughed the voice, and a moment later a very tall man materialised out of nowhere and folded his arms, standing next to a large, odd-looking Pokémon.

It was about the same height as the man – presumably its Trainer – if not a little taller for the three golden horns jutting above its head like a regal crown, which extended all the way down the front of its face and formed a sharp beak. The Pokémon's eyes looked out from between the horns' stems, and its head was half-surrounded by a crystal-blue collar, which continued in a straight line down its front and even stuck out at the belly like a shirt-tie. Indeed, the lace-like pattern on its front made it look as though it was in some kind of dinner-wear, save for the two enormous wing-sized fins that made the Pokémon's arms. The ends of the fins were covered in the same crystal-blue that made the Pokémon's ruff, and on the undersides of each fin were three sharp golden claws. Leoric knew it was an Empoleon, but he couldn't help but smirk every time he saw the Pokémon's conflicting appearance; somewhere between royalty and poultry.

The Empoleon's Trainer was just as strange in his appearance. He was easily a foot taller than Leoric was, and if stood side-to-side he would have been about the same size as Drake, the leader of the Orange Crew. Despite this, he still had the face of a young teenager; he had huge green eyes hidden under a wilderness of brown hair that shot out in every direction possible. He had a powerful build, which even Leoric admitted was impressed, because he could see it showing through the white t-shirt and long black coat the man was wearing. Raising an eyebrow, the man gave a hearty laugh, just like he had before, and unfolded his arms.

"You sure that little lizard didn't get you too hard, eh?" he asked, in an unmistakeable British accent, and Leoric blinked.

"Uh, I'm fine, thanks," he muttered, still holding Vulpix in his arms, and he could feel the Fire-type trembling. "Is that your Empoleon?" he asked, jerking his head towards the stocky Pokémon standing next to the stranger.

"Oh yeah," he grinned, clapping his Pokémon on the shoulder. "Empoleon and I have been inseparable ever since we started out together when I was ten. Oh—" he sheepishly scratched the back of his head with one hand and extended the other to Leoric, "where are my manners? The name's Olly Lowe, from Leeds City in the Gaul region. That's in Britain."

"Leoric Reiger," Leoric smiled, shaking Olly's hand. "Fallarbor Town, Hoenn region, just northwest of here, actually."

"Reiger, eh?" Olly let his hand fall to his side. "I've heard a bit about you. You're one of the Tag Team defending champs, aren't you?"

"That's me."

"Tag Team's a bit of a crutch competition, if you ask me," Olly said bluntly, still grinning. "Not much point in battling if you've got to rely on another Trainer's weaknesses, no matter what their strengths might be. The only ones you should ever rely on are yourself and your own Pokémon," he said affirmatively, nodding his head. "I certainly hope you don't intend on winning any tournaments this year with a little Vulpix, do you?" he asked, pointing lazily at the Pokémon in Leoric's hold and laughing.

"I plan to win _both_ tournaments with _all_ my strongest Pokémon, including my Vulpix!" Leoric said stubbornly, and Vulpix growled at Olly menacingly.

"That's not your starter, though, is it?" he asked sarcastically.

"My starter was a Bagon, I'll have you know," Leoric hissed.

"Alright, alright; no need to be rude!" Olly retorted, raising his hands defensively. "_Was_ a Bagon?"

"He's a Salamence now. Maybe you've heard of him," Leoric said arrogantly, unclipping a PokéBall and opening it with a flash. "Apache, say hi to Olly and his Empoleon," he told his Salamence as it landed on the grass and roared.

"_Sa_," Apache growled quickly, nodding at Empoleon and its Trainer, who nodded back and cracked another smile.

"Ah, now _there's_ a strong Pokémon!" he said, impressed. "There you go, Empoleon; a good opponent to look forward to, if we ever come up against Leoric!" he said merrily to his Pokémon, who crowed happily and tossed its horns. "Mind you, that Salamence of yours still isn't going to be enough to win, if and when we do face each other," he added cockily.

"So you're in the tournament too, are you?" Leoric asked eagerly, the competitive glint in his eyes. "Cool." After a few moments of silence, he said, "Well, I'm gonna get outta here. I've gotta put some ice on this bruise—" he pointed to the mark that his Treecko had left.

"Ah, let us help out, then!" Olly boomed, jerking his head at Empoleon. "Empoleon, get some Water Sport and freeze it with Ice Beam! Give our new friend something to cool down with!" he commanded, and within moments Empoleon had created a natural ice-pack. Leoric slapped it over the side of his head, groaning with delight.

"Glad to see you like it," Olly chuckled.

"Love it," Leoric sighed, his eyes half-closed. "But I've still gotta head back to my hotel; I need to have a shower and go over my tactics for my fifth-round battle… which starts in less than an hour, too," he said sombrely.

"Well go on, then! Strategise!" Olly urged, shooing Leoric with his hands. "I'll look forward to seeing you in action, then. And who knows, I might need it if we end up in the arena together," he added.

"Looking forward to it, if that's the case," Leoric smiled. "See you around, Olly."

"Later," Olly smirked, and Leoric recalled his Salamence and Vulpix to their PokéBalls, waving goodbye as he trotted back to his hotel with the ice-pack still in hand. "Not even close to beating us, I reckon," he added to Empoleon.

"_Emper,_" crowed the Water-Steel Pokémon. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a dark-skinned man with spiky brown hair and narrow eyes, wearing nothing but his underwear, caught sight of Trainer and Pokémon and sprinted towards them, waving wildly at them with a hand clutching a camera.

"Can we… help you…?" Olly asked uncertainly, looking at Empoleon as if to ask, '_What do we do here?_'. Empoleon looked back and shrugged its vast shoulders, clearly no wiser than Olly was as the half-nude stranger stopped in front of them.

"Okay, guys… say cheese!" he told them, holding the camera around to incorporate all three of them into the shot – not an easy feat considering the size of Olly and Empoleon – and with a quick, bright flash he took a picture of the motley group. "Thanks a bunch, you have no idea how much this is gonna save me!" the man said gratefully, grabbing Olly's hand and shaking it before extending the same courtesy to Empoleon's fins. Before either could say a word, he thanked them again and sprinted away into the semi-darkness, and Olly and Empoleon promptly burst into raucous laughter.

* * *

Brock slowly shut the room door behind him, silently cursing his fortune as it gave a pained creak. He tiptoed across the lounge room, making for his room down the hallway, but he froze as he heard movement coming from the room closest to him; Dawn's room. Flattening himself against the kitchen wall, he inched his head around the corner and saw—

"Brock, what are you doing in your underpants?" Dawn asked him, her head less than a foot away from his, and he leapt backwards onto the floorboards with a bang. "Actually—" she shook her head, "don't answer that; I don't think I really wanna know…"

"For your information," Brock replied indignantly, getting to his feet and standing over her with his arms crossed, "I was getting your stupid dare out of the way." And to prove his point, he unhooked the camera strap from his wrist and swung it in front of Dawn's face, making her tilt her head backwards with his exuberance.

"How does a camera prove anything?" she asked stubbornly, folding her arms as Piplup toddled into the hallway behind her Trainer, rubbing her eyes and chirping softly.

"Because I took a picture while I was outside," he said triumphantly, turning the camera on and pressing buttons here and there as he brought up the image gallery. "So I can _prove_ that I went out in my boxers and ran around."

"Right…" Dawn muttered edgily, pointing to the first image in the gallery, "and where on this Nurse Joy are you in your undies?" she asked, raising her eyebrows as Brock gave a nervous laugh.

"That must have been Ash—" he avoided her eye as he thumbed through to the more recent pictures, "and keep your voice down!"

"Why, so Ash won't hear your little lie?" Dawn sniggered.

"No, so Croagunk won't hear it…" whimpered Brock, looking over his shoulder. Turning back to the camera once he was sure the coast was clear, he kept running through the gallery, giving a brief commentary of the occasional image as he went. "Let's see… Gracidea… the Lustrous Orb… Ash getting his Relic Badge… Ash getting his _Mine_ _Badge_… Iron Island's ruins… ah—!" he raised his voice as he came to the last picture in memory. "See?!" he gloated, handing the camera to Dawn as she squinted at it, scooping Piplup up off the floor.

"Who's that guy?" she wondered, pointing to Olly in the upper-right corner of the display.

"Who cares?!" Brock laughed, almost skipping into the kitchen to fix himself a morning dose of Oran juice. "The only thing that's important is that I've done your dare, so now I'm a free man."

"This doesn't count!" Dawn shouted, waving the camera in the air. "I wasn't there, so it doesn't count! This could be anyone, and you could have just edited yourself into it!"

"Give it up, Dawn; would I really go through that much effort just to avoid being seen in my underpants?"

"Hey, _I_ would," she scoffed, tossing the camera onto the kitchen-top, and Piplup hopped on to sit next to it. "This is just a—a technicality!" she fired.

"Well if you recall," Brock smirked, pouring the sunshine-yellow juice into a glass, "_technically_ I wasn't allowed to get any girls' phone numbers from anyone but the girls themselves. You wouldn't let the one from Leoric qualify, so I think we're even, don't you agree?" Dawn's face swelled up as she held back an explosion of anger, and Brock's smirk faltered as he saw her hands curl into fists. He remembered the last time he'd incurred his friend's wrath – and he winced as he remembered the pain of the bruises on his arms – but he counted his lucky stars as she caved and threw up her hands in defeat.

"Fine, you win," she sighed, biting her lip angrily as she floundered back to her room, leaving a still-tired and confused Piplup to look up at Brock, who took a long gulp of Oran juice.

"Want some breakfast, Piplup?" he asked the tiny Penguin Pokémon.

"_Pip piplup!_" she squeaked, nodding and swinging her fins about crazily. Whilst Brock busied himself with the contents of the fridge, pots, hot water and the stove, Ash stumbled blindly through the hallway, bumping against the walls as he turned into the kitchen and opened the fridge door, peering inside for something to eat or drink.

"Morning, Ash!" Brock chimed, grabbing a kitchen knife and some noodles from the top drawer. "Pikachu still asleep?"

"Yeah…"

"I was just making breakfast for Dawn and Piplup. Want some _soba_? Maybe a glass of Sitrus while we're at it?" he offered, slicing the noodles and dropping them in the boiling water. He didn't hear Ash give an answer, so he turned around from his cooking duties to see his dark-haired friend staring at the fridge door, his expression set and his brow furrowed.

"Ash?" Brock repeated, stepping over. "Earth to Ash?" He waved his hand in front of Ash's face to try and snap him out of his trance, and thankfully it worked.

"Sorry, Brock, I was—" he turned around and looked at Brock, "why are you only in your boxers?"

"Well, I got Dawn's dare out of the way before sunrise," he explained, swinging around to tend to the noodles again. "Now it saves me the embarrassment of streaking in public. What's up with you, though? I've never seen you so interested by whitegoods in your entire life," he laughed, looking over as Ash shifted on the spot and wrung his hands; a telltale sign that he was out of his comfort zone. "What is it?" he asked again, breakfast forgotten.

"Do you…" Ash began, hesitating, "remember when Dawn, you and me… were in Alamos Town… earlier this year?"

"Of course I remember!" Brock answered. "I mean, coming face-to-face with the creators of time and space isn't something you're likely to forget!" he added, chuckling to himself as he chopped a stalk of shallots and a carrot, tossing them into a large bowl. "Why do you ask?" he wondered aloud.

"I met Darkrai again last night," Ash said slowly, leaning on the kitchen bench and looking up at the ceiling. He heard the clatter of Brock's knife as it hit the chopping board, but he kept looking at the roof even as the Pokémon breeder rounded on him. "He came here to the Orange Islands, all the way from Sinnoh…"

"What would make him come here?!" Brock exclaimed, and even Piplup seemed perturbed by it as she waddled towards the pair.

"Me, I think," Ash murmured. "He hit me with a Dark Void and took me to the dream world… showed me the dimension where Dialga and Palkia live…"

"He showed you Dialga and Palkia?"

"Yeah… He told me that I had this job to do," Ash continued, looking down at Piplup. "He said it was my duty to protect these two '_Keepers_'—"

"Keepers?" Brock repeated, his face blank.

"—Keepers, because they were the ones protecting Dialga and Palkia from something…" Ash frowned and looked Brock full in the face. "But he didn't say who they were. According to him, _they_ don't even know who they are. All I know is that they hate each other as much as Dialga and Palkia hate each other, and that I have to protect them."

"Did Darkrai say anything else?"

"He said that…" Ash paused as he struggled to remember his conversation with Alamos' guardian, "he said that there were two Keepers, '_human_ _manifestations_' of Dialga and Palkia… one represents time and age, and the other represents space and distance. Apparently, I know both of them, too," he added with a wan laugh.

"So let me see if I follow you here," Brock interrupted, holding up a hand to stop Ash for a moment. "Darkrai came here, to Ayers Island – all the way from Alamos Town in Sinnoh – to see you. He put you in a dream and took you to Dialga and Palkia's dimension. _Then_ he said that you had to protect two people – human versions of Dialga and Palkia – even though you don't know who they are, and they don't know who they are?" he said incredulously, taking a quick breath at the end.

"That's right," Ash said simply. "It's supposedly all part of this—" he began, but Brock held his hand up again, and he fell silent.

"Ash, you shouldn't be worrying about things like this," Brock said sternly, ignoring the bubbling of the water in the pot behind him, even as Piplup squeaked and ran over to try and save her breakfast from being ruined. "You've got your fifth-round battle in less than two hours, and you need to focus your whole mind on it; remember in the first round against Dean? You looked out of it because you met Anabel before the match, and it nearly cost you the tournament. Don't make that same mistake again, because this time we both know that you're not going to be as lucky this time around."

"But you didn't hear the way Darkrai was talking to me!" Ash countered, pushing himself off the counter and beginning to pace in circles. "He said that there was danger in store for everything—! Some kind of catastrophe!"

"Be that as it may, I'm sure '_everything_' will forgive you for taking a few hours out of today to focus on _you_," Brock continued, stepping over to the stove and pouring the hot water and noodles into a large sieve in the sink, much to Piplup's relief and delight. "Seriously, the world shouldn't have to depend on you to fix it every time someone cries wolf; let someone else take care of it. This fortnight's all about you winning the world title!" he reminded Ash with a grin on his face, and the latter slipped out of his reverie and smiled back, nodding his head encouragingly.

"Thanks, Brock," Ash said gratefully, moving over to stand next to him. "Oh, can I ask you about something… something else?" he ventured, wringing his hands.

Brock finished up mixing the vegetables in with the noodles and spilled the ingredients into two bowls, one for Piplup and the other for Ash. As the Penguin Pokémon dipped her beak into the bowl and snapped up a carrot cube, he sat down on the stool next to Ash and passed the latter's bowl over. He heard the sound of a door slamming shut, quickly followed by the faint pattering of water as Dawn started her morning shower.

"Sure, go ahead…"

* * *

"_Oh…_ this stubborn bed hair!" Dawn wailed, ripping the tips of her hairbrush through her smooth blue locks. "It _still_ won't just sit the way I want it, even with all that hot water and shampoo! _Ow—!_" she winced as the brush snagged on a split end, throwing a silent tantrum as she slowly extracted it and reached for her hair clips. "Well… I guess it could be worse," she sighed, fixing her sideburns and fringe into place before moving her hands towards the curtain of hair at the back.

"Right, left, up and over," she told herself in a sing-song voice, her fingers expertly turning the hair this way and that, and within moments it was all done in her favourite, and trademark, hairstyle. Checking over it in the mirror one more time to make sure that nothing was out of place, she scooped her hat from on top of the sink tap and jammed it onto her head, grinning to herself at the reflection smiling back at her.

"Alright, all set for another day!" she said, punching the air. She opened the bathroom door and ran into her bedroom, snatching up her high pink boots from the corner and sitting on the edge of her unmade bed. She hastily pulled them over her feet, tapping the heels against the floorboards habitually to make sure that they were comfortable before she hopped up and made for the hallway again. Just before she was level with the door frame, she heard a loud knock at the door of the lounge room.

_That must be Ari!_ she thought excitedly, sprinting towards the noise. "I'll get the door, you two!" she called out to Ash and Brock, glancing over at the pair of them in the kitchen. Whilst Piplup was happily enjoying a small bowl of noodles and vegetables, the two boys were deep in conversation; Brock was talking to Ash fervently, and although she didn't make an effort to try and discern his words, his hand and facial gestures made her believe that she was better off not knowing. Ash, meanwhile, was drinking in every word his Pokémon Breeder friend was saying, not even touching his breakfast as his statuesque demeanour was focused entirely on Brock.

"Boys…" she muttered darkly to herself, shaking her head as another knock sounded at the door. "Coming!" she cried out, reaching the door and grabbing the door handle. "Look, Ari, you didn't really have to come over this early—" she started breathlessly, but she stopped short when, instead of Ari's warm hazel eyes and broad shoulders, she saw a set of large lavender eyes between similarly-coloured hair and rosy cheeks.

"Hoping for someone a little more manly?" she laughed, shrugging her slim shoulders. "Can't say I blame you; I'm actually looking for the same thing at the moment," she added, peering past Dawn's head, and the latter giggled knowingly.

"You'll be wanting Ash, right?" she asked.

"Is he here, or has he already gone early for his battle?" she asked concernedly, and her expression mirrored her tone of voice.

"Hang on, I'll get him for you," Dawn said, winking as she turned to face the kitchen.

* * *

"—in your hands," Brock was saying to Ash, who was watching him as though his life depended on it. Not that the tanned Trainer could blame him; in his experience, matters like these were life-and-death on a regular basis. "I guarantee it," he finished confidently, and Ash slowly nodded his head in understanding.

"You'd better be right," he said warningly, grabbing his fork and stabbing through a noodle. "If something goes catastrophically wrong, we both know who I'm gonna blame."

"I'm so confident about it working, I'm not even worried about you blaming me for any problems that have _no chance_ of occurring," Brock replied braggingly, folding his arms and leaning back on his stool. "Come on, Ash; if you're going to take my advice about anything, it should be this."

"Hmm… you do have a point there," he admitted, sucking down the noodle and twirling his fork around several more. He heard a knock at the door, but a moment later Dawn screamed that she was getting it, and sure enough he could hear her pounding footsteps as she made for the door.

"Of course I do!" Brock laughed, watching Ash stuff the noodles into his gaping mouth before trying to push some pieces of carrot and shallot in to join them.

"So... what do ew fink dis Warbird guy is gun use agains me?" he asked Brock, his mouth crammed full of food.

"_Ash, your girlfriend's here to see you!_" roared Dawn from the door, and Ash nearly broke his neck as it snapped around to see Anabel walking into the hotel room. She smiled so sweetly at him, tucking her hands behind her back as she sidled through the lounge room, that he gulped a searing hot mouthful of steaming noodles and almost choked on them; the pain in his neck didn't help either, and he came close to seizing up as he forced the burning in his throat down to his stomach.

"An—_keh_—Anabel—_agh_—what a surprise—!" he gasped, managing to actually form a sentence between his coughing spasms.

"Ash, are you okay?!" Brock and Anabel exclaimed, the former rushing over and punching him across the shoulder blades as the latter readied a drink of water.

"I'm—! I'm fine, re—really," Ash sighed, vainly hiding more coughs. "So—Anabel, what, uh, what brings—you here so early?" he asked conversationally, with something of a forced smile.

"By the looks of it, to get you a drink," Anabel giggled, handing him the glass. "It'd be a shame for you to choke on your own breath before you step into the arena today. Come on, drink up!" she said commandingly, tipping the water closer to his open mouth as Brock disappeared into the hallway. "Drink it or wear it," she warned, and Ash blinked before draining it all in one quick gulp. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Th—Thank you," Ash grinned, rapping his knuckles over his ribcage to try and dispel the last of his discomfort. "It's your fault, you know," he added with a sly smirk. "If you hadn't smiled at me like that when you walked through the door, I wouldn't have choked on my food."

"Well, my sincerest apologies," Anabel replied in a mock-remorseful voice, bowing in front of him. "Next time I'll be sure to glare." She and Dawn both sat down on the kitchen stools across from Ash and watched Piplup pecking her way through a resiliently thick noodle for a moment or two.

"So Ash," Anabel continued, leaning her head on her hand and looking at him with half-closed, sleep-affected eyes, "are you all ready for your next match?"

"As ready as a Regirock!" Ash affirmed, his eyes glinting. "I'm all set to rip loose at the stadium, and by the end of the day I'll be in the top thirty-two, and just one win out of the finals! This Warbird character hasn't got a chance!" he added assertively, snatching his fork up from the bench and tearing into his breakfast again at rapid pace.

"Is he always this confident?" Anabel asked Dawn.

"Hey, just be happy that this is a certified battle," she laughed, shaking her head. "You should see him when some random Trainer just pops up and challenges him to a battle; you couldn't keep him still with a straitjacket and a Rhydon tranquiliser."

"Goodness, I'll have to see that one day," Anabel giggled, just as Brock wheeled around the corner fully dressed. "You seem chipper this morning, Brock," she said politely. "What's the occasion?"

"No occasion, I just got dressed…" Brock muttered, lost. "Didn't you notice before that I was wearing hardly anything?"

"Nope, I was worried about Ash," she shrugged. "Funny how the mind works, isn't it?" she added with a tiny chuckle as she looked back at Dawn. "Why, is it something I should have noticed?"

"Hey, just because I'm eating doesn't mean I'm deaf," Ash muttered from over his china bowl, getting a laugh out of his friends.

"Speaking of deaf, Brock," Dawn piped up, grabbing Brock by the arm, "I think we need to have a little talk about the specifics of that _dare…_"

"What—? That doesn't really make any sense…" Brock said in return, blinking stupidly as he was led towards the door.

"I know that, but Ash and Anabel don't," she whispered fiercely. "Let's give them some alone time; they've hardly had two seconds together with everything that's been happening on the island."

"Yeah, you're right…" Brock muttered, casting his eye over at the couple, young in every sense of the word, and he couldn't help a smile. "Let me just get my Pokémon—"

"Don't worry about them!" she hissed. "We'll come back after Ash's battle and pick them all up. Come on, Piplup," she added to her Pokémon, who hopped onto the ground and scampered towards them. "We'll see you two later, okay?" she shouted to the two in the kitchen.

"See you at Ash's battle, guys!" Anabel said cheerily, waving at them as they passed over the threshold. Ash leaned over and waved as well, and he caught Brock's eye as the latter reached for the door, giving him a subtle wink. Brock made sure that Anabel's attention was elsewhere before winking back, and as he swung the door shut his other hand momentarily formed a thumbs-up before he disappeared behind the wood.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Thanks to Blue Bongo for lending me the use of Olly Lowe. BB is the author of 'Rise To The Top' and its sequel, 'The Verger Chronicles', two highly recommended stories.**

***The commentary of the camera snapshots would (if this story was purely anime canonical) put this story between DP111 and DP127; in Chapter 56 Ash mentioned never seeing an Abomasnow, which Candice has in her possession in DP127.**

**Quiz:**

***As of this chapter, which Hoenn starter line is Leoric not confirmed to own a member of?**

* * *

**Well, I apologise for publishing this a few hours late - there was a pile-up on the way back to my house, and I was delayed three hours. Unavoidable, alas, but at least I wasn't the one in the crash, eh? Haha.**

**So now Olly makes his awaited appearance. I figured it was only fair since BB used Ari in Verger, and it's good to have an Englishman in the mix, no matter how said mix turns out. But the mix will include nuts, be assured of that, hehe.**

**And Brock's dare is finally over. He's always good for some comic relief, isn't he?**

**Ash admits his dream to Brock and Piplup, and as usual they don't have the best advice. Although it's not surprising with the latter... Battle battle battle, they say.**

**Thanks to the numerous people who reviewed the last chapter! It was refreshing to see a boost in numbers.**

**Be sure to post in the polls and vote in the forums! Or... post in the forums and vote in the polls... I can never remember.**

**Chapter 76 (Making Out For Lost Time) will be published next Friday, on May 22nd. Don't get any ideas on the chapter name, because you'll be very surprised.**

**'Kasuchi, Koichi', there are a couple of Ability-lemons circulating around here somewhere. Or at least there _were_. I'm not a fan of the lemon genre, but if the story calls for it, I will be sure to have one. I'm not going to comment on putting Abilitylemon in this trilogy, because I'm as yet undecided, so I'm sorry for not helping more.**

**Be sure to review!!! Please!!**


	76. Making Out For Lost Time

**CHAPTER 76 – MAKING OUT FOR LOST TIME**

As the sun began to clear its way over the broad expanse of water that was the ocean, a tiny mass struggled against the powerful currents and freezing temperatures as a vast island rose up from beyond the blue. The shape feebly fought through the water with tired swings of its enormously powerful arms, but after having swum at full pace for close to two hours on end, even its superhuman strength was drained terribly. Not that it mattered; to this shape, the only thing that was focused in its mind was safely getting its Trainer to land, no matter what the cost was.

Mark had his arms wrapped over his Machoke's shoulders as the latter defiantly struck out in a clumsy freestyle stroke, his consciousness coming and going with every cold spray of water that threatened to send them under. The Superpower Pokémon was his last resort; his Staraptor had already succumbed to its limits a long time ago, and Walrein had been too worn out from its battle against the dead woman's Vaporeon. If Machoke couldn't get him to Mikan Island – and soon – then he would die, and he knew it with every fibre of his ailing body.

"Ma… Machoke…" he rasped, his voice sick with the taste of seawater. "H… Hurry… I can't… hold on… too much… longer…" he pleaded, every syllable tearing at his throat as he tried not to vomit with sickness. He heard his Fighting-type give a weak grunt and felt it quicken its pace, only by the sound of its arms splashing against the water a little bit harder each time.

"_Ma…choke…ma…choke…ma…choke…_" whispered Machoke, its eyes drooping as its legs trailed uselessly behind it; only its arms were propelling it and Mark towards the rocky shores of Mikan Island. _Protect… Master… Protect… Master…_ was the only thought in its tiny mind, the command burning itself into the Pokémon's memory.

"Come… on…" Mark growled, noisily clearing his throat as he held back a wave of nausea, just as the waves of water began to push him and Machoke in the right direction. "Let… the waves… take us…" he murmured, finally giving in to the darkness swirling around the corners of his vision. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to be carried along on the waves, feeling Machoke's body collapse beneath his. He could feel them slowly bobbing up and down in the gentle ebb and flow of the current, for what seemed like a long time in the foggy expanses of his brain, before his knees buckled on something hard.

_Land… land… land…_ he thought weakly, but he was thrown off Machoke's back by a rogue wave and dumped on his back, shuddering and spluttering as it washed over him. _Water… no… no water…_ His fingers clutched at the sand below him and formed fists, his expression contorting in pain as he lifted his head and opened his eyes. He could see a mess of palm trees that made a forest to his left, and further down the coast he saw a huge factory shed, white at the bottom with a curved orange roof.

"Machoke… return—!" he hissed, wincing with every movement as he recalled his unconscious Machoke to its PokéBall. He started to crawl on his hands and knees, one limb after the other, towards this shed in the hopes of finding human civilisation to help him, but it was agonisingly slow progress, and he collapsed onto the sand again before he'd gone twenty feet down the narrow beach. He closed his eyes and shouted out in frustration and agony, hoping – _praying –_ that someone, somewhere, would hear him and come to his aid, but his hopes of that happening were smaller than the grains of sand sticking to his cheek.

So he thought he was dreaming when he heard the sound of shifting sand and pounding footsteps coming towards him. His eyes thinking that his ears were deceiving him, he opened them a fraction and saw, through the tiny slits between his eyelids, a small, spiky-haired person in green cargo pants standing next to a taller, maroon-haired person wearing black and vermillion clothes.

"Am… I dead…?" he whispered, his head crashing back onto the soft sand as his eyes rolled back.

* * *

"So Anabel," Ash said, having ploughed through the last of his breakfast, "what time is your battle today? I just realised I haven't seen any of yours…" he added sadly, his voice mingling with the clatter of the bowl as he put it in the sink. "I was thinking I'd come over for some moral support—not that you'd need it."

"That's sweet," Anabel grinned, sneaking up behind him and wrapping her arms around his waist. "But I don't really want you to go to this match," she said hesitantly, and Ash could feel her grip on his sides tighten just a little. He unhooked her hands from in front of his stomach and swung around to see her head bowed and her eyes clouded with concern, biting her lip.

"Why not?" he asked. Anabel blinked and looked away.

"Well, it's because… I don't want to win today, and I don't want you to see me throw the match," she whispered, and she let go of Ash's hands and walked over to the lounge room, leaving Ash staring open-mouthed after her as the words sank in.

"You're gonna forfeit?!" he exclaimed, running after her and snatching at her hand again. "Why would you wanna do that?!" he demanded as he spun her around to face him.

"Because I—I know in my heart, and in my mind, that you're going to win against Warbird, no matter what the odds," she began to explain, gazing forlornly at Ash's shoes. "So you'll make it to the finals qualifier… but—"

"What does me winning one battle have to do with you wanting to leave?" Ash repeated, softly but firmly as his other hand wound its way up to rest on her shoulder. Anabel shook her head and gave a tiny sniff.

"If I win through to the next round… it means that… you and I will be battling each other for a spot in the top sixteen," she told him, her last few words rushing out of her like a fast-flowing river. "I—I checked the ladder this morning."

Ash's mouth fell open again, but this time it was less out of horrified shock than it was out of simple surprise. "And you don't want to win today because you don't want to run the risk of having to battle me tomorrow, right?" he asked, and Anabel nodded timidly. "No offence, but that's a pretty lousy reason."

"Wh-What?" Anabel gasped, her lavender eyes swinging up to look at his. "Why is it?!"

"Well, for starters, we've battled each other before, and we were fine back then," Ash said comfortably, throwing himself onto the lounge.

"But we didn't know—we weren't together back then, so it isn't really the same," Anabel argued, but Ash could see the gentle blush forming on her cheeks and across the bridge of her nose. "I mean, I never admitted my feelings for you, and it was just a crush when you won the Ability Symbol, so it was easier not to think about it, but now…" she lowered her head and fell silent, and Ash suddenly understood what she was trying to say.

He stood up again and slowly stepped towards her, stopping so that he was the only thing in Anabel's vision even though she was still looking downwards. She saw Ash move his arm out of the edge of her vision, and a few seconds later she could feel the crook of his finger touching the bottom of her chin and slowly tilting it up so that her gaze would meet his. His warm, gentle touch was like a new strength to her, and it gave Anabel the courage to look into his eyes. His full, dark, chocolate eyes.

"Those feelings were still there, even if we didn't admit them then," he mumbled. A shadow of a smile flickered over Anabel's lips, and her eyes shimmered in the early morning light. However, it took a long time for the words to fully sink in, and she gasped at them, her hand flying up to meet her mouth as Ash's hand fell away. "I lost our first battle because my Pokémon and I weren't strong enough, but there was something else there, too… I was so distracted by you that I couldn't focus on the battle," he told her, his words barely coherent under his breath.

"Ash…?" Anabel whispered back, and he could see the faintest trace of a tear welling up in the corner of her eye.

"I gotta admit, it was a lot harder winning your Ability Symbol than it was to get Brandon's Brave Symbol," Ash added. "Thankfully I was never attracted to him, or else I might never have won!" he laughed, and Anabel found herself giggling along as she leant forwards and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I guess my point is that…" he continued, snaking a hand around to hold her closer to him, "there was something before when we battled, and that didn't stop us from going all out against each other. And it shouldn't stop us from giving each other everything we've got tomorrow, in the off-chance that we both make it. I'd think that we owe it to each other to be true to ourselves and hold nothing back. I'd be disappointed if you threw away your chance to be Champion just for me."

"Because you wouldn't do that for me, right?" Anabel smirked, shifting her head to look at his face as a grin formed on it.

"One of the five or so things I wouldn't do for you," he answered sweetly.

"Oh, really?" Anabel asked, slipping out of his embrace. "And what would these four '_or so_' other things be?"

"They would all involve me and surrender to some degree," he teased, weaving his fingers into hers and pulling her back towards him. "I'm not fond of holding back unless I absolutely _have_ to for someone else's sake," he added, somewhat arrogantly, but Anabel let it slide this time as she touched the tip of her nose to his.

"That's something I'll have to remember, just in case," she said breathlessly, feeling his breath tickle at her face as it split into an open-mouthed grin. "So right now—" she inched her head further towards his, until her lips were almost on his, half-closed and shaking ever so slightly.

"Right now…?" Ash whispered, his nostrils filled with the scent of her perfume and her body. Anabel twitched her eyebrows suggestively and pushed forwards with her hands, still entwined with Ash's, to slowly lead him back onto the lounge. Ash didn't do anything to fight it – he was perfectly willing to go along with it – as he was guided into the soft leather, and he could feel himself sinking back into it as Anabel applied more pressure.

"Right now…" she murmured, bringing her shin up onto the lounge and digging her knee into the leather beside Ash's thigh, "I think you should show me some of your philosophy… '_hold nothing back_', as it were," she said, lifting her other leg next to the other side of his body. "A few moments away… from the tournament… from battling… just the two of us… you… me…" she whispered, straddling him as her hands ran over his arms and shoulders.

"I've never taught anyone before… but it sounds like a welcome change…" Ash grinned lazily, locking onto Anabel's lips with his eyes. "It'll be a good chance for you to practice… not taking me lightly…" he said roughly, one hand latching onto the space between her shoulder blades as the other cradled the side of her neck, his thumb flicking at her earlobe as she pressed herself against him. "You're a fast learner," he smirked, but his grin quickly vanished into a half-empty gape as he saw the wildfire in Anabel's eyes, burning hot and heavy as she lowered her lips to meet his in a passionate kiss.

Anabel closed her eyes as she felt herself slowly melting into Ash's warmth, her arms tucked between themselves and her hands lying motionless on his collarbone. She took a quick, sharp breath as she kissed him again, but her eyes sprang open as she felt his tongue slide over her bottom lip. She quickly shut her eyes again, but only so that Ash couldn't see them beginning to roll back into her head as she opened her mouth wider, and Ash equalled the favour as she flicked her own tongue against the tip of his front teeth.

Ash's nerves were set ablaze with that tiny motion, and he tightened his hold on her back as he leant forwards and slowly pushed her backwards; he was the man, and he wanted to be the one in control no matter how inexperienced he was at this new concept. He silkily moved his hand up and down the nape of her neck, feeling the blood pumping in his head as he explored Anabel's mouth. Tasting the sweetness, his pupils dilated as he had more of the fantastic drug that was everything about her; his nose was filled with the addictive Kasib perfume that clothed her body, the sensation of her soft white skin on his fingertips made them feel as though they were on fire, and the bliss of their mouths cemented together drove him mad with desire.

But like any drug, it wasn't enough, and he broke their impassioned open kiss to move his lips across her cheek, planting tiny pecks over the side of her face. He felt Anabel tremble underneath his touch, and he grinned hungrily as he worked his way towards the side of her neck, the hand over her nape slipping around to clasp her hands, still wedged between their heated bodies.

"Mmm… _Ash_…" Anabel moaned sensuously, gasping as the fabric of his fingerless gloves rubbed over her palm. It was rough to the touch, but she didn't care one bit; her body was surrendering itself to Ash's amazing natural skill, and her mind wasn't in the position to argue with her physical side. She couldn't control herself as he worked his magic, and she quickly found herself struggling for air as her breathing became ragged like an animal. The hand that wasn't digging its nails into the space between Ash's knuckles broke free and snatched at his cap, wrenching it from his head and throwing it across the room. Her fingers dug into his thick, night-black hair and held on as Ash slowly, teasingly, went past the edge of her jaw-line and slipped down to her neck.

Ash shifted his weight on the lounge and edged forwards in his seat, being careful not to accidentally bite Anabel's neck as his head rocked forwards with the movement. He tightened his grip on Anabel's hand and firmed his hold on her back, realising that if he didn't keep her like she was now, she'd fall backwards onto the coffee table.

_The coffee table… _The thought swam into Ash's mind hazily, struggling against the surge of carnality and hormones in his brain, and things finally ticked over as the idea settled. "Anabel…" he muttered, his voice shaking as he fought himself for mental control, "hold on…"

"O-Okay…" she murmured back, her eyes still closed with pleasure and the ghost of a moan escaping her closed lips.

Ash, his face still half-buried in her neck, tipped her delicate body even further back, until he felt his hand knock against the hard wood of the coffee table, and he dropped his legs over the edge of the sofa and kneeled on the floor, pushing back with his hands and putting both his and Anabel's bodies upright. In the corner of his mind, he could feel her slender legs reaching out past his waistline, bending past him at the knees, but he turned his attention back to her neck.

Her soft, sweet-smelling neck, as seamless as white marble. He closed his eyes and pressed his lips against the marble once, savouring the taste. After a few heavy moments, he half-opened his eyes and glanced at Anabel, who was still hypnotised under the spell he was weaving on her body. _I guess there's no better time to try it out,_ he thought nervously, swallowing hard. _It's about time that Brock's constant chatter about women came in handy for once… I just hope I do it right…_

He ran the tip of his thumb over the back of Anabel's hand as his other hand swung around her back and over her waist, drawing an excited breath out of the entranced girl atop him. Grinning, he ran his hand lower, trailing it over her butt and squeezing down on it with a feather-light touch before moving her backwards, so that she was sitting on the edge of the table. Running his hand across the side of her thigh as a temporary distraction, Ash could feel Anabel's chest heaving against their entwined hands as he turned his focus back to her neck. He drew his free hand upwards and touched the edge of the gold-rimmed collar of her shirt, gently pulling it over towards her shoulder.

"Ash…?" Anabel whispered uncertainly, her eyes opening as her head lolled about. "What are you d—?" Ash stifled her by gluing his lips to hers again, and she could feel herself slipping back into her animalistic side as his tongue pushed against the inside of her mouth. "_Nnnn…_" Her hands made for his collarbone, and she wrestled her tongue with Ash's in a sensual tug-of-war whilst her fingers found the zipper on his jacket. With another contented moan, muffled into Ash's mouth, Anabel unzipped his jacket and opened it wide, spreading her hands as they ran over his white undershirt, sliding towards the belt at his waist.

Ash hid a gasp of shock at Anabel's sudden advance, but he relaxed as her supple hands slid under his shirt and explored underneath. He could feel the coolness of her fingers running over his stomach and his chest, and he knew that Anabel could feel his heartbeat, because he saw a reflexive twitch in one of her neck muscles, about halfway between the base of her neck and her shoulder.

_Bingo,_ he thought victoriously. In one fluid motion, he pulled her collar to the side and looped it under her shoulder, leaving the skin of her collarbone bare on that side of her body. Anabel squeaked in surprise, but there was excitement masked inside it, because she didn't pull away in the slightest as they kissed, and Ash could have sworn he felt her fingernails bend into his chest as he'd done it. As for him, her involuntary noise only inflamed his senses further. He closed his mouth and kissed her again on the lips before moving his head towards her bare patch of neck, blowing gently on the exposed skin.

"How do you…" Anabel hummed, shuddering as she felt the cool air wash over her neckline, "how do you _know_… _Mmm_…" she trailed off as Ash lowered his lips over her bare neck and kissed it again, and to stop herself from losing her senses in the moment, she ripped her hands away from his chest and banged them down on the coffee table, knocking the television remote onto the floor and spilling the batteries out of it. Using her hands to steady herself, her legs jerked and wrapped themselves around Ash's upper back, her feet stretching out in arousal as he brushed his lips over the spot he'd seen earlier. "_Oh…!_ You're too good at this…" she whispered, throwing her head backwards as she felt a hot wave of lust tear through her body.

_Hold that thought for one minute…_ Ash thought, his hand still stroking her leg. He blew another cold breath on her neck, half-smiling as he felt her legs tighten around his mid-section, and he opened his lips and kissed down on it once again. But this time, instead of moving away, he flicked his tongue over the tiny patch of bare skin and tried to draw it into his mouth, taking out all the air on the inside.

Anabel's entire being shivered as she felt the tip of Ash's tongue circle over the spot on her neckline between his lips. For the second time, her eyes rolled backwards as she lost control of herself, and she dug the heels of her shoes into his back in a desperate attempt to hold onto reality. The sensations that Ash was giving her drove her crazy; the hot smell of his body sent her senses reeling as she felt the rough edges of his hair tickle at the side of her neck. The gentle touch of his hand, as it caressed the outside of her thigh, made her moan his name with overflowing desire, and she arched her back as she felt the tug of his mouth on her naked skin.

Ash carefully moved his lips away from her neck, and watched breathlessly as he saw the spot that was below his mouth slowly begin to turn red. "Perfect…" he whispered passionately, kissing the mark softly as Anabel slowly tilted her head forwards, still moaning sensuously between her teeth. His hands slithered across her legs and settled at her hips, the tips of his fingers sliding over the top of her butt as he ran his lips over the natural curve of her neck, exhaling tiny breaths of air over it as he moved back to her face. He made to kiss her again on the mouth, but instead of meeting her lips, he met with her index finger as she put it between them, and he opened his eyes to see her giving him an alluring smile.

"_Ash… _are you _sure_ that you've never done this before_…?_" she murmured, her eyes hazy with fire. She crooked the edge of her finger to slowly move up and down the bridge of his nose, making him groan under his breath as her other hand lifted off the coffee table and crawled around his shoulders. "Because if not…" she giggled softly, "then if being a Pokémon Master doesn't work out… I, uh, know something _else_ you can be a _master_ of…" she whispered, raking her teeth along her lower lip as her finger slid down along the centre of Ash's mouth. Just as the bottom of her finger slipped onto his chin, the tip of her fingernail pressed on his bottom lip and flicked it against hers as she pushed them together, eliciting another moan from him as she gently bit down on his lip.

Ash felt Anabel's weight pushing forwards onto him, and he strengthened his grip on her by lowering his hands to fully hold her backside. He could also feel her welcome the change in position, because the next moment she pushed his mouth open with her tongue and flicked it against the roof. Blood was pounding through every corner of his body as Anabel dug her tongue further inside, and as he felt himself at the brink of his hunger and emotion, he brought his hand up and lightly pressed his thumb into the bruise forming on her neckline. Anabel jerked and pulled away from him suddenly, her hand slipping away from his shoulders as it reached towards her own.

"Ash?!" she gasped, her eyes shooting open and swivelling around to see the red mark hidden underneath his hand. "Did… did you give me a love bite?" she asked quietly, moving his hand out of the way with hers and staring at the small bruise. She clicked her tongue against her teeth, and Ash felt himself sinking lower and lower as he wondered whether he'd gone too far. "Well…" she whispered, her fingers threading through his as she locked her eyes onto his, "at least I can cover it up," she admitted, turning her head this way and that to look at it from different angles. "So now, I guess I'll have to just _return the favour_…" she whispered, her hands and her legs, still wrapped around Ash's lower back, guiding him around so that he was parallel with the table and the sofa.

"_Mmm…_ you could try," Ash murmured, his free hand moving along her thigh again and making Anabel tense her legs reflexively. "But you've forgotten one… teeny… tiny… thing…" he teased, pulling her torso towards his with his arm. He gently prised his fingers away from hers and cupped his hand around her cheek, stroking just below her eye with his thumb as he brought her closer for another kiss.

"And what _teeny tiny thing_ would that be?" she asked lightly, feeling his hot breath on her lips. Her hands wound up to his shoulders and stopped at the base of his neck, her eyes closed and her eyelashes fluttering wildly in tune with her heartbeat as she leant forwards, wanting his mouth on hers again for the umpteenth time. But as she pressed her lips to his face, she felt the hardness of his cheekbones, and a light breeze on her sideburn told her that Ash's lips were near her ear. She moaned silently at his constant teasing, but she was too wound up in the heat of the moment to care about anything other than what he was about to do, grinning carnally as his free hand rested on the small of her back, just below her shirt.

"My other hand," Ash muttered softly, and his hand sprang up into the tiny gap in Anabel's clothes, his fingers clearing the way as he wove his way up to the nape of her neck. Slowly rubbing his cheek across hers, he kissed her passionately over the lips, and at the same time as he pushed her mouth open, he turned his little finger on its side and ran the corner of his fingernail down the length of her spine, not stopping until he reached her tailbone at the top of her pants.

Anabel squealed into him with abandon as that one touch made her shudder all over. She could feel herself going numb from within as the lust inside built up and screamed for release, and she fought breathlessly to contain it. Her tongue darted in and around Ash's mouth like a snake, and as she pulled out for a few, quick, jagged breaths, her legs unwrapped themselves from his back and leant on the floor. Kneeling upright on the lounge room floor, their legs rubbing against each other with every movement, Anabel threw her head onto his shoulders and turned it towards his neck, diving straight towards his smooth skin as she showered it with tender kisses.

"Take off your shirt…" she growled playfully into his ear. "Unless you want everyone to see it…" she added, tickling him with her breath as she kissed the tiny space between his jawbone and ear. Ash whispered his approval to her as she felt his hands slide up her sides, his fingers running over her upper ribs before withdrawing to his white t-shirt. Anabel shifted her weight and gripped the sofa as Ash slipped out of his jacket, and she moaned as his hips rubbed against the inside of her legs. Hardly able to bear the thrill and the flush that covered her face, she moved herself off of him as she dipped her head forwards and closed her eyes again, wanting another kiss as Ash fumbled at the rim of his shirt.

"_Piiiikaaaaachuuuuuu!_" shouted a high-pitched voice from far away, and Anabel's eyes flew open to see Ash's body seize up as he was struck with a flying bolt of electricity that engulfed him in yellow light. She yelped out and jumped to her feet just to avoid being hit by his flailing limbs, and after a second or two the light disappeared and Ash was left lying on the lounge room carpet, his fingers twitching as he laughed quietly.

"Pikachu, did you… have to do that?" he groaned brokenly, letting his head drop onto the ground with a dull thud. "A simple shout would've done fine…" he added, and Anabel stumbled backwards as she hastily fixed her collar to hide the mark Ash had made on it.

"P-Pikachu?!" she exclaimed, spotting Ash's Pokémon standing dumbfounded at the entrance to the hallway. "H-How long have you been there?!" she demanded, her cheeks turning crimson as her hand flew to cover her mouth.

_Too long…_ Pikachu thought, and Anabel cringed as she heard.

"Well, I—_uh_—I was just—_ah_—Ash was…" she stuttered, her eyes shifting everywhere except towards Pikachu as she frantically tried to think of a passable excuse for being caught out like they had.

"Pikachu, Anabel and I were having some private time together, and it wasn't very kind of you to interrupt it by hitting me with that Thunderbolt," Ash said seriously, getting to his feet and slipping an arm around her waist. "But… I guess you waited until she wasn't making contact with me, so I'll thank you for that," he added, walking across the room and scooping his hat off the ground, flattening his static-affected hair and jamming it underneath the hat.

"_Next time, make sure your '_private time_' is in a private place where people don't sit down,"_ Pikachu told Ash, his words perfectly discernible to both Trainers as he flashed them a cheeky smile.

"We'll make sure, alright," Anabel giggled, flicking her collar and patting her lavender hair into the right shape. She spotted a shadow creeping up behind Pikachu from a door off to the left, but she pursed her lips and turned back towards Ash with a flustered smile, focusing her hearing towards the yellow Pokémon still standing in the hallway.

"_Pika-boo…!_" whispered a female voice behind Pikachu, and a split second later Pikachu felt something tap him lightly on the shoulder.

"_Ack!_" Pikachu shouted, blasting the air around him with another Thunderbolt as he was frightened witless. He heard a scream behind him and turned around in confusion, but his mouth dropped to the floor as he saw Dawn's Buneary stagger backwards dangerously with tiny scorch marks on her fluffy brown-and-yellow fur. "_Buneary?! Don't sneak up on me like that!_" he chastised, but his bitterness quickly evaporated as the Rabbit Pokémon's eyes started welling up with tears.

"_I was just being friendly…_" she sniffed, raising a paw to her brow as she closed her eyes, and with a sigh she dramatically fell backwards towards the floor. Pikachu cried out and jumped forwards, catching her in the small of the back with his paw whilst the other one grabbed onto her arm to stop her from hitting the ground. His tail whipped around and held her legs in place as he slowly pulled her upright, letting the shocked and hurt Buneary lean on it as her head lolled forwards onto his shoulder.

"_Buneary, I'm so sorry for hurting you!_" he said remorsefully, patting her arm with his paw. "_I saw Ash and Anabel acting all—really weird—to each other, and it kinda freaked me out, so when you tapped me on the shoulder I sort of got the willies," _he explained, manoeuvring her towards the carpeted lounge room floor with his tail as a crutch. "_Here, lie down and relax…"_ he said humbly, slowly leaning her against one of the one-seater lounge chairs.

From her spot across the room, Anabel clasped her hands warmly together as she watched Pikachu's chivalrous gesture. "Oh, that's so sweet of you, Pikachu," she sighed, looking on as Pikachu acted as an improvised doctor to Buneary, checking to make sure his surprise attack hadn't hurt her. But a moment later, her eyebrows reared up as she saw Buneary peer through her eyelashes at Pikachu, a blush creeping onto her face as he tried to make her more comfortable.

"Uh, Ash…?" she whispered, sidling up next to him and pointing discreetly at the two Pokémon on the floor. "Does Dawn's Buneary… have a crush on Pikachu…?" she ventured.

"What makes you think that?" Ash asked blankly, looking over at them. "Pikachu's just trying to make good on something he did wrong, isn't he?"

"I'm not asking whether Pikachu likes Buneary…" Anabel corrected him. "Well… do they have some sort of—I dunno—thing together?"

"Why don't you ask them?" Ash suggested, shrugging his shoulders and folding his arms. "I can't speak for Buneary because I'm not her Trainer, but I don't think Pikachu's that kind of Pokémon… he's never really taken an interest in girls in the past, y'know?"

"Sounds like a case of the Pokémon taking after his Trainer," Anabel laughed, poking her tongue out at him smartly. "But I don't wanna disturb them… it's a good distraction from the two of us getting caught out—"

"—and me taking a Thunderbolt for you—" Ash said stubbornly.

"—if Pikachu's focused on Buneary's little '_predicament_'," she continued with a subtle wink, and Ash suddenly got the idea and nodded along.

"Okay then. Well let's just stay out of their hair—or fur—for five minutes; hopefully Pikachu will forget about it," he agreed. "But you've got to admit…" he muttered, his hand brushing over her hip again, "it wasn't a bad effort for our first couple-related activity, eh?"

"Well, it's actually our _second_, if you include that time you were at my hotel room."

"But I was spaced out on pain medication, and I'd only just admitted that I liked you!" Ash complained. "That one doesn't count!"

"Does too."

"Does not!"

"Does _too_!"

"Does _not_!"

"Does too, does too, does too!"

"_Does not, does not, DOES NOT!_"

"_Could you two keep it down?!_" Pikachu shouted, sparks flying out of his cheeks. "_I'm trying to get Buneary to relax, and you're not helping!"_ Ash and Anabel stopped their bickering and struggled to hold back their laughter, turning to Pikachu and nodding in mock-apology.

"Sorry, won't happen again," they both said, smirking as their eyes met each other's guiltily.

"So Anabel, are you gonna win your match today?" Ash asked knowingly, holding his hand out for her. Anabel beamed and took it into hers, threading their fingers together despite Pikachu's eyes rolling.

"For you, I will," she said sweetly.

And then she screamed.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Pikachu's speech appears like that of a human in this chapter because Buneary, Ash and Anabel can all understand him. Buneary's language appears human because only Anabel and Pikachu are paying attention.**

**Quiz:**

***Which Water-type Pokémon in Ash's possession (at the time) was NOT used in his Mikan Island Gym victory?**

* * *

**Well, uh... hehe... whoa...**

**Okay, I'd actually been trying to put in a really AbilityShipping chapter for a long time now, and this was the first chance I could really get without having to backtrack or go off on a tangent. Hope it lives up to any expectations.**

**But still... is anyone else's glasses fogging up, or is it just me? And t****hat poor television remote... may it rest in peace. Or in pieces, am I right?**

**Oh, "Kasuchi, Koichi" came so close to hitting the nail on the head two chapters ago in his review, but alas I'm not proficient at lemonising things yet, so you'll have to wait longer. But not a bad stab in the dark, either! ****All hail KK (that's my new nickname for you, mate), the prophet! Just joking.**

**Thanks to all the people who reviewed the last chapter!**

**23 thanks to Megalink1126 for reviewing nearly a third of my story in the space of two weeks! Keep it up, you're doing a rip-roaring job! (I think you've given me the most reviews as a single user, too.)**

**I promise that Ash versus Warbird will begin next chapter. I also promise that it will be quite a large chapter too; one of my top three biggest (two largest if the Christmas special doesn't count). Yes, I know, I've been procastinating lately, but they've been procrastinations for the better.**

**Oh, by the way... to Titanic X, I'll use your OC only on the conditions that she have no actual firearms, and that her Pokeballs are "Grenade Balls", with a pull-pin release. There's a reason that no guns have appeared in the story (particularly with Paul and the Galactics) and I plan to keep it that way.**

**VOTE IN THE POLL!!! Really, it's for an upcoming compilation series I'm in the process of planning!!! Your votes will decide the first five chapters (of a total of 50). That's right, 50 chapters, and most of them are obscure pairings that I created/named myself! A personal challenge, if you will. So yes, VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!**

**And check the forums or post something up there, yes yes. It's all very hectic, I know.**

**Chapter 77 (The Winged Shaman) will be published next Friday. That's May 29th for those of you playing at home.**

**Don't forget to review!!! Please!!!**


	77. The Winged Shaman

**CHAPTER 77 – THE WINGED SHAMAN**

"Brock, I told you we should've picked up our Pokémon before we left!" Dawn wailed, running down the hallway towards their hotel room.

"Why?! This way we have an excuse to come back!" Brock countered, his feet flying as he struggled to keep up; she'd gotten a head-start as they jogged out of the elevator. "I don't wanna miss out on knowing what happens!"

"That's disgusting! What Ash and Anabel do in their time is none of our business!" she fired.

"Then why are you running there quicker than I am?" Brock asked knowingly, a smirk on his face. "I've got my reasons for wanting to know, but I wonder what _yours_ are…?"

"That's none of your business either!" Dawn shrieked, putting on an extra spurt of speed. Unfortunately for her, she was too busy shouting at Brock to notice that she ran straight past the door. After a few moments, she realised that she'd overshot her mark and skidded to a halt, whirling back around to see Brock reaching for the doorknob. "Hey, wait for me!" she pouted, sprinting back to join him.

"Look, I've been travelling with Ash longer than you've been able to ride a bike," Brock whispered, pressing his ear to the door. "And although I'm the master of romance—"

"Says you—"

"I hate to admit that _Ash_ is as clueless as they come," Brock continued through gritted teeth. "I gave him a few pointers this morning about what he should do to… _y'know_… so I'm kinda anxious as to how he went with it—I know, sue me for trying to help out a friend in need—!" he added, throwing a hand up in self-defence as Dawn looked ready to bring out her rolling pin again.

"If they've had some kind of—misunderstanding, or some kind of _falling out_—because of what you told Ash to do, it's gonna be all your fault…!" she hissed, the fury in her voice drilling into Brock's brain. "Now hurry up; I wanna see!" she added, all anger gone and replaced by her usual shameless curiosity. "Come on, come on!"

"Alright, then!" Brock whispered back, clenching his tongue between his teeth as he slowly turned the doorknob and opened the door a sliver. Dawn stuck her eye up to the crack and tried to see the inside of the room, but all she could see was the edge of the television and part of one of the armchairs facing it. "Stop moving, Dawn…!" he warned, pushing the door open a little more. "Can you see anything now?!"

"Give me a second!" she whispered. "Wait…!" She peered closer and saw Ash and Anabel with their backs to the door, his arm moving up so that his hand brushed against her hip. "Yep, there they are! Looks like your 'advice' can't have been too bad…" she admitted, squeaking as Brock pulled her away from the door by the scarf and pressed his face up to the crack.

"Well, what did you expect?" he murmured, his grin widening as he turned back to Dawn. "Since when have I ever been wrong when it comes to love?"

"Do I _really_ need to answer that question fully, or should I just give examples?" Dawn sneered, picking herself up off the floor. "Piplup, see if you can't sneak in there without being noticed," she said quietly, opening a PokéBall and releasing Piplup onto the soft carpet. "Just be _very_ quiet…" she added, watching with baited breath as Piplup slowly waddled through the gap in the door.

"_Pip lup pip lup pip lup…_" chirped the Penguin Pokémon, looking left and right to make sure no-one saw her as she tiptoed across the carpet. She could hear voices in front of her, but by the time her head swung around, she'd bumped into a pair of lavender-coloured pants, and something above her head screamed in fright. _What was that?!_

"Anabel, calm down!" Ash shouted, clamping his hands down on her shoulders. "It's just Piplup, see?!" he added, turning her around to look at the tiny Pokémon, waving her fins angrily as she fell back onto her rear. "Brock and Dawn must have left the door open when they left, and she must have got lost and come back here…"

"Piplup, I told you not to get noticed!" Dawn hissed from beyond the door.

"Dawn?!" Anabel exclaimed, seeing a flash of navy-blue hair as it disappeared behind the wooden frame.

"Dawn, way to go…! You tell _Piplup_ not to get noticed, and so they notice _you_!"

"Brock?!" Ash shouted, making for the door. "What the heck's going on here?" he demanded, wrenching the door open and seeing the two of them kneeling down in front of him, guilty and sheepish expressions on their faces. "Were you spying on us—?!"

"No, nothing like that!" Dawn exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "We only just got back! We were—uh—coming to get the rest of our Pokémon—and we didn't wanna disturb the two of you by making a big racket!" she said hurriedly, waving her hands in front of herself defensively, and Brock voiced his agreement.

"Exactly! So—" he clapped the palm of his hand against his opposite fist, "what's been happening?" he asked, looking around the room. He immediately noticed the remote lying in pieces on the ground, and his eyebrow twanged upwards as he smirked and walked over to it. "Did you, uh, _press the wrong button _or something?" he asked snidely.

"No, I pressed the right button, but it must've fallen off of the coffee table," Ash muttered with a feeble grin, but he gave Brock a subtle thumbs-up that went unnoticed by the two girls, Pikachu or the other Pokémon. _I think I pressed _all_ the right buttons…_ he added in his mind. "Oh, and Dawn—?" he said to the blue-haired Coordinator, "Buneary accidentally got hit with one of Pikachu's Thunderbolts, so you _might_ wanna make sure she's fine," he told her. "Pikachu's been the stand-in doctor."

"_Pika…_" groaned Pikachu, massaging Buneary's fur with his paws. Dawn giggled and hurried over towards them, giving Pikachu a wan nod and relieving him of his duties as Brock came over as well. "_Pika-chu!_" he said happily, jumping up and perching himself on Ash's shoulder. "_Pikaa!_"

"Well, you shouldn't have shocked her," Ash chuckled, scratching Pikachu behind the ears as he checked the clock on the wall. "Speaking of shocks, I've gotta get to my battle!" he shouted, seeing the hands pointing at ten to eight. "I was too busy—! I, uh, lost track of time…!" he stammered, feeling his face grow hot as he almost gave away what he and Anabel had just been doing. Not that he was worried about Pikachu; he was more concerned about Dawn finding out than anything else. In his experience with his female companions, they had a funny way of showing their opinions when it came to things like that.

"Well, let's wait for Brock and Dawn to finish up with Buneary, and then we can all go there together!" Anabel suggested brightly, standing between him and the door. "Your battle isn't for another twenty-five minutes, and you'll only work yourself up the longer you wait in that tunnel," she added wisely, and Ash thought about it for a moment before giving in and shrugging his hands.

"Fine, fine," he sighed, turning around to watch Dawn fretting over her Rabbit Pokémon. "Come on, Dawn!" he shouted, "I've taken hundreds of Thunderbolts from Pikachu, and I'm fine about five seconds later! Can't you speed things up?!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Dawn grumbled, muttering mutinously under her breath. "So did Pikachu fall for it…?" she whispered to Buneary, whose face split into a blushing grin.

"_Bun,_" murmured the Pokémon, nodding her head.

"'Atta girl," Dawn smiled, giving Buneary a sneaky wink.

* * *

"Has the battle started yet?" Dawn wondered aloud, edging along the row of seats towards Leoric.

"Nah, it's not supposed to kick off for another three or so minutes," he said lazily, leaning back in his chair. Dawn exhaled in relief as she cautiously tried to move past a girl with long, plaited brown hair sitting next to him, aiming for her seat between Brock and Max.

"Where's Ari?" she asked.

"At his battle."

"Oops, sorry—" she bumped her knee into the girl's thigh and nearly tripped over. "I'm not having the best start to the day," she said honestly, silently cursing herself as she tried to move past her.

"It's usually not the start of the day that you remember," Wynter grinned, and Dawn jumped backwards in shock as she registered the timbre of his voice and his American accent; rather, she jumped into the back of the seats in front of her and fell backwards over them. "Whoa, watch your step—!" he grunted, snatching her arm just before she fell down the stands, "otherwise you might not have someone as quick as me to catch you."

"I'll—keep that in mind—uh…?"

"The name's Wynter; I'm in the tournament, but this guy—" he jerked his head towards Leoric, who snorted, "said I should watch Ash, so here I am… You'd be Dawn, right?" he asked knowingly as he released his grip on her wrist.

"How do you know my name?" she wondered.

"Your picture was all over the news the other night. Something about Paul Mortiego and a kidnapping…?" he said conversationally. "Personally, I wouldn't put it below someone with his reputation, but I'm not one to believe everything that gets put in the news," he added with a flick of his hair.

"Oh…" Dawn muttered, hoping that this Wynter boy couldn't see the shadows under her eyes as she remembered the experience. "Well, it's good to meet you, Wynter," she added politely, smiling before finally reaching her seat. "Did _you_ think he was a girl too?" she whispered to Brock, who shook his head.

"I saw what he was wearing; no girl would dress like that," he laughed, folding his arms and nodding towards the battlefield as a huge cheer blasted their ears from all around. "The battle's just about to begin," he said obviously.

"From the stands of Stadium Four to the lounge chairs of our viewers all over the world, welcome to this fifth-round battle in the World Pokémon Championships!" roared a voice from above, magnified a hundred times over the megaphone system installed on the grounds. High in the skybox, a young man called over the proceedings with the microphone in his hand, his left eye obscured by a huge fringe of caramel-brown hair. "I'm your commentator, Troy Barton, and today we'll be watching the much-anticipated showdown between one of the tournament newcomers – and a rising favourite! – the Prince of Pallet Town, _Ash_ _Ketchum_—!"

A huge burst of noise erupted through the stadium, bolstered by Brock, Anabel and the others. "And his opponent, the Sky Point Gym Leader, all the way from the Vanguard region in America, the man they call _Warbird_—!" the stadium roared again at the mention of Ash's opponent. "PokéTip betting has Warbird as a one-point-five favourite to win this battle, with Ash the three-point-nine outside chance—"

"That's Warbird…" Max muttered, his glasses flashing in the sunlight as he watched the first set of metal doors slide open, and the competitor within stepped out onto the field.

Warbird was a large man, possibly in his late twenties or early thirties, with skin that was similar in colour to Brock's. A sheet of sleek black hair framed three sides of his head, and the hair at the front was parted evenly towards the ears, all held firmly in place with a blood-red headband. His sharp blue eyes shone in the morning glare as he walked forwards in powerful, confident strides, barely making a noise as his black leather boots thumped against the earth. His vest was also made of leather, but it was a brown colour that matched the colour of the ground, and it covered the sides of a plain white t-shirt that was stretched over his athletic chest. His navy-blue jeans matched his eyes, and he humbly waved a tanned hand to the air in acknowledgement of the fans that clapped and chanted his name.

"Wow… he looks pretty tough," Anabel remarked, seated next to Wynter and frowning slightly.

"He is," Wynter nodded, folding his arms. "He's a Native American from the Vanguard region. He's the Gym Leader of Sky Point City, and he's an expert on Flying-types. His Wing Badge is the most sought-after Gym Badge in all of America; some people will forgo APL – American Pokémon League – tournaments just for the chance to beat this guy in a battle."

"He may be good, but just watch; Ash is better!" she shot back, trying to glare him down. Wynter merely shrugged and shifted in his seat, waiting for Ash to come out of his tunnel on the other side of the stadium. Suddenly, the doors disappeared into the wall, and Ash walked out onto the battlefield, to a chorus of impassioned cheers and applause from the stands. Anabel nearly deafened the spectators in the next row as she screamed at the top of her lungs and waved her hands in the air like a crazed fan-girl, but she wasn't paying attention to anyone but him.

"Greetings, young Ketchum," Warbird said politely, extending a hand as they met in the centre circle.

"Nice to meet you too, Warbird," Ash replied, grasping his hand firmly and shaking it. "Congratulations on making it this far in the Championships," he added with a cheeky grin.

"Yes, likewise to you," he smiled, showing a row of perfectly straight, white teeth. "The Pokémon spirits have drawn us through the past challenges to do battle here today."

"Pokémon spirits?" Ash repeated, clearly not following.

"Yes, the spirits of Pokémon that watch over we Trainers. Those with a strong Pokémon spirit will have a human spirit that can conquer any obstacles that come before them. Today we will see which of us has the stronger Pokémon spirit. The power of my aerial Pokémon, the strength of our focus, the will of our hearts… I hope that you come at us with everything you have!" he declared, fixing Ash in his crisp stare.

"Of course!" Ash rebuked, his hands forming fists as his eyes sparked with thirst for battle. "I give everything in every battle, and you're no exception! My Pokémon and I are united, and we'll overcome anyone who tries to stop our dreams!"

"That's good to know… a battle of valour, integrity and honour…" Warbird muttered, his eyes glinting. "Let us wait no longer, then," he said succinctly, nodding once at both Ash and Pikachu before about-facing and walking to the edge of the arena. Ash locked eyes with Pikachu, each sensing the impatience in the other, before nodding and heading for their own Trainer's box.

"This battle will be a full six-on-six battle!" shouted the referee, a slim teenage girl with bright purple hair. "Substitutions will not be allowed! Any Pokémon withdrawn from battle before being declared unable to battle will be disqualified! After a Trainer loses three Pokémon, there will be a ten-minute intermission! Understood?!" she called to Ash and Warbird.

"Yes."

"Let's do this!" Ash roared.

"_Pika!_"

"The arena type will now be determined!" she added, pointing her red and green flags at the screen on the other side of the stadium. A blur of different images flashed past each other so quickly that no-one could keep up, but all of a sudden it stopped on the picture of a mountain surrounded by smaller rocky hills, encircled with a red border. "The first half of this battle will be conducted on the Mountain Field!" she summarised.

_A Mountain field? Crap…_ Ash thought grimly, watching as the battlefield was split down the middle by a straight crack that slowly grew wider. _Mountains are gonna give Warbird the advantage early, because of his bird Pokémon… I'll just have to survive them and hope that I can gain the lead going into the intermission._ Soon, the whole arena was nothing more than a gaping black rectangle in the middle of the stadium, and Ash could hear the whirring of the gears below as the new stadium was raised into view. Two huge mounds of earth dominated the centre of the new field, split in the middle by a small valley and sloping steeply towards the ground, and here and there were more, smaller mounds of dirt – some flat-topped, others rounded – dotted around the corners.

"Ash Ketchum will summon the first Pokémon!" shouted the referee, aiming her red flag at Ash.

"Me?" he muttered, taking a PokéBall from his waist. "Excellent, let's not waste any time!"

"Go Ash! You can do it!" cheered Dawn and Anabel from opposite ends of their row.

"Sceptile, I choose you!" he shouted, hurling the PokéBall into the air. The PokéBall split open with a flash of white light, and Sceptile lightly jumped out and onto one of the flat-topped platforms on Ash's side of the battlefield, placing his customary twig between his teeth. The Forest Pokémon stretched his neck and flexed his fingers, his bushy tail sweeping against the back slope of the mound as both he and his Trainer waited for Warbird to choose his first Pokémon.

"And it looks like Ash has gone with a Grass-type to start his battle against Warbird! We didn't see much of this Sceptile in its debut appearance – it was knocked out with almost no effort at all by Dean Remington's Espeon in the first round!" Troy observed over the din of the crowd, laughing as he was given a glare by Sceptile. "But this Sceptile _certainly_ has some fight in it, so let's see how it fares against Warbird's first choice!"

"Now we begin," Warbird whispered to himself, taking his first PokéBall from his jacket's chest pocket and enlarging it. "Now… take flight, Xatu!" he bellowed, launching the PokéBall high.

With another burst of white light, a strange-looking Pokémon hopped onto a platform on the opposite side of the arena to Sceptile. It had a perfectly spherical green head, featureless except for a pair of staring black eyes that seemed to be painted on, and a long yellow beak that was hooked at the tip. On the other side of its head, two long, ribbon-like head feathers hung down from the back and reached past its neck, which was a spiky black row of feathers between the head and the rest of the body. Xatu's white wings were tipped with three grooves of red-and-black feathers, and there was a thin yellow marking outlined with red towards the wing joint. Two narrow, red eye-markings peered out from above the inward curve of the wings, and its talons were little more than a sharp clawed toe at the front of each foot.

"_Xaa—Xaa—!_" buzzed the Mystic Pokémon, spreading its wings wide and briefly revealing its belly, a black stripe running vertically across the centre, and two yellow bands at the edges of its mainly green feathers.

"Whoa, check it out…!" Dawn murmured, apparently in awe as she hastily retrieved her Pokédex and trained it on the fascinating Pokémon.

_Xatu, the Mystic Pokémon, the evolved form of Natu, _chimed the Pokédex in its robotic female voice. _Xatu is known to stand motionless while following the sun's movements all day long, and makes no noise from its meditation at sunrise until the next day. While commonly believed to possess the power to foresee the future, South American legends state that its right eye sees the future, while the left eyes views the past. Another belief is that Xatu remains still because of the terrible events it sees in its premonitions, while others believe that Xatu are emissaries from another planet._

"Sounds pretty mysterious," she commented, closing the Pokédex as she gazed at Xatu again. "If it can see the future, wouldn't that mean it knows what attacks Ash's Pokémon are gonna use?!"

"I think that's why Warbird's using his primary Pokémon to start the battle," Wynter noted, lazily flicking his fringe with a finger. "He must've met Ash before, otherwise he wouldn't send out his powerhouse right off the bat, though…" he added, pursing his lips.

"But Ash hasn't met him in his entire life!" May retorted. Wynter made an impassive face and pressed the tips of his fingers together, staring over them as he looked down upon the arena.

_Then this should be quite the spectacle…_ he thought, as the sound of the starting siren blared overhead and signalled the beginning of the battle.

"Sceptile, let's kick things off with a Sunny Day!" Ash ordered, taking the first opportunity to take advantage. A smirk formed on the corner of Sceptile's mouth as he pressed his clawed hands together, the leaves on his wrists glowing with white-orange light. With a roar, Sceptile threw his hands towards the sky and fired two jets of the light upwards, flying through the atmosphere as they travelled towards the sun burning above. Everyone in the stands groaned as the heat and humidity intensified instantly, making them duck under their hands and hats as the scorching air burned away at their skin.

"Ash said he'd be doing something like this early on," Misty said aloud, shielding her eyes with her arm. "Remember? He'd keep Warbird's Pokémon grounded with Sunny Day and knock them out with Sceptile's Solarbeam…"

"Well, it's working well so far," Anabel grinned. "Warbird's Xatu hasn't moved a muscle!" she added, pointing at the stationary Flying-type across the arena. Indeed, it hadn't even blinked since folding its wings upon being released from its PokéBall; it just stood there, watching Sceptile incessantly with its wide black eyes. The effect was unnerving not just on the spectators, because after a moment even the Forest Pokémon himself began to get irritated, and started gnashing his jaws with impatience, almost daring his foe to attack.

"Sceptile, blast Xatu with your Solarbeam!" Ash roared, pointing forwards.

"_Sceeeppp…_" seethed Sceptile, the bulbs on his back lighting up in sequence as they quickly absorbed the plentiful rays of the sun.

"A predictable strategy," Warbird muttered loudly, and Ash started in shock. "You try to force my Pokémon down to earth before striking from afar… do you know how many Trainers have tried to defeat me using the same base tactics?!" he asked, his voice rising to a thunderous rumble that echoed over the ground. "Xatu, halt that attack with Psychic!" he bellowed, unflinching as Sceptile launched the colossal beam of energy between the hills in the centre of the arena, disintegrating the bare edges of the slope as they whistled through the gap.

"_Xaatuu!_" cawed Xatu, spreading its wings wide again and becoming wrapped in ghostly blue light. Sceptile's Solarbeam wavered in midair before being covered in the same blue light surrounding Xatu, and it was cut short in its tracks before it had even come close to hurting the bird Pokémon; it just hung in the empty space in front of it, the rippling white light bending under the force of the Psychic attack, and Xatu still wasn't blinking as it effortlessly handled the strain of holding it in place.

"An excellent countermeasure by Warbird," Troy observed from the commentator's box. "Without using the advantage of flight, he ordered his Xatu to make good use of its psychic abilities to not only stop Sceptile's Solarbeam from damaging it, but he can now—"

"—Send it back to Sceptile! Show young Ketchum the folly of his overconfidence!" Warbird finished, and Xatu's eyes gleamed blue as it strengthened its grip on Sceptile's attack. The Solarbeam seemed to fold in on itself for a few brief moments, but all too quickly it was sent rocketing across the arena even faster than it had been fired by its creator, cleaving out another chunk of the two mountains on its way across the field.

"Sceptile, jump up onto the side of the left mountain!" Ash cried, gritting his teeth as his Pokémon's attack passed through the gap. Sceptile's eyes hardened as it pounced upwards and to the side, hissing as his Solarbeam grazed against the edge of his fern-like tail, but the rest of his body was unharmed as he touched down flawlessly on the cliffside, the sharp claws on his hands and feet locking him into place on the steeply sloping ground.

"A lucky escape by Sceptile!" Troy exclaimed, as the crowd roared with excitement. "As I'm sure the more knowledgeable viewers will be aware, Sceptile are one of the quickest ground-based Pokémon there are, on par with most Infernape, and Ash's Sceptile doesn't appear to be any exception to the rule. The only question now is whether speed is going to be enough to come out trumps against Warbird's most prized Pokémon," he wondered aloud, enticing the crowd to lean forwards even more.

"Now hit Xatu with a Bullet Seed!" shouted Ash, watching with fierce determination as Sceptile spewed forth a volley of glowing green projectiles from his mouth, pelting the ground as the Forest Pokémon homed his aim in on the Mystic Pokémon still perched motionlessly on the platform it had started on.

"Xatu, dodge with Teleport," Warbird countered calmly, his face empty of emotion as Xatu's form shimmered and faded in the bright morning light. By the time Sceptile's Bullet Seed pellets had blasted their way to Xatu's plateau, the Flying-type had already disappeared from view, leaving the tiny missiles to smash the rock-face into a million jagged pieces that clustered together in a broken wreck.

"No way!" Ash roared, his eyes widening.

"That Xatu's wicked fast!" Brock shouted in shock. "I can't even see where it Teleported to!"

"What did you expect?" Wynter called out from his seat, while Warbird's fans in the crowd rose to their feet and cheered. "I told you; this guy is one of the toughest Trainers in the Western hemisphere. That Xatu and he have trained in deserts for longer than Ash has been alive," he added casually.

"Hey, whose side are you on, anyways?!" Misty seethed, a nerve twitching in her temple as she rounded on him with fists drawn.

"I'm not on anyone's side, girly," he waved her off. "I just came here to watch a worthwhile battle. Speaking of which, you're missing the action," he pointed out patronisingly, crooking his finger towards the battlefield, where Sceptile, Ash and Pikachu were all looking wildly about for any sign of Xatu's reappearance.

"Come out and have your Pokémon fight like a real Trainer, coward!" Ash yelled, his anger boiling over. "Where's that _honour_ you were going on about before, eh?!"

"Fine," snapped Warbird, but there was a twitch at the corner of his mouth as he gave the smallest of smiles. "Xatu, reveal yourself with a Night Shade! Aim for Sceptile's right leg!" he commanded, and with a sudden gust of wind his Pokémon flashed into view from atop the right-hand mountain opposite its opponent. With a strangled, echoing warble, shadows began flickering across Xatu's feathered body, and a bolt of dark energy tore away from the eyes on its chest, spearing straight through the air and striking Sceptile on the right knee.

"Sceptile, no!" Ash gasped, watching in despair as Sceptile's legs buckled beneath him. The Grass-type lost his footing on the mountain and slid face-first down the harsh slope, mercifully coming to rest in the small valley between the two hills. Baring his teeth, Sceptile smashed his fists against the earth and got back to his feet, earning him a mass of roars from the spectators in the stands, and with a hint of a smirk he picked up his twig and stuffed it back into his mouth as he glared at the Xatu standing high above him.

"Are you okay, Sceptile?!" Ash asked worriedly, and his Pokémon gave him an assertive nod. "Good!" he cheered, pointing upwards at Warbird's Pokémon, "now let's try Solarbeam, one more time!"

"_Scep scep!_" growled the Forest Pokémon, his yellow bulbs glowing with energy as the pinprick of light formed in front of his gaping mouth. With another thunderous growl, his Solarbeam exploded forwards and streaked over the hillside, tearing up a shockwave of dirt as it shot at Xatu.

Warbird barely batted an eyelid as the light from the attack danced over his dark face. "Xatu, Teleport once more!" he roared, and Xatu faded away a split second before Sceptile's Solarbeam would have smashed into it, the beam of yellow-white light spearing over the open face of the mountain and flying into the atmosphere. Sceptile growled in frustration, and the crowd cheered, as Xatu's form flickered and reappeared in the middle of the valley between the two peaks, ruffling its wings nonchalantly.

"Sceptile, charge at Xatu!" Ash commanded, and Sceptile happily obliged at once by crashing forwards. The Forest Pokémon seemed to almost be floating on the air as it leapt from its platform, its feet skimming quickly over the uneven ground as it made its way towards the still-motionless Xatu in the middle of the field.

"Xatu, cut Sceptile down to size with an Air Cutter!" Warbird countered, choosing to at last go on the offensive. Xatu screeched and swung its green head around in a wide arc, the ribbon-feathers on the back of its head glowing pearly white. Three razor-sharp blades of air skewed out of the feathers and arced through the air, whistling dangerously and spinning in fast circles as they threatened to slice Sceptile in half as the latter charged closer.

"Sceptile, use Aerial Ace to dodge and strike!" Ash shouted, his eyes filling with panic. Sceptile's eyes widened at the sight of the incoming attack, and a streak of white light erupted from behind his tail as he changed direction and leapt for the sky. He could feel the edges of the Air Cutter blades as they passed underneath, but he ignored them as he shot forwards with the light still trailing behind him like the tail of a comet. At the last moment before colliding with Xatu, Sceptile spun his body around and slammed his tail into the foe, knocking it across the arena and sprawling over the rocky ground in front of Warbird.

"An amazing tactic by Ketchum!" cheered Troy, as Warbird's fans gasped in shock and Ash's fans roared with pleasure. "He used an Aerial Ace as a defensive manoeuvre against Xatu's Air Cutter, and still managed to turn it into an attack to land on Xatu!"

"Way to go, Ash!" chorused Misty, May, Dawn and Anabel, jumping up and down on the balls of their feet.

"Don't get ahead of yourselves, now," Wynter said, nonplussed. "That's only the first hit that Sceptile has landed on Xatu, and it's already used up two Solarbeam attacks before now. Sceptile's energy isn't going to last too long if Ash keeps trying to have it blast Xatu out of the battle," he muttered as he narrowed his eyes and turned his attention back to the battlefield.

"Great shot, Sceptile!" Ash shouted encouragingly, and Sceptile threw its head back with a cocky smirk as it stared down the Mystic Pokémon. "Now that they're going on the offensive, let's give 'em another Solarbeam!" he roared.

"And there he goes again…" Wynter sighed in a 'what-did-I-tell-you?' tone of voice, watching as Sceptile quickly powered up his Solarbeam in the blistering heat and light.

"Xatu, Teleport…" Warbird muttered, seemingly bored with the contest as Sceptile roared and blasted his attack across the field for the third time so far. Xatu cawed and disappeared into the air just as quickly, leaving the Solarbeam with nothing to do except travel on through the arena and smash itself into the boundary wall at the stadium's edge, denting the metal and imprinting a nasty black scorch mark.

"Damn!" Ash hissed, his expression twisting in frustration as Xatu reformed atop one of the hills, completely undamaged from the attack. _I've got to think of something else… but how can I hit it when it keeps Teleporting away?!_ he thought erratically, trying to split his thoughts between his Sceptile, what Warbird might be doing next, and coming up with a strategy to overcome his Xatu.

"Now, my friend," Warbird shouted suddenly, throwing his arm forwards, "now is the time to gain the upper hand! Hit Sceptile with your Psychic!"

"_Xaaaa!_" squawked the bird Pokémon, spreading its wings wide as its eyes became pools of blue light. Sceptile instinctively crouched and leapt high to avoid the assault, but he was too late; he had been frozen by Xatu's Psychic before his feet had even left the ground. Warbird smirked as Xatu lifted its foe high into the air, bringing the helpless Sceptile level with its body as the Grass-type growled and winced under the force of the attack.

"Throw it high and use Air Cutter one more time!" Warbird roared, and Xatu flicked Sceptile upwards without even so much as a flick of the head. Sceptile yelled in surprise as he was catapulted into the sky, spinning slowly as he came to the top of his climb and began to fall towards the ground. Xatu swung its head from side to side with head-feathers glowing, and two more cuts of spinning energy flew across the field to meet its foe head-on.

"Sceptile, get moving!" Ash warned, grimacing at the sight, and the sound, of the Air Cutter. "Nail Xatu with another Aerial Ace!"

Sceptile painfully opened his eyes to see the whistling blades of grey glinting in the sunlight, slicing through the air as they came towards him. He blocked the pain in his knee from Xatu's earlier Night Shade and kicked out into open space, his tail lighting up with a bright white glow. Xatu blinked in surprise, and Sceptile grinned savagely as he flew out above its attack, a comet-tail shining fiercely as the Forest Pokémon swooped down on Xatu and pummelled it with a telling blow across the head.

"_Scep!_" roared Sceptile, watching triumphantly as the Flying-type slid down the hillside and struggled to get back on its feet, but it ultimately failed as it fell into one of the gaps in the mountain that its foe's Solarbeam had torn, crashing into a small crook between two juts of rock. Xatu crowed angrily and spread its wings wide again, regaining its footing and flying out of the niche to one of the level spaces at the edge of the field.

"Xatu, are you alright?!" exclaimed Warbird, a bead of sweat settling in his brow. Xatu nodded its head and squawked edgily, and Sceptile ticked a claw against his chin in an effort to egg it on. Warbird hesitated for a fraction of a second, but then he saw that his opponent's Pokémon was panting heavily, and he decided to end things there and then with one final strike.

"Now! Let us take the first victory! Night Shade, my friend, with all your strength!" he bellowed fiercely, a wind whipping about him as though summoned by his cry.

"Come on, Sceptile!" Ash shouted warily, "We'll have to stop this or it'll spell trouble! Fire another Solarbeam!" he commanded.

Sceptile dug the claws on his feet into the mountaintop and spread his jaws wide, his bulbs shining as Xatu's wings flew out to the side whilst its eyes pulsed with dark light. Ash's Pokémon was the first to power up its attack, and with an almighty screech Sceptile blasted the intense beam of white-yellow towards his foe. Xatu responded within the blink of an eye, the sizzling black bolt of energy skewing from its body at all angles through the air to smash into the Solarbeam head on, kicking up a gust of tearing wind that ripped at Ash and Warbird at the ends of the battlefield.

"Good shot, Sceptile! Now push it back!" Ash encouraged, willing his Pokémon forwards with his mind. Sceptile's eyes focused on Xatu as he strengthened his Solarbeam, but Xatu's eyes flashed knowingly and, out of nowhere, a huge surge of energy streamed out from its wings to join the rest of its Night Shade. Ash's eyes widened with shock as the black bolt quickly overwhelmed his Pokémon's Solarbeam and smashed straight into Sceptile itself, launching him high into the air and away from his platform.

"Sceptile, _no_!"

Sceptile fell away as if in slow-motion, tracing a gentle arc over the sky as he was pulled down to the rocky ground. With a shuddering thud, he smacked limply into the arena and slid along it for a foot or so, before coming to a complete stop between Ash and the twin peaks. As Ash continued to stare in disbelief, the crowd quietened down to a tense hush as the referee raised her green flag towards the victorious Xatu.

"Sceptile is unable to battle!" she declared, and the crowd exploded with both cheers for Warbird and Xatu, and jeers for Sceptile at having been beaten in such a seemingly easy way. Ash bit his lip in frustration as he raised his fallen Pokémon's ball, murmuring words of encouragement as Sceptile was returned to its depths before clipping it to his belt.

"And Warbird has taken the early lead in this battle with a decisive and destructive Night Shade!" Troy shouted from his spot in the skybox. "Ash let himself down there by continuously ordering Sceptile to use Solarbeam; even with the assistance of Sunny Day, he drained his Pokémon of too much power and allowed Warbird to just swoop in for the kill, so to speak! What will he send out to combat Warbird's chief Pokémon?" he asked rhetorically, earning a round of agitated speculation from the crowd; in particular, Ash's friends as their eyes flicked from Ash to Warbird to Xatu.

"He does raise a good point, that Troy," Wynter mused, glancing at the nearest speakerphone. "What kind of Pokémon does Ash have on him at the moment?"

"He has Pikachu, Sceptile, and a Chimchar, Totodile, Staravia. Oh, and a Nosepass he caught yesterday…" Max muttered quietly. "Sceptile is – rather, _was_ – the only Pokémon on his team to have evolved and had practice battling… I only just realised that just this moment…"

"So he's got four unevolved Pokémon – one of which he hasn't had for twenty-four hours," Wynter repeated, "and a Staravia he rarely battles with?" He laughed derisively. "Man, how he even made it to the fifth-round is starting to surprise me…" he added, tittering and shaking his head.

"That's not really a fair way of looking at it…" Brock muttered.

"Sure it is!" countered Wynter. "I mean, if the guy's not going to let his Pokémon evolve and hit their full power, then why bother? I mean—" he shook his head again, "it kinda defeats the purpose, don't you think?"

"Keep shaking your head, and I'll make sure you lose it, Wynter," Leoric grunted, jerking his head towards Ash. "From the battles I've seen Ash in, having lots of evolved Pokémon and power isn't all that significant. His Cyndaquil beat a Metagross and an Infernape only yesterday, mind you."

"A stroke of pure luck, I'm willing to say."

"Well _I'm_ willing to say that _you_ are a—!"

"Would you two just shut up?!" Anabel seethed, reaching across Wynter to try and smack Leoric in the head, having already hit the former on the way through with an elbow.

"Sorry…" they both muttered obediently.

"Summon your next Pokémon so that we may continue our battle, young Ketchum!" Warbird boomed. He tilted his head slightly to the side, but gave no other sign of impatience as Ash pondered over his next choice; he had learned years ago from experience that a level head was the best weapon a Trainer could have in a battle like this.

"Gladly!" Ash fired back, his face set as he tore a PokéBall from his belt and enlarged it. "Chimchar, I choose you!"

The PokéBall was hurled across the field, and with a flash of white, his small red primate of a Pokémon bounded out and rested his knuckles on the battlefield, howling loudly at the Mystic Pokémon on the other side of the arena. Ash glared as a laugh escaped from Warbird, the latter clearly thinking that Chimchar was a poor choice of Pokémon, and the Chimp Pokémon beat his chest in defiance, the flames on his rear burning fiercely.

"_Chim chim char!_" he snarled, and Xatu looked down at it emotionlessly from its perch.

"Chimchar used to belong to Paul," Brock informed Wynter, "but he released it after a while, so Ash took Chimchar in and raised it."

"So… this little fire-wire was Paul's, but Ash has it now… well, this certainly should be something to watch," he admitted, leaning forwards to take an interest.

"Chimchar, move forwards and use Flamethrower!" Ash ordered. Chimchar's cheeks swelled up in an instant, and it blasted an unbearably hot stream of fire from its jaws, sizzling the air with the aid of Sceptile's Sunny Day as it shot towards Xatu on the other end of the battlefield.

"Xatu, Teleport," Warbird muttered calmly, unfolding his arms and letting them fall limply to the sides of his leather jacket. Ash swore in frustration as Xatu flickered away and disappeared into nothingness just before Chimchar's Flamethrower tore through. Chimchar gasped in amazement as the fire gave way to the thin air, and before it had time to blink the Mystic Pokémon had reformed itself only feet away, directly in front with wings spread and eyes glaring.

"Another graceful dodge by Xatu!" Troy remarked, to a round of cheers from the audience. "Ash's tactics are really proving to be ineffective, and—what's this?—it looks like Sceptile's Sunny Day has finally worn away," he added, and indeed the sky seemed to dim at his words, rendering the stadium in what seemed to everyone to be a relative half-light.

"Why don't you stop having your Xatu Teleport away to hide, eh?!" Ash seethed, his temper boiling away as he pointed an accusing finger at his opponent. "You're just running away from the challenge, instead of taking things head-on!"

"And yet _you're_ the one who's had a Pokémon fall, not me," Warbird barked in reply. The comment earned Ash a chorus of jeers from the crowd, but Warbird silenced most of them with a wave of the hand. "As a Gym Leader, I know that strategising will triumph when traded with powerful blows. You're running from the challenge by using the same basic tactics, and it's disappointing to see! I sense your Pokémon spirit, and it amazes me that it watches over a Trainer like you, who can only think one-dimensionally!" he growled as his eyes narrowed.

"Personally, I don't see what Ash is complaining about…" Misty commented, watching Ash and Warbird continue their verbal battle whilst their Pokémon stood and eyed each other off. "I mean, all those Teleports must be draining a lot of Xatu's energy."

"I agree with Misty," Max added. "And I think Warbird knows that, too. He's only had Xatu Teleport to avoid long-range attacks, and so Sceptile managed to sneak in at close-range and hit it twice with Aerial Ace."

"Chimchar's gonna need to get in Xatu's face early and score some decent hits, or else it's gonna end up just like Sceptile," Leoric mused.

"Xatu, show Ketchum the fruits of our training with another Night Shade!" Warbird cried, and Xatu's eyes shone with liquid black.

"Chimchar, get out of the—!" Ash began, but Xatu had already fired the dark bolt of energy from its wingtips. Before Ash could say 'way', the Night Shade smashed into Chimchar and blasted it across the field, and Chimchar gritted its teeth and dug its fingers into the ground as it slid, gouging out ten jagged long lines in the field as it stopped just short of the boundary wall.

"Are you alright, Chimchar?!" Ash yelled. Chimchar bunched its hands into fists and smacked them into the ground, which he took to be a thorough 'yes'. "Good! Counter with Fire Spin!" he roared.

Chimchar nodded and puffed up its cheeks again, leaping high into the sky. As all eyes focused on the tiny patch of orange fur amidst the blue, the Chimp Pokémon exploded with flames that swirled around its body in all directions. The fire licked at the stands, heating the boundary wall so much that it seared to touch, and all at once the massing blaze focused itself and flew towards Xatu, a colossal spiral of red and yellow that roared with a life of its own.

"Xatu, fly and swing around to avoid that Fire Spin!" Warbird shouted. The Psychic-type nodded once and leapt into the air, flicking its wings out and soaring just wide of the incoming assault, but Brock's keen eyes from the stands saw its eyes flinch in pain as the flames reared at its belly feathers, and Ash saw it too.

"Chimchar, adjust your aim!"

Chimchar's eyes glinted yellow in the light of its Fire Spin as it heard Ash roar his command, and it shifted its sights to the right on the gliding Mystic Pokémon heading its way. With a move of the head, the column of flames swung in a blazing arc through the air and struck Xatu on the top of its wing. With a strangled caw, Xatu spiralled sideways, blown about by the power of the attack, and it hit the ground at full force with its wingtip still smoking.

"_Chimchar! Chimchar! Chimchar!_" chanted the crowd, tens of thousands of voices swelling and rising over each other as Chimchar hopped about on the spot.

"Xatu, get up!" Warbird barked, his eyes hardening. "Psychic, now!" he ordered, and Xatu had no sooner regained its feet than its body was lined with blue light. Chimchar was taken completely off-guard, and it was quickly trapped in place as Xatu held it down with its psychic power.

"Fight it, Chimchar! Try and knock it away with Focus Energy!" Ash yelled, edging forwards in his Trainer box with concern.

"_Chi… chim…!_" growled the tiny Fire-type, wincing and struggling against its invisible bonds. Its eyes were engulfed in white light as the rest of its body tensed up then suddenly relaxed, and the stands fell into a breathless lull as they waited for what was going to happen next. Slowly, but surely, the Chimp Pokémon could feel the biting power of its foe's Psychic disappearing, and it broke away from it all with a howl, throwing its arms out wide and raising its head to the sky to throw the weight of the attack off its body.

"_Chimchar!_" screeched Chimchar, and Warbird's eye ticked as it beckoned at Xatu with a hand.

"Teach that arrogant monkey a lesson with Night Shade!" he boomed to his Pokémon.

"_Xa!_" crowed Xatu, sending another hot blast of darkness across the arena at Chimchar.

"Chimchar, Dig!" Ash commanded. He watched with one eye as the Night Shade sizzled closer, and he gave a huge sigh of relief as Chimchar ducked underground just in time, the black bolt passing harmlessly over its simian head and dissipating on the boundary wall.

"A lucky escape by Ash's Chimchar!" shouted Troy, just as Warbird's supporters echoed with groans of disappointment. "That Night Shade looked ready to tear straight through Chimchar! The only problem is that Ash will have a tough time using that defensive move as an attack; we all know that Dig is a Ground-based attack, and Xatu are Flying-types!"

"Just wait and see how I turn it into an attack," Ash muttered to himself, smirking as Chimchar remained hidden underneath the surface of the arena. His eyes flicked over to see Warbird slowly becoming more and more frustrated with the passing time, but he wasn't about to ruin his surprise attack by moving first.

"You accuse me of cowardice by hiding away, and now you scuttle beneath the field and seek refuge?!" he bellowed, his dark hands forming fists. "Hypocrite! Xatu, blast that hole to smithereens with your Night Shade!" he roared.

Xatu complied at once, using its powers to speed across the field and levitate itself just above the small circle of black where Chimchar had disappeared. With another buzz of a cry, its eyes became pools of black as another powerful blast of energy shot from its body, spearing straight down into the hole. There was a moment of silence as the Night Shade snaked its way into the hole and out of sight, but then there was a quaking rumble in the ground as the space all around the hole exploded, showering the sky and half the arena with chunks of dirt, rock and dust.

Ash squinted and covered his face with his arm as the wind from the attack tore past he and Pikachu, and the crowd roared with excitement as the cloud of beige-coloured debris settled on the battlefield. He gritted his teeth as he saw the round chasm that looked like an enormous pockmark in the face of the arena, but he knew in his heart that Chimchar had dug away from that spot long before Warbird had ordered his Pokémon to attack; and Warbird knew it too, for he crossed his arms as Xatu continued to hover above the hole.

"_Now!_" Ash screamed.

With a battle cry, Chimchar burst upwards from the top of the western mountain towering over the rest of the field. Warbird swore in amazement and anger as the Fire-type threw itself from the rocky peak and loosed an intense Flamethrower from its jaws, the red jet cannoning into Xatu and pushing it down towards the inky blackness of the canyon below them.

"Xatu, no!" Warbird roared, unfolding his arms and stepping to the edge of his box. "Counter with Teleport!"

"Chimchar, full power!" Ash shouted in reply. Before Xatu could summon the energy to use its own attack, Chimchar blew an even fiercer fire from its body, the blasting Flamethrower pummelling Xatu into the ground just shy of the chasm with a loud bang. As the Chimp Pokémon touched down firmly on land, Xatu was unmoving in a self-shaped crater dug into the battlefield, swirls in its eyes as it lay spread-eagled and still.

"Xatu is unable to battle!" shouted the referee, brandishing her red flag. Ash, Pikachu and Chimchar all jumped into the air with joy at the declaration, and the fans in the stands echoed their thoughts with gusto, filling the air with the sounds of their claps, cheers and whistles.

"He may not know what he's going up against, but he seems to know what he's doing, eh?" Wynter chuckled, but he was clapping as hard as the people on either side of him as Warbird grudgingly returned his Xatu to its PokéBall.

"What did I tell you?" Anabel said, loud and proud. "Ash can beat anyone!"

"Still… you guys _did_ say that it used to belong to that Paul, so I can't imagine Ash did _all_ the work," Wynter said earnestly.

"Can you just admit that Ash did a good job?! Without an if, but, or a maybe?!" Anabel hissed, and she puffed out her cheeks in anger as Wynter shook his head nonchalantly and leaned back into his seat.

"Amazing! Astounding! Simply awesome!" Troy shrieked, leaping up from his seat as he got caught up in the excitement. "Even though his Sceptile was easily accounted for in the first stage of the battle, Ash was able to turn things around with his Chimchar! The use of ranged attacks to force Xatu into Teleporting; I'd say that's not something many Trainers have been able to pull off against Warbird's top Pokémon! But Ash did it with aplomb, and it's levelled the scores at one apiece!"

"I must admit, Ash, I was disappointed by your initial efforts," Warbird muttered, eyeing Chimchar. "I thought that you were not worthy of having such a Pokémon watching over you… I should not have underestimated your abilities or your Pokémon. But—" his lip curled into a smile, "that is not a mistake I will make again. So now, you'll have to be able to keep up with the rest of my flying Pokémon…!" he added, taking a PokéBall from his belt.

"Young Ketchum, let's see how you fare against this!" he shouted, throwing the ball into the sky.

The PokéBall flashed with white light as the Pokémon within dropped out and flew gracefully across the air. The glaring light of the sun was reflected off the Pokémon's shiny grey wings as it landed on the eastern mountaintop, and from where it stood it looked like a bird made of white light, such was the lustre of its body. The Pokémon's entire body was covered in metallic, hard armor, and a large head-crest adorned the top of the Pokémon. Its wings had red undersides, and it ruffled them against its body with the sound of scraping iron as it dug its three-spiked talons into the hard ground below.

"That's a Skarmory, right…?" Max said aloud, scratching his cheek. "What's Warbird doing sending a Steel-type out against a Fire-type?"

"Skarmory?" Dawn repeated, and May nodded in reply, grabbing her Pokédex and showing her blue-haired friend the Pokémon's entry.

_Skarmory, the Armor Bird Pokémon. Skarmory are encased in iron-hard armour, but are able to top out at speeds close to one hundred and ninety miles an hour. Their wings become hard after growing up in thorny bramble bushes, and once a year its steel wings regrow completely to repair the bruising and battering that result from battling. The wingtips possess swordlike edges that are commonly used to strike down prey._

"That sounds… scary…" Dawn gulped. May nodded bracingly as she returned her Pokédex to her pocket, and both of them turned their attention back to the battlefield.

"Now that's a nice Skarmory," Ash commented, shielding his eyes from the reflective glare of the Steel-type. "But don't think that's gonna change anything!"

"I wouldn't expect it to," Warbird chuckled. "Skarmory," he barked, "take to the sky!"

"_Skaaaaaa!_" screeched the Armor Bird Pokémon, spreading its wings and flapping them, soaring into the open air and circling twenty or so feet above Chimchar's head.

"Chimchar, let's put our type advantage to good use!" Ash shouted to his Pokémon, who nodded in reply. "Hit Skarmory with a Flamethrower!"

"_Chim!_" grunted Chimchar, blasting a hot stream of flames from its mouth and into the sky towards its foe.

"Skarmory, defend yourself! Hide within a Sandstorm!" Warbird commanded, just as the flames came within range of his Flying-type. Skarmory gave a grating crow of a noise and spiralled away from the Flamethrower, the speed of its wings blowing the attack to shreds as it dived towards Chimchar, who was standing stranded on the battlefield. Chimchar took a battle stance to ready itself, but Skarmory wasn't interested in it for the moment; instead, it barrel-rolled through the gap in the two mountains in the arena's centre, blowing up a torrent of dirt and dust behind it.

"Chimchar, get to the edge of the field!" Ash commanded, and Chimchar began to hop from platform to platform, making sure not to cross Skarmory's path as the latter continued to duck and weave about.

"_Skar skar!_" cawed Skarmory, flapping its wings once. All at the same time, twisters of dust appeared in the middle of the arena and converged on each other, forming a massive sandstorm that blocked out Warbird's side of the field from Ash's vision, including the Flying-type itself as it hovered amongst the sandy-coloured gale.

_Damn, another Sandstorm,_ Ash thought dejectedly. _Well, I survived through a Sandstorm when I battled Kaiden in the second round, so this shouldn't be much harder… _he remembered, thinking about how his Grotle had taken down Kaiden's Hippowdon in the final half of their interrupted battle. _I'll have to force Skarmory to call its attack off somehow… but how can Chimchar and I do _that_?!_

"Too slow, young Ketchum!" Warbird barked, his voice sounding scratchy from the other side of the storm. "Skarmory, Steel Wing at once!"

"Chimchar, look out!" Ash warned, and Chimchar narrowed its eyes to glare into the face of the swirling mass of dirt in front of it. For what seemed like a long time, there was only the sight and sound of the dusty wind whipping around the stadium. Then, from the bottom of the twister, there was a tiny flicker of white light, and a split second later Skarmory speared out of the Sandstorm with its wings spread wide and flashing with white light.

"_Skaaaaaaaaa!_" screeched the Pokémon, its beak opened cruelly as it seared past Chimchar and sent it sprawling with the full face of its wing. The crowd groaned and hissed inwardly as the tiny Chimp Pokémon bounced three times across the surface of the field before coming to a rest, but Ash's supporters rang with cries of joy as Chimchar dug its hands into the ground and pushed itself upright, its eyes burning with all kinds of fire as it looked up at Skarmory just before losing sight of it in the Sandstorm.

"A hit and run…" Ash whispered to himself, his hand forming a fist at his side.

"Now it seems that I've regained my rightful advantage, young Ketchum!" Warbird cried from beyond the twister. "My underestimations cost me my Xatu, but Skarmory will tear away at your Pokémon piece by piece until your chances are as buried as the ground beneath this storm! What say you, that you can best what you can't see or stop?!" he demanded, folding his arms again and looking at the spot where he knew Ash to be.

_He's right,_ Ash admitted, rage filling his veins. _I can't get to that Skarmory as long as it has a Sandstorm for cover… but if I can't see or hit his Pokémon, how am I to supposed to counter it?!_

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Credit goes to Phillip Clark for his OC submission of Warbird.**

***This is the first time that Dean (Ash's **_**other**_** first-round opponent) has had his surname used. Remington is from the gun make, and is a fifth-wall reference to another character named Dean who shares a last name with firearms.**

**Quiz:**

***What was the episode in which Dawn's Buneary made her debut appearance, and how did she develop her crush on Ash's Pikachu?**

* * *

**Okay, here it was; the start of the long-awaited fifth-round battle! And on that note, it was the longest chapter I've written to date, barring the Christmas special. More than 10,000 words! That's over 9000!!!! Sorry, couldn't help myself.**

**For those who don't know who Dean Remington is a reference to, then there's a supernatural TV show you should watch, wink wink.**

**Be sure to vote in the pairing poll, since they'll decide the first five chapters of "Love Always" when I start to publish it sometime later this year.**

**Check the forums. The WPC forum is still active and receiving regular posts, and I've also put in a new forum, RantSpace. The name explains itself, so be sure to check it out if you're a bit hot under the collar about something.**

**Chapter 78 (Weathering Heights) will be published this time next week, on June 5th! So until then...**

**Don't forget to review!!! Seriously, please!!!**


	78. Weathering Heights

**CHAPTER 78 – WEATHERING HEIGHTS**

_Come on, Ash, you can think of something!_ Ash willed to himself, looking on with steely eyes at the huge cloud of sand and dirt in front of him. He knew that Warbird's Skarmory was hiding somewhere inside, completely safe from his Chimchar's attacks, and he also knew that it could swoop out at any second for an attack of its own. _Okay, let's think laterally here for a moment…_

"Ash is really in trouble with this one," Brock commented from the stands, his face filled with worry. "Skarmory's Steel-typing makes it invulnerable to the effects of the Sandstorm, so it could stay in there for as long as it wants to. Chimchar can't go inside without taking some damage from the winds, so it has to wait on the edge of the arena—"

"Which just goes to point out what I said earlier," Wynter interrupted, scratching at his ear lazily. "Warbird's one of the best Trainers in America. What were you expecting?" he added with a cocky laugh that earned him a round of scowls from the girls.

"Try a Fire Spin!" Ash roared, pointing at the heart of the twister. Chimchar blasted a swirling thread of golden flames across the field, but as it came closer to the Sandstorm, Skarmory gave a howling screech, and the winds surrounding the storm doubled in speed. The sandstorm swelled outwards and seemed to snatch at Chimchar's attack, swallowing it whole and devouring it before it could reach the Armor Bird Pokémon hidden within.

"A well-intended attempt, but pointless," Warbird said calmly, his mouth twitching into a smile as Ash gritted his teeth. "But now our fun ends. Skarmory, another of our Steel Wing techniques!" he ordered. There was another harsh cry from within the haze of dust, and the spiralling sand moved across the field as though it had a life of its own, Skarmory still perfectly safe within its core as it tore across the ground towards Chimchar.

There was a gleam of white, and the Steel-type burst out of its protective cover with a shower of dirt, spinning along its wings as it made a beeline for its foe. One short second later, Skarmory slashed its sickle-like wingtips across Chimchar's body, criss-crossing over its chest and knocking it across the field. The Chimp Pokémon crumpled onto the ground in a heap, but the crowd roared with excitement as it slowly struggled to its feet. But by the time the Fire-type had regained its balance and turned its attention to its foe, the latter had already retreated back into the confines of its Sandstorm, executing another hit-and-run perfectly.

"This… is a problem…" Dawn winced. "Ash can't _touch_ that Skarmory…"

"Told you so," Wynter said in a sing-song voice, watching intently as the two Trainers soundlessly watched the spiralling storm in the middle of the arena.

_I need to keep Skarmory from getting me with those surprise attacks… _Ash thought, his eyes scanning the winds for any hint that could help him. _Hmm… maybe if… _"Chimchar, use Focus Energy!" he shouted at last. "Stay alert for any extra movements in the Sandstorm!"

"_Chim,_" muttered Chimchar, tensing its body as a spark of white light burst into its eyes. It set its sights on the swirling maze of dull orange and brown in the centre of the arena, turning the focus of all its senses onto what was within. It wasn't long before the Chimp Pokémon picked up on the rhythm of the howling winds, and it saw the faintest of shadows atop one of the mountains obscured by the Sandstorm.

"_Chim! Chimchar char!_" it squeaked, turning its head to Ash and pointing at the storm. Ash looked at his Pokémon, puzzled, before the message finally got through to him.

_Oh, so Skarmory's just sitting on the mountaintops!_ he groaned silently. "Chimchar, move a bit further away from the Sandstorm and keep an eye on those peaks!" he commanded, watching as Chimchar hopped back onto the furthermost platform on the battlefield.

"Damnit, we've been spotted…!" Warbird hissed, shocked that his tactic had been found out at all, albeit so quickly. "Then I can't rely on it anymore," he admitted, grudgingly. "Skarmory, let down the storm, but move in for a second Steel Wing!"

"You're letting down your Sandstorm?!" Ash shouted, watching as the wall of dust seemed to shiver in on itself. "Why?!"

"Because there is no point using strategies that your opponents have deduced!" Warbird explained. Between the two Trainers, the howling winds began to quieten down as, all at once, the massive twister fell to the ground with the sound of pouring rain, sending clouds of dust rocketing to the sides of the field. "Relying on such tactics will only lead to defeat!" he roared, and out of the clouds came his Skarmory, screeching fit to tear the sky in two as it flew at Chimchar.

"Chimchar, dodge it!" Ash screamed, eyeing the glowing edges of the Flying-type's wings. Chimchar tensed to throw itself out of the way, but at the same time its foe flicked its wings so that the feathers came apart from each other, and began to spin like a torpedo through the air. As the Fire-type launched itself to the left, Skarmory's knife-like wings came within a hair of its side as it rolled past.

"Now use a Flamethrower!" Ash shouted.

"Evade!" Warbird roared, and Chimchar's cheeks swelled up as it blasted fire at Skarmory, who was still spinning through the air like a corkscrew. The Armor Bird Pokémon suddenly braked and wheeled in mid-air, banking steeply towards the open air as it felt the Flamethrower licking at its lone tail-feather. Skarmory hissed in pain as the flames smashed into its rear, but it put on an extra spurt of speed with its wings and flew clear of the attack, turning around to face Chimchar and screeching at it again.

"A good counterattack by Ash and Chimchar!" yelled Troy, watching from his view in the skybox. "He managed to deduce Warbird's Sandstorm tactic and flush Skarmory out! It was a risky move, having Chimchar dodge Skarmory's Iron Corkscrew – a technique we've seen cut opponents down to size in seconds in previous rounds! – but to hit it with a Flamethrower moments afterwards shows how much conviction Ash has for this battle!"

"Fire Spin, Chimchar!" Ash ordered, pointing up at the Steel-type hovering above its head.

"Counter with Dark Pulse!" Warbird snarled.

Skarmory opened its jaws wide and charged a spinning, swarming mass of dark circles in front of it, and Chimchar beat its fists against its chest as the flames on its rear flared into the air. The Chimp Pokémon was the first to launch its attack, a huge twisting line of flames that threw themselves at Skarmory, but before they could reach their target, the latter blasted them with its Dark Pulse.

The beam of purple rings shot out to meet Chimchar's attack head-on, and the result was a huge explosion that destroyed the Fire Spin and most of Skarmory's attack itself. But out of the smoke, a few surviving pulses whirred down onto the ground, smashing into the platform all around Chimchar and blasting it high with the shockwave that followed.

"Chimchar?!" Ash cried, watching his Pokémon get flung into the sky.

"Skarmory, strike with Sky Attack!" Warbird bellowed, throwing his arm forwards. Skarmory clicked its tongue and soared even higher into the air, wisps of bright light forming at the edges of its wings. As the Steel-type reached the height of its climb, the light had spread to cover its entire body, cloaking it in a blinding veil just as Chimchar, too, started falling back down to earth.

"Defend yourself, Chimchar! Use Flamethrower to push yourself away!" Ash roared. Chimchar snapped its eyes open and tried to right itself in mid-air, but already it could hear the rush of wind as Skarmory sped towards it like a bullet. _Come on!_ he thought desperately, and Chimchar twisted itself around to face its foe, spewing a jet of flames at it.

"_Skaa!_" shrieked the comet that was Warbird's Pokémon. Chimchar's Flamethrower swallowed it whole, but it did nothing to stop it; rather, it made Skarmory look like a falling meteor as it tore through the flames and launched itself into the Chimp Pokémon. Chimchar howled in pain as it was catapulted across the sky and the battlefield, cannoning into the wall at the stadium's edge with a loud thump before pitching forwards onto the bumpy ground.

"Chimchar, no!" Ash exclaimed, but his Pokémon was already unconscious.

"Chimchar is unable to battle!" shouted the referee, with a wave of her green flag at Warbird and Skarmory. The crowd went wild with noises of joy and disdain, and the only ones who weren't talking were the ones down on the field; Ash was staring open-mouthed at his motionless Chimchar, trying to digest what had just happened, and Warbird was unblinkingly gazing into the sky for some unknown reason.

"That was some Sky Attack, eh?" Wynter chuckled, glancing over at Brock and Dawn.

"If you're going to sit with us, start supporting Ash and stop praising this guy!" Max hissed, and Leoric showed his agreement by slapping Wynter in the back of the head.

"Hey, be thankful we're not tearing your ears off," Misty growled, with a wink at Max.

"Yeah, or having my Croagunk use Poison Jab on you," Brock added warningly. Wynter understood the message and nodded slowly, swallowing to get rid of the uncomfortable lump in his throat.

"Uh—duly noted…" he said, flashing a fake smile as he sank lower in his seat. "Er, go Ash, go…?" he muttered, weakly thumping the air with a fist.

"Much better," said Anabel, beaming as she turned her attention back to Ash, who had just recalled Chimchar to its PokéBall with a flash of red light. _I wonder what Pokémon he's going to send out next…_

"Well, it's time for you to make your way onto the world stage, buddy," Ash muttered, speaking to the PokéBall now resting on his palm. "I know we haven't known each other very long, but I trust you, so do me proud."

"_Pika chu,_" nodded Pikachu, hanging onto his Trainer's shoulder.

"Come on out, Nosepass!" Ash shouted, hurling the PokéBall into the air. The ball split open with a burst of white light, and his Compass Pokémon dropped out and thudded noisily onto the ground, flexing its stubby arms about as it enjoyed its freedom.

"An unwise move, young Ketchum…" Warbird tittered, watching the Rock-type coldly. "A poor type matchup. And Nosepass won't have a Tentacool's chance in Orre of keeping up with my Skarmory's speed!"

"We'll just see what happens then, alright?!" Ash retorted angrily, his eyes smouldering at his opponent, who merely grunted a chuckle in reply.

"We certainly will," he mused, before snapping his head upwards to look at Skarmory, who was roosting atop one of the mountain peaks. "Skarmory, let's begin this phase of our battle with another Steel Wing! Go!" he commanded, and Skarmory took off at once, its wings already beginning to shine with energy.

"Nosepass—!" Ash began, but he drew nothing from his mind as he tried to think of an order to give. "Uh—! Man, I should have checked its att—!" he yelled to himself, but all of a sudden the Compass Pokémon's great red nose lit up with light, its owner standing firm – not that it had much choice – as Skarmory dove closer towards it.

Skarmory's wings glowed full with light, and it flicked its wings wide open once more in preparation for another of its 'Iron Corkscrew' techniques. But just as it started to spin, it began accelerating uncontrollably, and it squawked with alarm as it smashed against Nosepass, having been sucked in by the latter's Magnet Pull ability. Warbird swore in alarm, and Ash looked on, stupefied, as Nosepass grunted happily.

"Nosepass, what—?! I said '_Man, I should_', not _Magnet_ _Pull_!" he exclaimed. "But good work!" he conceded with a sheepish grin, and Nosepass grunted again. Skarmory desperately tried to break itself free from its foe's grasp, but Nosepass' magnetism was so strong that they might as well have been super-glued together. "Hit Skarmory with your best Shock Wave!" he yelled, remembering his Pokémon use the same attack to stop Sceptile's Bullet Seed yesterday.

"Skarmory, get the hell out of there!" Warbird barked, his eyes widening, as Nosepass was engulfed in a pale bluish light.

"_Nooooozzzz… paaassss!_" boomed Ash's Pokémon, and in the blink of an eye it sent its Shock Wave coursing straight through Skarmory's body, making the Flying-type jerk about as the electricity blasted every inch of it. The crowd gasped in unison, the pulsing blue light sending shadows dancing over their faces, until Nosepass, at last, stopped its attack and switched off its magnetism, allowing Skarmory to slide limply onto the ground in a crumpled heap.

"S-Skarmory is… unable to bat-tle…!" stammered the referee, raising a shaking hand towards Ash and Nosepass. Ash punched the air with surprised relief, and Nosepass bounced up and down on the spot with the announcement, as the crowd got over their initial shock and exploded with more noise, seeming to find their voices again after the extremely short exchange that had just occurred.

"That's impossible!" Wynter shouted, half-getting to his feet. "What—? How d—?! I thought you said he'd only caught that Nosepass yesterday!" he hissed, rounding on Max, who was too busy applauding Ash to notice the glares he was receiving.

"What can we say; Ash has a knack for bringing out a Pokémon's potential," Anabel said smarmily, smirking at the gaping expression on his face. "I told you to support Ash, but you had to doubt him," she added, poking her tongue out at him as he retook his seat.

"Hmm… so, we're back to four Pokémon apiece…" Warbird murmured, recalling Skarmory back to its PokéBall as he frowned at Nosepass. "That Pokémon… a worrisome thing to counter… but, no matter…" He nodded his head and clipped Skarmory's ball to his belt as he reached for the one next to it, rolling it between his fingers before enlarging it. "I'd put that one down to sheer luck, good for you and bad for me, young Ketchum!" he shouted to Ash, but the latter picked up on the hint of a laugh in his rough tone.

"_Very_ lucky," Ash whispered to himself and Pikachu.

"But you'll need far more than luck to go into the break with a lead of any sorts!" Warbird fired, tossing the PokéBall onto the ground in front of him. "Arise, my Pokémon!" he declared, and the PokéBall burst open with white light as a shape formed from within.

"If only Ash had his Pidgeot with him," Misty muttered knowingly to Brock, who grunted inaudibly as the Pokémon became visible. It was a fearsome-looking bird Pokémon, with a pink beak that pointed outwards like a sword, in front of two narrow black eyes that were perched underneath a crest of spiky red head-feathers. Its neck snaked out like a vulture's, and the span of its wings looked like a great, brown canopy that blocked out every scrap of sunlight shining down from above. The Pokémon flexed its small pink talons, spread its wings wide and flapped them once as a test of strength, kicking up an enormous spire of dust that showered Ash and Nosepass from across the field.

"What's this about Ash and a Pidgeot?" Dawn asked curiously as she trained her Pokédex on the Pokémon Warbird had just summoned.

_Fearow, the Beak Pokémon, the evolved form of Spearow,_ said the Pokédex, showing a small picture as it did. _Fearow are easily distinguished by their long necks and beaks, which are used to deftly pluck insects and other prey out of soil and water. The beak has a surprisingly long reach, and so is treated with caution even by those who tame them. Its magnificent wingspan allows it to fly indefinitely without ever having to come down and rest. Fearow have been known to unexpectedly plummet down from the sky to attack, using their beaks as drills to strike their prey._

"Certainly lives up to its name, doesn't it, ladies?" Wynter chuckled. "I mean—Nosepass lives up to its name—as well, so I wasn't, uh…" he trailed off under the murderous stares directed at him. "I should probably just shut up now, shouldn't I?" he sighed, hanging his head and slipping back into his seat again.

"Fearow, take flight!" Warbird cried, and Fearow screeched as it beat its huge wings and soared into the sky, blotting out the sun as it hovered above the people in the stands. "Let us begin with a Steel Wing!" he commanded, his Beak Pokémon squawking as it launched itself forwards effortlessly, swooping down from over the mountaintops as its wings glowed white with light.

"Nosepass, try using Magnet Pull again!" Ash shouted encouragingly, and Nosepass happily obliged. Its nose lit up at once, and Fearow could immediately feel the force it was exerting as its Magnet Pull locked onto its wings, trapping them in place and sucking them towards it for another combination move like the one that had dispatched Skarmory.

"Excellent, now hit Fearow with a Power Gem!" Ash yelled, an eager grin on his face as Fearow was dragged closer through the air.

"Stop your attack, Fearow! Roll away!" Warbird commanded. Fearow grimaced as its wings were pushed against its sides, but the white glow quickly faded from them as it called off its Steel Wing. Nosepass tilted its head upwards as it felt the pull of its nose disappear on its foe, but it charged a six-sided spot of red light and blasted it into the air, trying to catch Fearow in it before the latter could get away. Fearow spun once to the right, tucking its wings into its body again, and the Power Gem flew just wide of it before disappearing into the blue canopy above.

"_Nose pass nose pass nose pass…_" hummed the Compass Pokémon, waving its arms up and down in rhythm, thinking it was all just a playful joke. A nerve twitched in Warbird's jaw, and Fearow crowed irritably as it levelled out and beat its wings to stay aloft.

"Is it just me, or does it look like Nosepass is toying with Fearow…?" Brock asked the others, whilst Troy shouted similar sentiments over the microphone.

"Certainly looks like it, doesn't it?" Dawn agreed, smiling. "I mean, with the way Nosepass took care of Warbird's Skarmory, it must be pretty powerful! Maybe it's just getting a feel for the battle, y'know?"

"Tri Attack!" Warbird roared, pointing at the Compass Pokémon. Fearow opened its beak wide, and three large balls of energy formed in front of its mouth; one red, one blue, and one yellow. The three orbs grew in size, until each one was the size of Nosepass itself, and with an ear-splitting screech, the Beak Pokémon tossed its head and fired its Tri Attack downwards, the spheres circling around each other so quickly that they looked like a multicoloured ring as they whizzed towards Nosepass, who was standing quite placidly on the field.

"Nosepass, get out of the way!" Ash shouted, wincing at the thought of Nosepass' bulk with regards to its speed. But all of a sudden, its nose lit up for the third time in a row, and the Rock-type shot out to the left like a bullet; one moment it was standing on its platform, and the next it was ten feet away from the boundary wall on the other side of the battlefield. Fearow's Tri Attack slammed into Nosepass' former platform and exploded on contact, reducing the rock into powder.

But its intended target was unharmed, and what was more, it was bouncing up and down again like the attack was just sport. Whilst Warbird muttered curses under his breath at the Rock-type, Ash simply scratched his head blankly and tried to work out what had happened for Nosepass to move out of the way like it had.

_How did Nosepass manage to move like that?!_ he thought, his eyebrows furrowed. _Wait a minute… I've seen that move before!_ His mind flashed back to a Pokémon battle that had taken place the previous day, where a Pokémon with a huge metal nose had pulled a Metagross away from the path of a Solarbeam attack that was fired by Ari's Magmortar. _Will Wright's Probopass used its Magnet Pull ability to move metal on the field! So Nosepass—_ he glanced at his Pokémon, who was facing the stadium wall, —_must have used its ability to pull itself closer to the steel boundary wall!_

"Well, well… It's a good thing we watched that Tag Team battle yesterday, eh, Pikachu?" he grinned, looking at the Electric-type on his shoulder. "That Probopass gave me an idea… I might use it later on, though…"

"Fearow, enough dawdling! Knock that Nosepass high with a Twister!" hissed Warbird, fists clenched. Fearow squawked once and flapped its mighty wings again and again, kicking up a fierce gale that threw all the stray dust from Skarmory's Sandstorm into the air. The Flying-type squawked again and beat its wings one more time, and the wind spun around and formed a thin tornado that snaked around from between the two mountaintops in the middle of the arena.

"Nosepass, stay firm!" Ash warned, baring his teeth as the twister suddenly sped into gear and wound its way towards his Compass Pokémon, tearing up a cloud of dust wherever it went. Nosepass smacked its arms against its sides and stood motionless as Fearow's attack reached it and swallowed him whole, the winds ripping ferociously at its robust body. Without any warning or sign of protest, the Rock-type was lifted off the ground and sucked into the roaring sides of the tornado, spinning around and around as it climbed higher in the vortex.

"Hold the Twister, Fearow!" Warbird ordered. "Fly above and fire a Hyper Beam, straight into the eye!"

"_Gyaaaaaaaaah!_" shrieked Fearow, streaking forwards as its tornado continued to rage on with Nosepass trapped inside. The Beak Pokémon positioned itself directly over the twister, the shadow of its wings blocking out the sunlight as it opened its sword-like mouth wide and formed an orange pinprick of light between its jaws. The pinprick exploded into a huge ball of light that rocketed down into the tornado, splitting it straight down the middle before igniting. There was a huge explosion as the Twister was ripped apart in a frenzy of smoke, light and shockwaves of air, and with a loud bang Ash's Nosepass fell away and was pounded into the battlefield.

"Nosepass, are you alright?!" Ash screamed, watching as Fearow nestled itself on top of the peak overlooking his Pokémon.

"An amazing combination by Warbird's Fearow!" Troy exclaimed. "With such a bulky and heavy Pokémon like a Nosepass, it takes a lot of force to be able to lift one into the air, but that Twister was more than enough! And if _that_ didn't do it for you, we had a Hyper Beam thrown in for good measure!"

"Nosepass, get up! I know those attacks aren't enough to knock you down!" Ash shouted, and Nosepass responded by pushing itself upright with its magnetic nose. "Great work!" _Wait a second, I know what I can do here!_ he suddenly thought. _In our battle against Roxanne's Nosepass, it used Zap Cannon against Pikachu… it didn't work, but Fearow aren't Electric-types, so I should be safe…_

"Use a Lock-On!" he commanded, pointing high at the Fearow squawking on its perch. A small red cross-hair appeared in front of Nosepass' face and flew at its foe, imprinting itself squarely on Fearow's chest and blinking yellow before fading into the brown feathers.

"Fearow, get back in the air!" Warbird warned, gritting his teeth as his Beak Pokémon ruffled its feathers and took off again. "Be ready!"

"Stop Fearow in its tracks with Zap Cannon!" Ash roared, swiping his arm across the air.

"Fearow, use Agility, now!" Warbird bellowed.

Nosepass made a low thumping noise with its arms, and its nose crackled with thunderous energy as tiny yellow bolts arced around its body. In the air, Fearow beat its wings once and sped forwards at frightening speed, a white afterglow following the shape of its body as it dove towards the field. Nosepass jerked its head forwards, and a huge ball of electricity was blasted from its nose, knocking the Pokémon onto its back as it curved through the sky in pursuit of the fleeing Fearow.

"You can't escape, Warbird!" Ash shouted, watching as his Pokémon's Zap Cannon continued to chase its target, no matter how many dives, rolls, or changes in direction the latter made. "That Zap Cannon is gonna hit Fearow sooner or later!" And true to his word, the attack finally caught up to the Beak Pokémon as it tried to weave around the mountaintops, engulfing it in electricity and yellow light that sent it crashing down the slopes and onto the rocky ground.

"Fearow, no!" Warbird shouted, agape.

"Fearow is unable to battle!" cried the referee, aiming her red flag at Ash, who whooped with delight as Nosepass jumped up and down.

"Return…" Warbird sighed, hanging his head in disappointment as Fearow was sucked back into its PokéBall with a blink of red light.

"Way to go, Nosepass!" Ash shouted ecstatically, punching the air in triumph. Nosepass turned around to look at its Trainer, and it tipped sideways in doing so, spinning around on the spot as though it was trying to get itself back up in doing so.

"Well _there's_ something you don't see every day," Max muttered, raising his eyebrows at the Compass Pokémon. "A break-dancing Nosepass…"

"Warbird is, uh, down to three Pokémon," declared the referee, looking oddly at Nosepass before glancing at the dark-skinned Trainer on the other side of the field. She cleared her thought and continued on, "so the intermission will now take place. Both Trainers may now take a fifteen-minute break to rest before returning to the field for the commencement of the second half of the battle. Ash Ketchum, your Nosepass must be called upon returning," she reminded Ash, who nodded in understanding.

"_Nosepass, Nosepass, Nosepass!_" chanted the crowd, watching the Compass Pokémon, who had tipped itself on its top and was spinning upside down.

"Nose—pass, return—!" Ash said between laughs, his arm shaking as he held his Pokémon's ball out. Nosepass hummed joyfully as it was recalled to its PokéBall, and Ash shook his head as he clipped it back to his belt. He took a moment or two to compose himself before waving once at the crowd in apology, whilst Pikachu was silently giggling away on his shoulder. "Come on, let's get out of here, Pikachu," he chortled, giving a courteous nod in Warbird's direction before sprinting back to his tunnel.

* * *

"_What a move by Dusknoir! Sandra's Crobat wasn't going anywhere during that spell in the Trick Room, and Ari made full use of his Pokémon's surroundings! I don't think I've seen techniques like that in this tournament so far; I think these two must get some Contest training in on the side! But now that Trick Room has faded out, Crobat's got the speed advantage once more, so let's see what happens next!"_

"_Crobat, hit that Dusknoir with Confuse Ray!" shouted Sandra, a middle-aged woman with short black hair and red eyes, dressed in a blood-red kimono and a blue obi._

"_Horazon, counter with Will-O-Wisp, and then dive down!" Ari ordered, just as Crobat spewed out a sizzling, spiky ball of darkness in Dusknoir's direction. Dusknoir formed a blue flame in one of its hands and lobbed it forwards, smashing into its foe's attack with a bang and a small explosion of blue and black light. In the time it took for the smoke to clear, Dusknoir had vanished from view, leaving Crobat to flit about on the field by itself, looking warily for any sign of its opponent._

"_Crobat, fly higher! He can't hit you from underground if you're not there to be hit!" Sandra shrieked, and Crobat hesitantly climbed higher, its eyes flying from spot to spot as it tried to work out where Dusknoir had gone._

"_Hold, Horazon…!" Ari said firmly, his eyes like slits as they watched the field._

"_Crobat, there!" Sandra exclaimed, seeing a shadow moving across the ground. "Air Cutter!" Crobat locked onto the spot on the field and swung its upper wings, creating a shuriken-like shape of blue energy that whizzed down and sliced a deep gouge in the surface of the arena._

"_Horazon, Vacuum and Thunderpunch!" Ari roared, and Dusknoir rose out of the ground behind Crobat, far away from the shadow that Sandra had believed it to be, and its mouth screeched as it opened wide. With the sound of a jet engine firing, Crobat was sucked towards Dusknoir's stomach as the latter's fist crackled with yellow energy, and even with all its speed it was unable to fly away. Within seconds it was over; Dusknoir's mouth bit down on the tip of one of Crobat's lower wings, and Dusknoir swung its glowing fist into its foe's face, knocking it unconscious in an instant._

"_Crobat is unable to b—!" shouted the referee…_

But Ash turned off the small television before he could finish his declaration. He was sitting on one of the benches in his preparation room, his four remaining Pokémon standing around him along with Brock, Dawn, Anabel, May, Misty and Max.

"So that's where Ari was," he finally said, flexing his neck. He looked away from the television mounted on the far wall and looked around at his friends.

"Yeah, he seems to be going well, too," Anabel said brightly, "and who knows, you might end up battling him in the next week!"

"Not if I lose this battle."

"Hey, keep your spirits up, Ash!" Dawn shouted hotly. "I mean, since when have you ever thought like that?! You've got a huge advantage coming into this break!"

"I wouldn't call one Pokémon '_a huge advantage'_," Ash said modestly, "but I see your point. Thank you," he added with a small smile. "But I really owe most of that to Nosepass here," he smirked, patting the flat top of his newest Pokémon's head. "I mean, he took out two Pokémon with one attack each!"

"I know; that was amazing!" Max squealed, standing next to Nosepass, who reached up to his shoulders. "You've got some amazing battle moves, Nosepass!"

"And some pretty good _dancing_ moves, too," Misty giggled. "My Politoed couldn't do what it just did out there."

"The dancing on its head part, or the fact that it was in front of thirty-thousand people?" Brock asked jovially.

"Both."

"_Nose…_" buzzed Nosepass, waving its stubby arms about. Totodile glared at it.

"_Totototo!_" he hissed, baring his teeth at his teammate.

"It looks like Totodile's got some competition as the chief _ballerino_," Anabel added with a laugh, kneeling down and patting Totodile gently on the head, which made the Water-type croon with delight.

"Hey, if we got him the right outfit, we could call him _Tutu-_dile!" May joked. Totodile scowled at May and hit her in the face with a weak Water Gun that left the top half of her body drenched. May gasped in shock and anger, but the Big Jaw Pokémon simply poked its tongue out at her and hopped behind Anabel playfully.

"May, _ballerino_ just means '_dancer'_," Brock laughed, handing her his vest.

"Didn't I say yesterday not to try and turn my Pokémon into other things?" Ash asked, snatching Totodile and moving him away from the girls. "First Nosepass, now Totodile! Next thing you'll be wanting Staravia as a messenger!" he added whilst Totodile struggled to breathe, though that was mainly because Ash's hand was covering his snout.

"Isn't that what you _usually_ have your Flying-type Pokémon do?"

"Shut up," Ash muttered, not noticing as Totodile broke free and tried to gnaw on his glove. "Hey, Anabel, when's your match today?" he asked curiously, shaking Totodile off and putting him back on the ground with the other three Pokémon.

"In about… three hours," Anabel replied, checking the clock on the wall. "Unfortunately, you've only got about a minute or so before you have to be out there on the field again…"

"Great; I can't wait to get back out there!" Ash said firmly, jumping to his feet. "I really think I can win this one," he added, with a competitive smile on his face.

"Well, it's good that you're confident, but don't get _over_-confident about it," Misty reminded him.

"Oh, come on, Misty," Ash laughed. "Since when have I ever been overconfident about anything?" he asked. They all suddenly burst into laughter and focused their attentions away from him, and even Pikachu had stuffed a fist into his mouth to stop himself from giggling as well. "What?"

"It's nothing…" Anabel said airily, half-smirking as she looked up at the ceiling. Thankfully, she was saved from actually having to answer his question by the sharp, ringing tone of the bell, which brought an end to the Trainers' intermission. "Anyways, good luck for the rest of the battle!" she piped up, meeting his glance and kissing him on the cheek.

"Yeah, good luck, Ash!" Brock added, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Likewise!" chorused Misty, May and Dawn, all giving him a thumbs-up.

"You'd better win!" Max said demandingly.

"Hey, with an attitude like that on my side, how can I lose?" Ash joked, picking up his PokéBalls. "Come on, guys, let's get out there and show 'em what we're made of!" he rallied, all of his Pokémon raising their fists and wings adamantly in support before they were recalled to their respective balls. "Well, I'll see you guys at the end of the match, win or lose, eh?" he said to his friends, flashing a smile.

"Win, of course!" Brock cheered.

"Alright, catch you later," he muttered, turning to face the tunnel door as it slid open. Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder, and he straightened the brim of his cap, before taking a deep breath and walking back out onto the battlefield.

* * *

"And we're back from our intermission in an electrically charged Stadium Four, as we say '_welcome back!_' to our fans and loyal viewers all over the world, for the thrilling conclusion of our fifth-round blockbuster battle between local rising star, Ash Ketchum, and America's winged shaman himself, Warbird!" Troy boomed, the people in the stands screaming at the mention of their supported Trainers.

"The Prince of Pallet Town has taken a decisive lead in the battle," he added, "thanks mainly to his powerhouse Nosepass, who took down both Warbird's Skarmory and Fearow with one attack each! But if experience teaches us anything, it's that no battle is over until the last Pokémon falls, and Warbird didn't enter this contest as favourite on a whim! Ash may have gotten lucky early on, but he's going to need more than that if he wants to advance to the final qualifying round! So without further ado, let's get this show back on the road!" he roared, striking a small bell next to him with a hammer.

"Nosepass, come back for round two!" Ash shouted, grinning from ear to ear as he threw his Pokémon's ball into the air. Nosepass bounded out of the PokéBall with a white flash, and slowly made its way onto one of the still-standing rock platforms on its Trainer's side of the field. Warbird contemplated his choices for a long minute, before grunting to himself and fetching his own PokéBall from his belt and enlarging it.

"Fly with majesty, Altaria!" he yelled. The PokéBall burst open with a blinding gleam of white light, and, as the light began to pool together to form a shape, it hummed in a gentle voice that instantly drew the attention of the spectators, and also Ash. Warbird, however, was unmoved by the voice as the light faded and gave way to his Pokémon.

Half of Altaria's body was covered in a white, fluffy feathers that also appeared to comprise its wide wings. Its two small, blue talons poked out from underneath the down, and a row of beautiful blue tail-feathers streamed out behind. Its long, slender neck snaked up from above the cottony cloud, ending in a round face framed by two white patches either side of its snowy-coloured beak, above which two round black eyes looked down on the field innocently. Flying behind Altaria were two small blue ribbons attached to the top of its head, reminiscent of Glaceon ears as they swung to and fro in time with their owner's gentle rhythm in the air.

"Ohh… it's so gorgeous…" Dawn sighed, her blue eyes sparkling at the sight of the Pokémon, and she instantly aimed her Pokédex at it to know more.

_Altaria, the Humming Pokémon, the evolved form of Swablu. Altaria sings with its beautiful soprano voice, which lulls its listeners into a sense of dreamy wonderment, and communicates with others by using a series of melodic humming noises. These Pokémon catch updrafts in their buoyant wings to soar through the air, which have a similar molecular structure to natural cotton._

"Ooh, I want one!" she squealed excitedly, looking dreamily at Altaria; it seemed that the Pokémon's singing wasn't needed to lull her away.

"Well, you know that Swablu egg Leoric gave me for Christmas?" May called out to her. "It could end up evolving into an Altaria!" she noted happily, noticing the nerve that twitched murderously in Misty's jaw as she said it.

"Nosepass, Power Gem!" Ash shouted, down on the battlefield.

"Altaria, block it with a Flamethrower!" commanded Warbird, just as the red hexagon appeared in front of the Compass Pokémon. Altaria swooped down with a cry, head-tresses blowing in the wind, and blasted a jet of fire straight at its foe. Nosepass launched its attack in response, beam of light meeting blazing fire in mid-air and causing an explosion of heat and sound, the noise tearing through the stadium as the fiery glow died out of the sky.

"Aerial Ace!" Warbird continued, seizing a chance. Altaria charged forwards so fast that it seemed like a blur, a white sheet trailing behind the snowy feathers of the Pokémon as it raced down towards the motionless Rock-type standing on its platform.

"Defend yourself with Magnet Pull, Nosepass!" Ash cried, his voice lilting at the end as he saw Altaria speed closer. Nosepass hummed in its bass tone, its nose lit up on cue, but instead of shifting its position closer to the barrier at the edge of the arena, there was a hideous creaking and cracking sound as a large square of the boundary wall was torn from its struts and lobbed through the air like a cannon; Nosepass took its order literally as its makeshift defence was hurled straight into Altaria's neck, stopping the latter's attack cold and knocking it out of the sky like a bricked pigeon.

"Altaria, no!" seethed Warbird, turning towards the referee. "Referee, that _has_ to be illegal!" he roared, waving an indignant hand at his Pokémon as it threw the sheet of metal off its body and took flight again.

"H-Hey, don't look at me—!" she hissed, throwing up her arms; whether in defence or surrender, he neither knew, nor cared. He silently swore and turned back, enraged, to the battlefield, where Nosepass was staring blankly at its foe, which only aggravated him further.

"That's one smartarse of a Nosepass…" Leoric muttered with a laugh, watching as Warbird quietly simmered in his anger. "Hey, that rhym—!"

"Finish that word, and I will kick _your_ Nosepass," Anabel whispered, her eyes narrowed.

"Nosepass, when I said _defend_, I didn't mean _attack_!" Ash berated, whilst Warbird's supporters booed and jeered at his apparent cheating. "That's why they're two different words with two _completely_ different meanings, yeah?!"

"_Nose…_" buzzed Nosepass, nodding its blocky head.

"Okay, that's better," he said, a little more level-headed than he was before. "Now hit Altaria with Zap Cannon!" he ordered, pointing at the Flying-type across the field. Nosepass buzzed again and immediately charged up a pulsating, crackling ball of electricity with a green glow at its core. The Compass Pokémon launched it in much the same way it had against Warbird's previous Pokémon, pushing it onto its back with the recoil blast as it flew over the battlefield towards its intended target.

"Blow it off with Safeguard!" Warbird shouted aggressively. Altaria hummed, its voice carrying to the stands and calming the agitated nerves of the spectators who had been clamouring for more, and its body was encapsulated with a soft, bright white glow that radiated outwards. Nosepass' Zap Cannon tore through the air, aiming for the Dragon-type Pokémon, but it bounced harmlessly off its foe's protection and instead slammed into the western hill in the field's centre, collapsing it with a spectacular blast of billowing dust and showering rubble.

Before the peak had even crashed to the ground, Nosepass had already righted itself after its attack, and Warbird was already in motion. "Move in for Aerial Ace again, Altaria!" he shouted to his Pokémon, who let down its Safeguard and banked upwards, before diving down at an even greater speed than when it had just climbed. The familiar white shine appeared behind Altaria's split-feathered tail as it moved in for its attack, and Ash looked back down at Nosepass.

"Nosepass, _DEFEND_ with Magnet Pull!" he roared, making sure to put as much emphasis on 'defend' as was humanly possible. Nosepass hummed as its nose gleamed white, and Ash roared when he saw a huge piece of blue metal rise up from the ground and hurl itself at Altaria; the same piece of boundary wall that Nosepass had torn from the wall the first time it had 'defended' itself from Altaria's Aerial Ace.

"Nosepass—?! Oh, come on!" he shouted in frustration, stamping his foot against the rocky ground. Altaria glared at its foe, gracefully rolling through the air and narrowly dodging the enormous missile, and with another melodious cry it swung the full face of its white wing into Nosepass' body, catching the Compass Pokémon on the nose and sending it into a frenzied spin.

"Focus on your magnetism, Nosepass, and fire your Power Gem at Altaria!" Ash commanded, watching vainly as Nosepass continued to circle on the spot from the force of the blow. "I know you can do it!" he yelled encouragingly. A few tense moments later, the Rock-type suddenly stopped spinning, its magnetic nose fixing its direction, and the red point of light appeared next to its head as it slowly rotated around to face the fluttering Altaria, which was resting cautiously on the surviving mountaintop.

"_Nooooose…pass!_" boomed the Compass Pokémon, turning the last few degrees and launching its attack. The red beam exploded forwards, sizzling and spinning through the air, and unfortunately for it, and Ash, the attack sailed wide of Altaria, who hadn't even moved an inch from its perch on the peak. The crowd gasped at the unnatural miss, before Warbird's fans quickly resorted to jeering Ash again, calling it payback for his 'illegal tactic' earlier in the match.

"Damn…" Ash murmured, clenching his fist. _Warbird must have known what that Aerial Ace would have done… all that spinning must have disrupted Nosepass' natural ability to tell where north points…_ "Nosepass, you're gonna have to open your eyes to hit Altaria from now on! We'll need to let your magnetism readjust!" he shouted to his Pokémon, who buzzed angrily before its eyes opened up, showing two small circles of black hidden under its prominent brow.

"I hope Ash knows what he's doing…" Misty said worriedly, her knuckles white over her knees.

"Yeah, Nosepass have terrible eyesight," Max added seriously, "and without magnetism to guide them, it's about as useful as a Magikarp's whiskers, I hate to admit…"

"Now is our chance, Altaria!" Warbird shouted, slashing his arm through the air in front of him. "Swoop down and pin Nosepass with Flamethrower!"

"_Aaaammmmmm…_" sang Altaria, leaping from its spot on the mountain and spreading its wings wide. The next moment, it rushed forwards and dove at Nosepass, jaws opened wide and spewing a thick red-yellow flame at the ground. The flames smacked into the Compass Pokémon's rocky hide with the sound of rumbling thunder, Nosepass buzzing in agony as it felt the heat sear its eyes.

"Nosepass!" Ash roared, wincing and baring his teeth. _Now its eyesight has taken a hit as well… it's got no way of knowing which way Altaria's going to be charging in from,_ he thought despairingly. He watched on, fighting his anger and sense of inaction as Altaria flew a half-circle around his Pokémon, still blasting it with the unceasing Flamethrower. "Nosepass, aim upwards and fire a Zap Cannon!" he suddenly shouted as he realised its effect.

"What the heck's he doing…?" Leoric asked himself in the stands, watching worriedly as he saw Nosepass slowly charge the pent-up ball of lightning despite the relentless assault it was having to endure from Warbird's Pokémon. "That Z—_oh_… I see…" he grinned, folding his arms and nodding his head.

"_Nosepass—!_" hummed the Compass Pokémon, blasting its attack right into the face of Altaria's Flamethrower. The force of the discharge sent Nosepass flying backwards, and Warbird clenched his jaw as he saw it sail clear of the path of his Pokémon's own attack; he realised that Ash's intention all along was to move his Nosepass out of the way. But the Zap Cannon hadn't finished its work, it seemed, because it flew through the centre of the flames, tearing its opposing attack to shreds, and before Altaria had time to squawk in fright it was struck in the belly by the blast, wincing and groaning weakly as the electricity crackled through its body and paralysed its joints.

"Altaria, quickly; use Safeguard before the paralysis takes over!" urged Warbird, eyes wide with concern as his Pokémon began to falter in its flight. The Humming Pokémon cringed as it spread its wings to their full width, and after a few tense seconds of waiting, its Trainer breathed a sigh of relief as the white glow emanated from its head and seeped through to the rest of its body from wingtip to talon-edge.

_Damnit…_ Ash thought angrily, casting his eyes over to his own Pokémon, which was facing the other way. _I've just got to let this happen… it'll give Nosepass a few precious seconds to recover… I'd be fine if it only got its eyesight back…!_ His eyes flicked between his oblivious Nosepass and the glowing Altaria hovering over the field, before the latter finished its attack and hummed melodiously, revitalised after Nosepass' sneak Zap Cannon.

"Let us finish this stage of our battle now, Altaria!" Warbird boomed, a cheer of support rising out of the stands. "Fly in for our finishing move!" he roared. Altaria screeched – a harsh cry that sounded nothing like the musical notes it had sung before – and swept its wings to the side, racing high upwards into the sky until it blended in perfectly with the clouds slowly moving across the sky overhead.

"Nosepass, turn around to face Altaria!" Ash shouted hurriedly, trying to usher his Pokémon the other way with his hands even though it was half an arena away. "Use your Magnet Pull to get closer to the sides of the stadium; I don't care which one, just move towards a wall!" he begged, his heart leaping up into his throat as the Compass Pokémon's great red nose began to flicker with white light.

"That's it! You can do it; I know you can!" he yelled, urging the Rock-type on with everything in his mind. Altaria, way up in the sky above, had reached the top of its steep climb and levelled out for the briefest of moments before flapping its wings and speeding back down towards the ground, streamlining its body and gaining ground for every second that Nosepass continued to struggle.

"_Draco Meteor!_" Warbird bellowed. Altaria shrieked and opened its mouth wide, a tiny orange ball of light forming in front of its beak. The ball swelled outwards the longer that Altaria continued to rocket downwards, and soon it was almost matching the size of the Dragon-type Pokémon itself, a vast, shimmering orb of orange-and-red energy that split the air in two on its path towards Nosepass.

"Come on, Nosepass!" Ash pleaded.

"_No…se…pass…!_" growled Nosepass, its craggy face showing no sign of the discomfort it was in as its magnetic nose flashed on and off repeatedly. But Ash punched his fist into the air, and a huge cry went up around the stands, as the flashing was replaced by a powerful white glow that lit up the rocky arena on all sides of the Pokémon.

"I knew you had it in you, buddy!" Ash cheered. "Now lock onto that Draco Meteor and blow it to bits with Power Gem!" he shouted, pointing up at the falling Altaria, hidden behind the vast missile of its attack. Nosepass' nose flared with light again, and in an instant the Rock-type was spun around on its nose, coming to a halt so that it was facing an arrow-straight path to its foe. Altaria hissed and put on another burst of speed, throwing its head backwards as it prepared to launch its attack, but Nosepass fired a red beam of energy straight up at it without warning, the force of the attack pinning it against the battlefield as its stubby legs made gouges in the earth.

"_Now_, Altaria!" barked Warbird, and Altaria blasted its Draco Meteor forwards, braking in mid-air as its attack sped down to meet Nosepass' Power Gem head-on. Light clashed with light as they collided into each other with such force that Altaria was blown backwards across the field, and Nosepass was pushed down even further into the ground as the two blasts struggled to push the other one back.

"Let's push it back, Nosepass!" Ash roared, pointing at Altaria's ball of energy. Nosepass buzzed as it poured its power into its attack, but with the sound of sizzling fire, the Draco Meteor carved a path straight through the middle of the Power Gem, the red beam seeming to do nothing as Altaria's attack seared towards the arena and slammed into Nosepass, burying it under an enormous explosion and a rain of dirt and sand that kicked up off the ground.

"Nosepass, no!" shouted Ash, running to the edge of his red Trainer's box as the cloud of dust thinned. His Pokémon was lying dead-centre in the middle of a large crater, half-hidden by a mess of sand that had settled over it in the wake of the blast, and it clearly wasn't in any shape to continue. The referee took one look into the crater and reached the same decision, waving her green flag at Warbird and his Pokémon.

"Nosepass is unable to battle!" she declared, to a wave of enthusiastic cheers from Warbird's fans, whilst those in the stands who supported Ash groaned dejectedly at the news.

Ash frowned, but he was more than proud enough of his newest Pokémon's efforts in the arena, so he raised Nosepass' PokéBall with a smile on his face. "Good work, Nosepass; you did a great job," he said warmly, recalling his Compass Pokémon into the PokéBall's depths.

"As much as I don't like to say it, Nosepass is down!" Troy exclaimed from his prime view in the skybox. "Sorry about staying silent for such a long time there, folks, but I was so caught up in the action that there wasn't time for me to gather my wits and say anything! Altaria's clever use of its attacks to neutralise Nosepass' vision are, I think, what gave it the edge, but that's not to say that the Nosepass didn't give Warbird a run for his money! Regardless, the results are still the same, so that puts both Trainers back on three Pokémon each! We already know that Warbird's fourth is his Altaria, so which Pokémon will Ash send out to counter it?!" he asked the crowd.

"Well, I guess we're even again, War—" Ash started, but he was cut off as the umpire raised her arms and began speaking.

"The field for the second half of this battle will now be determined!" she announced, turning her head around to face the huge battle screen at the side of the stadium. In the middle of the pictures of Ash and Warbird, a spinning wheel had appeared, covered with small designs that depicted various kinds of battlefield, and a large black arrow was rapidly spinning around on it.

"Oh right, I almost forgot about that!" Ash laughed, his eyes closely following the path of the arrow.

"Why is the field changing _now_ and not right after the intermission?" asked May curiously, turning to face Leoric.

"Well, things are always done a little bit differently here in the Orange Islands," he chuckled, "and since Ayers Island is technically within the archipelago, the Orange Crew was given the responsibility of laying down the rules about interchanges and field switches and so on. Drake – the Head Leader – suggested that the arena change after a set number of Pokémon were knocked out, not once both Trainers were down to a certain number. This rule starts in the fifth round, and in this round the field gets changed after six Pokémon are knocked out."

"That way," Wynter continued, "nobody's disadvantaged by having the field change if there's a massive difference in the number of still-battling Pokémon on each side. If you had two Pokémon, and the other guy had four, and the field was set to change once both were down to three, even if you managed to take out the opponent's next Pokémon, you'd still have to deal with a field change before moving on, and that kills momentum. This way, it's a little bit fairer. Quicker, too," he added.

"So there's only going to be one field change in this round, because there are twelve Pokémon, and one has to be standing at the end, right?" Max inquired, and Leoric nodded. "What about—?"

"Hey, it's slowing down!" Dawn piped up, pointing at the animation. All eyes turned to the screen as the arrow finally came to a rest, the point lying over a graphic of seven lush green trees clustered together. "What's that?"

"The conclusion to this battle will be conducted on the Forest field!" shouted the referee, and both Ash and Warbird felt the ground quake as the entire arena split apart from the rest of the stadium and was lowered down into the earth below, leaving an empty black hole in its place.

"'_Forest field_'?" Ash repeated slowly, wondering what it would include. He snuck a glance at Warbird, standing resolutely on the other side of the gaping rectangular hole, and his eyes sparked when he saw his opponent grit his teeth in frustration. _What would he not like a forest-style field for?_ he pondered, furrowing his brow as he heard the whirring of gears that meant the new field was being raised. "Pikachu, you're up next, so get ready," he whispered to his Pokémon, who nodded and hopped onto the ground in front of him, waiting eagerly for the arena to appear.

"And here we go!" roared Troy, as a mass of green-leafed branches came into view. Within moments, the entire arena had appeared, and had been anchored into place; it was an enormous grove of trees, vines, long grass, and even a small, winding river going straight through the middle. Ash jumped with joy as he saw it; it was almost an exact replica of the training ground he had used yesterday to prepare his team, and what was better was that he still had Totodile and Staravia waiting in the wings; they were the ones that had practised their drills in the trees just like those on the ground in front of him.

"Pikachu, let's go!" he shouted, pointing forwards.

"_Pika chu!_" squeaked Pikachu, scampering into the forest at once and half-hiding itself in the tall grass at the stadium's edge.

"This promises to be quite the battle, ladies and gentlemen!" Troy shouted, as Ash's supporters went wild with noise. "Everyone who's seen Ash Ketchum knows that his Pikachu is the most powerful Pokémon in his possession, as well as being his first! We've seen this little tyke take down Drake Citsur's Dragonite on Pummelo Island, and he's knocked out a Regice belonging to the Pyramid King, so I wonder if Warbird knows what he's going up against! Well, there's only one way to find out, so let's get it on!" he shouted, striking the bell next to him.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Dusknoir's Vacuum is an original attack created for the purposes of this story. It has no relation to Vacuum Wave, though.**

***Citsur (the surname of Drake, leader of the Orange Crew) is an anagram of 'citrus', continuing the pattern of naming things in the Orange Islands after oranges and other fruit.**

***Both Pokémon Troy mentions in his introduction of Pikachu were the last Pokémon Ash defeated in order to defeat a regional Pokémon challenge – the Orange League and the Kanto Battle Frontier, respectively.**

**Quiz:**

***Which Flying-type Pokémon in this chapter cannot learn Sky Attack?**

* * *

**Hope you liked the chapter! Particularly Nosepass' celebratory antics, haha. I actually only got the idea after watching Dawn's Ambipom in one of her Pokémon Contest battles, if anyone's wondering. **

**This chapter fell agonisingly shy of the record that the previous chapter set; only 16 words smaller, but again, I hope the quantity contains the quality!**

**I think I'll be able to breach the 400,000 word mark by the time I post Chapter 80! Judging by the size of this chapter, and the probable size of the next chapter, it shouldn't be too hard to accomplish. So I guess I'm going at about 5,000 words a chapter, which sounds like such a nice even number, doesn't it?**

**Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! And to everyone who reviewed the other chapters as well! I got about 40 reviews within the space of the last seven days, which is a phenomenal accomplishment! You guys should all be proud! Thanks heaps again!!!**

**As usual, be sure to (if you haven't already, that is) vote in the profile poll, and check out the forums. Oh, and there are one or two people who submitted OC's who will need to post their characters' summaries on the OC Thread... I'll put the names up in the author's notes in the next chapter.**

**Speaking of which, the Chapter 79 (Aerial Assault) will be posted here on June 12th. I know, I'm really sticking to the air-based theme when I'm naming them, aren't I? But, the battle is still yet to be finished, so it's a must, haha!**

**Thanks again to everyone and their feedback, so stay tuned til the next instalment, and...**

**Don't forget to review!!! Please!!!**


	79. Aerial Assault

**CHAPTER 79 – AERIAL ASSAULT**

"Let's get it on!" roared Troy, banging his hammer against the bell next to him. The crowd cheered excitedly, and both Ash and Warbird sprang into action immediately.

"Pikachu, hit Altaria with your Thunderbolt!" Ash shouted.

"_Piii…kaaaa…chuuuuu!_" growled Pikachu, blasting a powerful bolt of lightning from the sacs on his cheeks. The sizzling attack tore through the air and hit Altaria with perfect accuracy, engulfing it in yellow light, but Ash gasped in surprise as Altaria shrugged its shoulders and brushed the attack off like it was nothing. The Humming Pokémon trilled and flapped its wings forwards, and a powerful spear of lightning flew towards Pikachu and struck the ground in front of it, blowing the Electric-type back several feet.

"What was _that_?!" Ash exclaimed, eyes wide with shock as Pikachu picked itself up and scowled at its foe. "Was that a Thunderbolt?!"

"You should know, young Ketchum," Warbird said mockingly. "After all, it was _your_ Pokémon's attack."

"I think I know what happened there…" Brock muttered darkly, watching Ash's jaw drop in amazement. "Altaria's wings absorbed all the energy from Pikachu's Thunderbolt, then it discharged the attack right back at Pikachu!"

"So Pikachu's Electric attacks are all useless?!" Dawn shouted. "Ash is gonna be in real trouble!"

"Yeah, if he keeps hitting Altaria's wings," Wynter chuckled, but said no more on the subject.

"Altaria, burn that rodent with Flamethrower!" Warbird boomed. Altaria charged forwards, blasting a molten stream from its mouth towards the ground.

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack to take cover in the forest trees!" Ash shouted, as a charred line of grass fell underneath the flames. Pikachu took off to the left, a wave of white light streaking out from behind its tail as it carved a path through the undergrowth. Weaving about as he was chased by his foe and the line of the Flamethrower, he leapt between two mangrove trees just as Altaria passed overhead, turning its slender head this way and that as it looked for its elusive target.

"Come out and fight!" Warbird snarled, eyes smouldering. "Face my Pokémon head-on, or not at all!"

"Shove a sock in it!" Wynter shouted back from the stands. "Less prattle, more battle!"

"_Yeah_!" chorused Ash's fans.

"Pikachu, climb the trees and get up into the open air!" Ash ordered.

"Good to see you've finally come around, Wynter," Anabel smiled, tilting her head slightly to him while she watched the arena.

Wynter snorted and folded his arms. "Hey, I didn't come around to anything," he rebuked. "I just want to watch a showdown, and taunts never make for a good, clean fight. I still think Warbird's going to win," he laughed. Just as he shut his mouth and looked back to the battlefield, a pinprick of black and yellow appeared above the cloud of green leaves sitting on the treetops, and Altaria snapped its beak as it spotted the Electric-type's head poking out from the dense foliage.

"Hmph," frowned Warbird, indifferent.

"Use Thunderbolt!" Ash roared. Pikachu pushed himself from the branches he was resting on, leaping high into the sky as his cheeks crackled fiercely. With a fittingly thunderous growl, he launched a spiky beam of yellow through the air towards Altaria, who shrieked and swung away from the attack, rolling in mid-air and righting itself just as the bolt sheared past the tips of its razor talons.

"Dive-bomb that Pikachu with an Aerial Ace!" Warbird yelled. "Leave nothing for it to hide behind!"

Altaria screeched and rose up into the air, spreading its lush wings wide and somersaulting backwards into a steep dive as the flash of white light formed in its wake. The Humming Pokémon zipped towards the expanse of trees like a shooting star, the crowd sighing in wonder as the star's tail streaked behind it, but like a comet it slammed into the trees with unimaginable force, uprooting a whole cluster of them and throwing Pikachu sky-high with the blow.

"Charge a Draco Meteor!" Warbird shouted, pointing at Pikachu as the latter sailed through the air with his eyes screwed shut.

"Pikachu, look out!" called Ash. As the Dragon-type opened its beak and began forming the orange-red ball of light, Pikachu opened his eyes and threw his body to the side, spinning himself around to face his opponent as he started falling back down to earth. "Take out that Draco Meteor with your Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded, and Pikachu tensed his fists as he charged his own attack.

"_Piii…kaaa…chuuuu!_"

"_Aaaahhhmmmmm!_"

Both Pokémon volleyed their attacks at the other at the same time; Pikachu shot his jagged spike of electricity that sizzled through the air, and Altaria launched its sphere of furiously sparkling energy directly in its path to stop it. Pikachu fell below the cover of the trees, and Altaria drifted sideways in the sky, as thunder and light clashed with the sound of a thousand shattering diamonds.

The Draco Meteor pushed against Pikachu's Thunderbolt, but the two hadn't met each other dead-on, and so they were thrown sideways by the impact of the other; Altaria's attack flew into the tall grass and carved a deep trench in its surface, but Pikachu's blast was miraculously redirected at its opponent. Altaria shrieked with discomfort as the biting current speared straight into its face, sending a dangerous wave of electricity through its body, and it began flapping its wings ungainly as it tried to stay aloft.

"Great shot, Pikachu!" Ash cheered, his eyes swivelling down from the startled Altaria to look at his Pokémon, but he quickly remembered that Pikachu was still taking shelter in the cover of the huge trees still standing erect on the battlefield. "Come on out from the trees!" he shouted assertively, watching with one eye on his opponent as he saw a blur of yellow come shooting out from the mass of green and dark brown, rustling the grass before Pikachu's figure became visible at the arena's edge.

"_Pii pikachu!_" growled Pikachu, glaring at the Humming Pokémon across the stadium, the latter having regained its balance and now shrieking threateningly at him.

"Take Pikachu out with another Aerial Ace, Altaria!" snarled Warbird, brandishing his fist at Ash and Pikachu. Altaria bellowed, rejoicing in the opportunity, and it flew forwards like a bullet, blending in perfectly with the overhanging sky as it whipped towards Pikachu. In less time than it took the Electric-type to bat an eyelid, its foe was almost upon it, and with a ferocious roar it swung its pearly wing around to strike.

"Hold on, Pikachu!" Ash yelled, crossing his fingers in their gloves. He winced as he saw Warbird's Pokémon brutally slam its wing into Pikachu's stomach, but he silently thanked his lucky stars as his Pokémon's paws scrabbled at the fluffy white feathers and clung on. Pikachu gritted his teeth through the pain of Altaria's attack as the latter soared back into the sky, crazily jerking its wing about to try and shake him off, but he held on even more dearly with every unsuccessful attempt.

"Pikachu, the next time Altaria tries to throw you _up_, swing yourself onto its head!" Ash roared, his body braced as he watched Pikachu being thrown this way and that like a stubborn prickle on Altaria's body. Pikachu buckled down and began moving in rhythm to the Dragon-type's wild movements, and as the latter swung up to try and hurtle him at the ground, he lunged at Altaria's head and snatched at its head-feathers.

"_Thunder_!" screamed Ash.

Pikachu raised his head to the sky, paws tightly clutching at Altaria's ribbon-like feathers, and he was surrounded by harsh yellow light as the Humming Pokémon below him shrieked in fear and swung its body in all directions. But it was to no avail, and Pikachu blasted a white-hot pulse of sizzling electrical energy into his foe, engulfing them both in yellow as Altaria's beautiful voice lilted before being silenced. Altaria closed its eyes and fell gracefully towards the ground, Pikachu jumping off at the last second as it crashed softly into the small clearing of trees that its Aerial Ace had created earlier, moving no more after the impact.

"Altaria is unable to battle!" announced the referee, her red flag up in an instant.

"Great job, Pikachu!" Ash shouted blissfully, just before his voice was drowned out by the din of the crowd. Pikachu turned around to face his Trainer and said something in reply, but Ash couldn't hear the sound of his own voice over the noise being thrown at him from all sides, particularly from the line of people in the front section of the eastern stands.

"Way to go, Ash! Way to go, Pikachu!" chorused Dawn and Anabel, the former and her Pokémon cheerleading whilst the latter blew Ash a sweet kiss.

"Darn it all…!" Warbird muttered dejectedly, his eye twitching as he recalled his fallen Altaria to its PokéBall. _So… maybe there is a reason for Ash having such a powerful Pokémon spirit after all…_ he conceded, an analytical look on his dark face as he chose his next Pokémon to battle. _I should not have underestimated his abilities… but I doubt that he will be able to get past this…!_

"A well-fought piece of play, young Ketchum!" he shouted, clapping his hands once in brief applause. Ash started in surprise, but he paid no attention as he continued, "You have shown me the error of my miscalculations! Miscalculations that time cannot allow me to rectify! But—" the shadow of a confident smirk flickered over his thin lips, "time has not seen many of this Pokémon for eons, and it will be the last Pokémon you see in this tournament!" he bellowed, throwing the PokéBall high into the air. "Come forth from the echoes of the past, my Pokémon!"

The PokéBall split open with a flash of white light, and a fearsome beast of a Pokémon sprang forth into the clear, blue sky. Its skin was a leathery grey that seemed stretched across its body, outlining every sinew, strip of muscle and vein. Two bat-like wings grew out of the Pokémon's shoulders, and two three-clawed hands poked out from the middle bend in the great folds. Its head was sleek and pointed, with wide jaws that opened in a snarl, showing a cruelly hooked upper lip framed by dozens upon dozens of saw-like teeth that dripped with saliva. A thick tail dropped down from its rear, ending in a triangular fork, and its two firm legs flexed instinctively as it spotted Pikachu amongst the undergrowth.

"Oh… Crap…" Ash's jaw fell open as he saw the Pokémon roost on top of the trees. He had only ever seen three of its kind before, and all three times he had come close to being killed by it in one way or another. It was a Pokémon feared for its ferocity and speed, but most of all for its rows of savage teeth, capable of ripping through flesh and shearing through bone.

An Aerodactyl.

"This… is not good," Dawn muttered apprehensively, her voice barely audible above Troy's commentary on the previous few action-packed minutes.

"You can say that again," Misty winced. "Remember when we travelled through the Grandpa Canyon in Kanto? Ash almost got eaten by one of those!"

"This I've gotta see…" May said curiously, pointing her Pokédex at the Aerodactyl.

_Aerodactyl, the Fossil Pokémon,_ whirred the robotic voice of the small device. _A vicious Pokémon that lived in prehistoric times, it is thought to have once been the king of the skies. It flies by spreading its wings and gliding, and shrieks high-pitched cries while doing so. Its teeth are serrated like saw blades, and strike down its prey by tearing away at the throat with them. Extreme caution should be taken when approaching this Pokémon, as even trained Aerodactyl have been known to savage strangers without warning._

"I see what you mean about things not looking good," she gulped, grinning sheepishly as she stowed the Pokédex. "Has Ash ever battled one before?"

"Not really…" Brock growled. "His Charizard evolved from a Charmeleon to battle the Aerodactyl in Grandpa Canyon, but it didn't obey Ash back then… and it's not like he has Charizard with him now, anyways! We didn't really have much of a chance fighting against the Aerodactyl that was reborn in Alto Mare… we were too busy trying to save the town from being drowned. And he couldn't battle the Aerodactyl in Oreburgh City because Roark – the Oreburgh Gym Leader – ordered us not to."

"Then he's really gonna struggle…!" Wynter chimed in, the ghost of a cackle in his voice. "You obviously know _something_ about Aerodactyl, so you'd know how hard they are to take down!"

"Let's see how long you can last against a power that ruled the sky for millions of years!" Warbird roared, slamming his fists together as if daring Ash and Pikachu to make the first move. The corner of Ash's mouth twitched, and he pointed up at the Rock-type baring its teeth at his Pokémon.

"Thunderbolt, Pikachu!" he snarled. Pikachu nodded, jumping up from out of the cover of the low-lying grass and launching the glowing zigzag of lightning straight at its foe.

"Double Team!" barked Warbird, and Aerodactyl gave an ear-splitting shriek as its form wavered and shot outwards. All at once, seven identical Aerodactyl appeared in a straight-line formation, and Pikachu's Thunderbolt blasted the middle Pokémon into oblivion, the false copy shivering and dissolving into the air as the other six growled tauntingly and put claws to their eyes to add even more insult.

"Another Thunderbolt!" Ash shouted angrily. "Left side!"

"Move in for a Wing Attack, Aerodactyl!" boomed Warbird, watching unflinchingly as Pikachu destroyed another of the Fossil Pokémon's illusions. The five aerial Pokémon took off as one, hovering wingtip-to-wingtip high above the battlefield, before they charged at the ground like a sweeping wave about to crash onto the shore. Ash roared at Pikachu, who tried to hit the real Aerodactyl with his potent Thunderbolt attacks, but every single time he blasted his electricity, it struck a foe only to pass through as the latter faded away.

Three images of the Aerodactyl were still visible when they flew over the ground and met Pikachu on the forest floor. The Electric-type leapt to the side to avoid a vicious strike from one of the dinosaurs, but it kept flying and went straight through a thick tree on the forest's outskirts, instantly evaporating into the air. The second Aerodactyl hit Pikachu dead-on, but it, like the one before it, simply vanished, and the real Rock-type pounced even before Pikachu had time to brace itself.

"_Gyiiiiih!_" screeched Aerodactyl, blindsiding its foe with a brutal hook of its wing. Pikachu was sent rocketing backwards, his short flight through the battlefield mercilessly ending when his back was slammed into one of the thick mangrove trees lying near the small river.

"Pikachu, come on, get up!" Ash shouted worriedly, looking for a sign that his Pokémon was still alright. Pikachu's body shook as he struggled to push himself upright, but the crowd roared with anticipation and delight as the small rodent of a Pokémon stood firm and proud, shaking off his injury and sparking thunder from his cheeks as Warbird's Pokémon swung around to face it from above its Trainer.

"Would you look at that!" chuckled Troy. "Even after that—frankly—_lethal_ Wing Attack by Warbird's Aerodactyl, Pikachu's still willing and able to get back on its feet and continue the battle! It can't be in much of a good state right now; it had that long duel with Altaria earlier on, and it can't seem to keep up with the pace of Aerodactyl… could this be curtains for Pikachu, or will Ash be able to pull through?!"

"What a brave Pikachu…" Warbird muttered to himself, his head tilted sideways like a curious child, before he looked skyward to his Pokémon and cried, "wear your foe down with Ancientpower, Aerodactyl!" The Fossil Pokémon roared as it opened its blood-red jaws wide, and a streaked glow shone at the edges of its mouth as a gleaming ball of white light burst out from thin air, spinning in place as it grew ever larger.

"Pikachu, counter with Iron Tail as soon as Aerodactyl fires!" Ash instructed, eyes glinting in the light of the Ancientpower. Pikachu growled and nodded, his jagged tail softly glowing with a white light of its own as it waited for its foe to strike. Suddenly, Aerodactyl shrieked and threw its head forwards, the bright white ball of energy spiralling through the air as it homed in on the Electric-type standing resolutely next to the stream.

"_Pii…"_ hissed Pikachu, his eyes seamlessly following the missile's progress as it whistled closer. "_Kaa—_" his paws curled into fists, and he tensed his legs, "_chu!_" He leapt long and high, spinning gracefully through the air as the white flash of his tail came around, and with the sound of an axe on stone he smashed his Iron Tail into the centre of Aerodactyl's attack, splitting it down the middle. The two halves of the Ancientpower slid apart and floated listlessly in the air for a split second, and as Pikachu fell away they shimmered and exploded with a flash.

"_Ka!_" yelped Pikachu, landing sure-footed on the soft grass. The stands erupted with noise at the brilliant display, and, as much as he wouldn't admit it, even Warbird was impressed by the small Pokémon's deceptive power, his hardened expression giving nothing away.

"Great shot, Pikachu!" cheered Max, frantically clapping his hands.

"Show that bag o' bones what it's like to battle!" May shouted, giving Ash and Pikachu a piercing whistle.

"Enough of this!" snapped Warbird, crossing his arms. "Aerodactyl, Wing Attack! Now!" he ordered, and Aerodactyl gave another bloodcurdling screech before it somersaulted and flew at Pikachu with claws outstretched and mouth hanging wide open. "You will see, young Ketchum, that there is no substitute for experience in battles! You may be skilled, and with the aid of a powerful Pokémon spirit, but they're not enough to save you from your fate at my hands!" he roared at Ash, whose brow twitched as he looked at Pikachu proudly.

"Pikachu and I have more than enough _experience_ to take on _anything_ that comes between us and our dreams!" he retorted. "We know what it takes to win, and we're gonna win today, Pokémon spirit or not! Pikachu, when Aerodactyl comes in for its attack, knock it out of the sky with your Iron Tail!" he shouted to Pikachu, who scurried onto the bare, baked clay at the very edge of the battlefield.

"_Pika…!_" grunted the Electric-type, his tail gleaming white again as, once more, it waited for Aerodactyl's attack to draw closer. It anchored itself in place and assumed a battle stance, holding its arms in front of its body as it eyed off its foe.

"Switch to Hyper Beam!" Warbird barked, and Aerodactyl seemed to freeze in mid-air as it braked to a stop, the fierce ball of orange light already forming in front of its saw-like teeth. The Fossil Pokémon's red eyes sparked with raw power, and it fired its attack at once, the pillar of destructive energy arcing through the open air on its way to Pikachu, who had only had enough time to gasp in surprise.

A moment later it was upon him; Pikachu swung his tail around to try and lessen the blow, but it was a futile effort, as the Hyper Beam bounced his tail away like it was paper before smashing straight into his stomach. The incredible force of the attack pinned Pikachu into the ground, and when it couldn't sink the Pokémon any further, it bulged outwards and exploded, sending up a cloud of dust, debris, and sharp shards of tree branches.

"_Pikachu_!" bellowed Ash, shielding his face as the rain of sticks and stones blew past him. The dust slowly thinned out and showed Pikachu lying unconscious in the middle of a charred circle of earth, and without hesitation he ran forwards towards his Pokémon.

"Pikachu is unable to battle!" shouted the referee, the crowd bursting with cheers of happiness and groans of despair as she aimed her green flag at Warbird. Ash reached his fallen Pikachu and gently picked him up into his arms, walking over to the side of the stadium.

"Oh, right," Brock muttered, leaning over and looking earnestly at Anabel. "Anabel, you should go and get Pikachu."

"Okay then," she smiled, standing up. "I'll be right back," she added, edging her way past the other spectators in the stands and vaulting down the stairs three at a time. She reached the boundary wall just before Ash did, smiling with half-closed eyes as she leant over the barrier and held out her arms for Pikachu.

"Thanks, Anabel," Ash murmured, softly resting his Pokémon in her hands and making sure she was holding him firmly. "I just can't break away from him, can I?" he added with a laugh, scratching the side of his head.

"But he can't break from you, either," she reminded him, tapping the palm of his hand with a spare finger. "Just don't doubt yourself. If you don't think you can win, then no-one else will," she said wisely, winking at him before turning around and heading back up the stairs towards the others.

Ash gave them all a quick wave, which they all returned enthusiastically – over-enthusiastically in Max's case, but Wynter ignored it completely, knowing that Ash wasn't waving at him – before making for his red box at the arena's edge. On the way, he ran his eyes over the battlefield, being sure to note every hole, every tree, every fallen piece of twig; everything that could possibly help him gain the upper hand going into this last passage of the battle.

"_Cha…_" whispered Pikachu, who Anabel had propped up on her lap. Anabel grinned and patted him lightly on the head, her eyes never leaving Ash as he took a blue PokéBall from his hands and stared at it. "That's… what kind of PokéBall is that?" she asked Brock, who nodded his head.

"It's called a Lure Ball. Ash got it from a PokéBall-smith whilst we were in Johto," he replied, but chose to say no more on the subject, leaving Anabel to shrug her shoulders and focus on the field again.

"Alright, now no messing about this time, yeah?" Ash murmured, holding the PokéBall next to his mouth and apparently speaking to it. "This Aerodactyl's a nasty piece of work, so we'll need to buckle down and hit it hard, hit it fast, and take it out before _it_ takes _us_ out. I know you can do it," he muttered, before hurling the PokéBall across the ground, aiming for the stream winding its way through the small forest. "Totodile, I choose you!"

_Ah, I knew it was his Totodile,_ Anabel said to herself, just as the PokéBall burst open with blue light. The light faded into the form of Ash's Totodile, who immediately started jumping up and down with jubilation, his feet kicking about underneath him in his trademark style of dance. _That's so cute,_ she laughed.

"_To-to-to-to-to-to-totodile!_" growled the Big Jaw Pokémon, grinning from ear to ear. Warbird held Totodile with a serious stare, but in the end even he couldn't help but grin and chuckle at the sight of the tiny Water-type enjoying itself in such an emphatic way.

"I must say, Ash, your Pokémon certainly are good-spirited," he smiled.

"Thanks, War—" Ash began, but he stopped when something registered in his brain. "Hey, whatever happened to '_young Ketchum_'?" he asked mockingly.

"Whatever happened to it, it changes nothing," Warbird said firmly, quickly returning to the same serious, solemn look that had been on his face moments before. "Aerodactyl, let's show them some real acrobatics! Use Wing Attack!" he roared, instantly slipping back into his battle strategy as Aerodactyl screeched and dove at the ground, its eyes set hungrily on the still-dancing Pokémon in the grass by the stream.

"Totodile, get comfortable in the stream!" Ash commanded. Totodile stopped his antics at once, an eager spark in his eyes as he swan-dove into the water and hid below its glittering surface. Aerodactyl's red eyes narrowed as it tried to scout its target out, but they quickly widened as it pulled to a stop, struck dumb by Totodile's elusiveness, and it turned its sharp head this way and that over the winding strip of blue as it wondered where the small Pokémon had disappeared to.

"It seems that covert tactics are popular today," Warbird mused. "Aerodactyl, get higher into the air! Totodile can't hurt you if it can't _hit_ you!" he yelled, and Aerodactyl, who would much rather have stayed lower to hunt down the Water-type, reluctantly flapped its wings and climbed further away from the cluster of green trees and the stream, keeping its eyes narrowed at the spot where it had seen Totodile dive under.

"Let's try out the moves we practiced yesterday, Totodile!" shouted Ash, cupping his hands in front of his mouth. "Pretend that Aerodactyl is like Staravia! You've got to try and hit it with your Water Gun!" he roared, and the tip of Totodile's snout broke the surface of the water in reply. Without any warning, a thin jet of water shot upwards like a bullet, spearing through the air and, with nothing less than perfect accuracy, struck Aerodactyl in the left eye.

"_Gyyyaaahhhh!_" screeched the Fossil Pokémon, clumsily trying to claw at its eye to rid itself of the pain. But with every frenzied attempt, it lost more and more height, and soon it was hovering close enough so that its Trainer could see the ridges on the back of its wings, and try as he might to order it back into the air, it was no use.

"Don't stop the music now, Totodile! Keep them coming at a steady pace!" Ash yelled confidently, nodding his head enthusiastically as all of Totodile's head appeared from under the water, spouting thick blasts of water from its mouth every second. Aerodactyl howled with rage as one passed right next to its uninjured eye, but for the most part the Big Jaw Pokémon's attacks hit their mark, striking the Rock-type in the tail, jaw, and belly.

As Warbird roared for his Pokémon to take to the skies again, Aerodactyl found itself in another dilemma; all the water from Totodile's assault had sunk into its wings and was weighing them down, dragging the Fossil Pokémon to an ungainly and vulnerable landing. Restlessly shaking its wings and folding them back into its sides, it shrieked threateningly at Totodile, who scowled back and hopped out of the water.

Both reptilian Pokémon eyed the other, with an intense, inexplicable dislike that seemed to spark somewhere in the air, because all of a sudden Aerodactyl snapped its jaws wide open and fired an Ancientpower of its own accord, making its Trainer swear with frustration.

"Totodile, jump out of the way!" Ash bellowed, and Totodile quickly leapt back underneath the safety of the stream as the bright ball flew overhead. Ash cheered as he saw Totodile resurface, unharmed, but he himself was forced to duck for cover as the attack sailed over his own head, spearing into the boundary wall and burning a deep hole into the blue steel. "Well, that was a close one…" he muttered, before focusing back on the battlefield.

"Shake off the water and use Wing Attack!" Warbird roared. Aerodactyl pounced forwards, rapidly smacking its wings together, and sprays of water bounced from its skin with every slap as the moisture slowly drained out of the folds. The Fossil Pokémon suddenly screeched and threw itself at Totodile, spreading its wings and catching a powerful gust of air that blew in from the stadium's open roof, and it cut down the distance between it and its foe in moments.

"Totodile, stand firm!" Ash shouted, the crowd murmuring amongst itself in confusion as his command drifted towards them. But Totodile understood perfectly, digging one of his small feet into the knotted grass behind him and baring his sharp teeth. The Big Jaw Pokémon braced himself for the impact, but he couldn't have prepared for the ferocity in the strike; Aerodactyl swung its wing back nearly a full half-turn before showing its teeth and ripping back around. The power of the Wing Attack slammed Totodile into the ground like a cannonball dropping from a jet plane; all the breath was knocked clean out of the Water-type's body as it was dumped spread-eagled on its back.

"Grab hold of its tail!" ordered Ash. Totodile's eyes snapped open the moment his Trainer's word reached him, and his hands snatched at the air as a long, grey length of flesh whipped over his head. Totodile's claws dug into the bottom of Aerodactyl's tail as it sped through the air, ripped up into its slipstream as the latter turned its head and snarled at its foe.

"Get rid of Totodile, Aerodactyl!" Warbird boomed crossly, his eyes smouldering as the small Water-type swung itself up onto his Pokémon's tail, safely between its body and the devil's point at the end. Aerodactyl screeched savagely, and its thick tail lurched this way and that as it tried to knock Totodile out of the sky, but the Big Jaw Pokémon clung on grimly to its tough hide, not giving an inch no matter what came.

"Cuban, now!" shouted the dark-skinned shaman, clenching his fists in anticipation as Aerodactyl banked upwards with its foe still latched on. Totodile half-shut his eyes as the winds tore at his body, but a second later his feet were dangling into open space as Aerodactyl spun upside down. Another terrifying moment later, he was smacked back onto the Fossil Pokémon's tail as it righted itself and banked upwards for another manoeuvre.

"Totodile, hit Aerodactyl with an Ice Punch!" Ash yelled hurriedly, whilst Aerodactyl continued to swerve and spin in a fierce figure-eight. Totodile clamped his jaws down onto the Rock-type's tail, grimacing as the foul, rubbery taste nearly made him choke, but his hooked teeth stuck like a vice as he gingerly dropped his arms away, growling happily as they swung around at his sides.

"_Tcho…_" he grunted, his voice muffled by the disgusting chunk of tail in his mouth, as his small fists started to glow with soft white light and shimmered with tiny flecks of ice. Aerodactyl shrieked in fear and dove towards the ground, aiming for a particularly tall tree that stood out amongst the others, but it could already feel an uncomfortably cold sensation around the spot on its tail being bitten by its foe.

"Go for it!" Ash shouted encouragingly, punching the air with a thumbs-up. Totodile nodded his head and swung both fists straight into Aerodactyl's tough hide, hearing the Fossil Pokémon cry out in pain as his attack encased a whole section of its tail in solid ice. There was a great roar from the stands, but whilst half cheered for Totodile, the other half pointed at Aerodactyl as it continued to fly towards the tall tree.

"Now what could Aerodactyl and Warbird be planning here?" Troy asked curiously, flicking his long fringe out of the way as the Fossil Pokémon shot down towards the ground, even though Totodile was slowly covering its tail with blue ice crystals. "Unless—"

"If that Totodile won't let go, scrape it off, Aerodactyl!" Warbird bellowed, aiming a finger at the tree. Aerodactyl screeched and swung even lower through the sky, turning its body sideways so that its belly was facing the stands, and it sped straight across the face of the thorny green foliage. Totodile was harshly torn away from his foe, the thick branches slamming into him repeatedly and driving all the breath out of his small lungs, and he dropped away from the Fossil Pokémon only to crash into a lower-lying tree and smack into the ground.

"Totodile, are you alright?!" Ash shouted, eyes shaking as he waited for anything to reply.

"_To…to…di…le…_" came a faint growl, and Ash thumped the air with his fist, echoed by tens of thousands of excited cheers in the stands, as the Big Jaw Pokémon stumbled out of the maze of trees and flashed a toothy grin. Despite the supposed joy, his Trainer could see the cuts, bruises and scratches that were plastered all over his blue body, and both Trainer and Pokémon knew that the Water-type wouldn't be able to last too much longer.

"Use Water Gun!" ordered Ash, pointing at Aerodactyl, who was battering its tail against the ground as it broke away all the ice that was encasing it.

"Aerodactyl, stop worrying about your tail and counter with Ancientpower!" barked Warbird, and the Fossil Pokémon irritably focused on its opponent as it charged a shining white ball of energy in front of its jaws. Totodile tensed himself and volleyed a pulsing jet of water across the battlefield, and Aerodactyl fired its attack as well, the two blasts meeting each other in mid-air and wiping each other out with a colossal bang, a shower of water and a starburst of light.

"Now we finish things!" Warbird snarled, baring his teeth as his Pokémon discarded the last chunk of ice from its tail. "Move in!" he shouted to Aerodactyl, who took to the skies again before folding its wings and diving straight back down the way it came; the only difference was that now Totodile was in the dead centre of its path.

"Totodile, make for the trees again!" instructed Ash, clenching his jaw as he saw his opponent's Pokémon draw closer.

"When you're within range, take Totodile out with your Hyper Beam!" Warbird boomed, just as Ash's Pokémon began to hobble towards the dark expanse beneath the leafy canopy.

"Come on, Totodile! Move it up a gear!" Ash urged his Water-type, who moved as quickly as he could towards the safety of the trees. But he was far too slow, and a few moments later he felt the shadow pass across his body as Warbird's Fossil Pokémon appeared in the sky above him, the orange ball of energy pulsing in front of its mouth.

With a final, vicious smirk, Aerodactyl blasted its Hyper Beam directly at Totodile, sending it rocketing through the forest. The Water-type was sent straight through tree after tree, their seemingly thick trunks snapping under the force with which Aerodactyl's attack was sending Totodile through, and he speared through the other side of the cluster of trees in a smoking heap, with jagged swirls in his eyes.

"Totodile is unable to battle!" shouted the referee, pointing her green flag at Warbird and Aerodactyl for the second time in a row.

"What a move!" Troy screamed, his voice becoming hoarse with having to speak over the din of the enormous crowd below him. "Just when we thought that Totodile might be getting the upper hand with its Ice Punch, Aerodactyl just scrapes it off like a piece of chewing gum! And that Hyper Beam! I can speak for us all when I say that Totodile wasn't the only one who felt the power behind it… I'm still trying to get my hair back into the right shape!" he added, earning himself for the round of laughter from the stands.

"Excellent work, Aerodactyl!" Warbird grinned, clapping his hands for a few brief moments as his Fossil Pokémon roared and flapped its wings victoriously. Ash swore to himself in frustration, knowing what the result meant for him, and he reluctantly held his Lure Ball at arm's length as though praying for Totodile to miraculously stand up and continue fighting on.

"Totodile… you did great… have a rest," he murmured, and the Big Jaw Pokémon was safely recalled into the PokéBall.

"Ash is done for…" groaned Max, his head flopping into his hands. "How is his Staravia going to be able to take down a Pokémon as scary as that Aerodactyl…?"

"Hey, show some faith!" hissed Anabel, glaring at him with fire-filled eyes as she stood to her feet. "If anyone's shown that he can come back from the brink of losing, it's Ash! Cyndaquil knocked out two fully-evolved Pokémon yesterday, and I know that Staravia's going to be able to pull off something like that as well!"

"Staravia are aerial Pokémon, too, so he won't be at much of a disadvantage…" Leoric pointed out, and Brock nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, and he's not actually that bad of a battler," added the Pokémon breeder, stroking his chin with a thumb. "I mean, Gliscor was Ash's preferred Pokémon to use in the sky when we were in Sinnoh, but Staravia got a fair share of action. I think Warbird might be in for a surprise, here, Anabel," he smiled, and Anabel grinned knowingly as she sat back down in her seat.

"Whatever," snorted Wynter, completely unconvinced as he leant back in his seat.

_I _know_ Warbird's in for a surprise…_ she thought.

"Well, it looks like it's just you and me, Staravia," Ash muttered, looking down at the red-and-white ball in his hand. "I know I'm asking a lot of you, and I know that you might not be ready, but together I'm sure we can win." His mind flashed back to the day before, where his Cyndaquil had fought tooth-and-nail to give him the victory, and he could sense that same kind of upset in the air, so he threw the PokéBall as high as he could as he roared, "Let's show them how we do things around these parts, Staravia!"

The PokéBall split open at the top of its rise, and Ash's Staravia flew majestically out of the blast of white light that came from it. Warbird pursed his lips and cocked his head to the side as Ash's final Pokémon hovered in the air above its Trainer, bemused by his choice to leave his only Flying-type until the very end of the battle. The crowd, too, seemed confused by the Starling Pokémon's appearance, a congregation of buzzing rising out of the stands as Ash hid an inward smirk.

_They've got no idea what we worked on yesterday…_ he thought, smiling wider. _It wasn't all drills and swerves…_

"No matter what you've saved for last, Ash, I won't be beaten now!" Warbird boomed. "My Pokémon and I will triumph, whether over land, or with a skyward duel! Aerodactyl, move in for Wing Attack!" he shouted to his Fossil Pokémon, who bared its teeth expectantly and sped forwards, wings spread to their widest as the small hooked claws on them flexed eagerly.

"Let's fly, Staravia!" yelled Ash, and Staravia bolted upwards into the bright blue sky, speeding away from Aerodactyl, the latter hissing thirstily as it banked upwards in pursuit. "Charge Aerodactyl down with Steel Wing!" he commanded, and Staravia gave a piercing trill as its brown wings became shining curves of white light. The Normal-type cawed again, this time diving down towards its incoming foe, who snarled as its red eyes burned with savage fire.

"_Staraaaaavia~!_" chirped Staravia, tilting sideways and accelerating forwards. Just as it swung its wing back to strike, the Fossil Pokémon countered by dipping below its foe's attack range, and it easily avoided a clumsy attempt by Staravia to make contact. Instead of carrying through with its Wing Attack, Aerodactyl flicked its tail upwards and crushed the Starling Pokémon's face against it, sending it reeling backwards through the air as it began to fall towards the trees.

"Come back around for a second pass!" Warbird barked, and Aerodactyl pulled up into the air, executing a tight sideways somersault before rocketing back the way it came. The Rock-type screeched fiercely just as Staravia began to regain its focus, and the former cannoned into the Starling Pokémon with a crunch, driving its iron-hard head into its foe's belly. Staravia cried out in a silent scream, all the air knocked away from its lungs as it was hurtled back towards the ground.

"Staravia, pull up!" Ash roared, but Staravia either didn't hear, or wasn't able to obey, because it continued to spiral down through the air aimlessly with eyes shut. "_Staravia_?!" he repeated, the crowd gasping with horror as the bird plummeted like a stone. "_Open your eyes and pull up!_" he bellowed, the sound of his voice ringing through the air, and, at last, into the reaches of his Pokémon's brain.

"_Sta…"_ chirped Staravia, its eyes fluttering open to see a wide expanse of green trees that was racing closer at frightening pace. The Normal-type squawked loudly and spread its wings wide, frantically trying to push itself upwards before it was slammed into the forest, and it gave a cluck of relief when it found itself slowing down just enough to stop only feet above the trees.

"Ooh, and it's a close shave for Staravia, but it _just_ manages to stay clear of getting seriously hurt by those mangroves!" observed Troy. "For a moment there, I was willing to consider it down and out, judging on how hard that hit was by Aerodactyl! But you can never be sure when the chips are down, and Staravia has, somehow, managed to hold on!"

"Excellent work, Staravia!" Ash cheered, followed closely by more cheers from the crowd. "Now get up higher in the sky!" he ordered, his Pokémon whistling fiercely as it shot straight upwards. Warbird pursed his lips, and Aerodactyl screeched in confusion as its foe completely ignored it, instead opting to fly even higher than what it was, till it was barely visible to the spectators on the ground.

"Chase it down!" barked Warbird, pointing up at the dark speck amongst the blue. "Then bring it back down with Wing Attack!"

"_Gyaaaahhhh!_" roared the Fossil Pokémon, flicking its tail behind it as it put on a burst of speed.

"Staravia, blow it back with Gust!" Ash yelled, a nervous frown on his face as Aerodactyl shot towards Staravia far quicker than he'd thought. Staravia furiously beat its wings at its foe, kicking up a powerful gale that rushed down to meet the Rock-type head on. Aerodactyl howled as the strong currents of air tore at its body, sending it hurtling back down towards its Trainer.

"Follow up with Steel Wing!" shouted Ash. Staravia swooped down and plunged through the air after its foe, its wings glowing a fierce white as the wind pounded against them. Aerodactyl regained its balance below, and after a moment to steady itself it launched itself at the Starling Pokémon, screeching with jaws wide open and claws flexed. It threw its wing wide and accelerated forwards, but Staravia was faster, weaving sideways and striking its foe across the brow with a telling blow of its Steel Wing that sent the Rock-type careening into the hard trees on the battlefield.

"Aerodactyl!" gasped Warbird, as the plume of dust spread over the arena. As it cleared, the shaman breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his Pokémon standing up in a small gap between the trees. "Use Ancientpower!" he roared, throwing his arm forwards, and Aerodactyl immediately took to the sky. By the time it had flown above the line of the trees, the white ball of energy was already formed in front of its blood-red jaws. It blasted its Ancientpower through the air at Staravia, the attack sizzling with heat as it streaked through the sky towards its target.

"Dodge with Agility, and follow it up with another Steel Wing!" Ash ordered. Staravia nodded and swung around in the air, moving so fast that its body seemed to be flickering on and off as its wings were wrapped in white light. The Starling Pokémon darted left and right, moving daringly through the path of Aerodactyl's Ancientpower, and it winced with pain as the tip of the glowing ball seared past the tips of its talons.

Aerodactyl bared its teeth as its attack faded into the sky, but Staravia quickly arced down and threw the face of its shining wing around. The hit connected with a sickening crunch, and the Fossil Pokémon shrieked in agony as it was sent rocketing back into the arena, landing in a sprawled heap in the long grass at the forest's edge. Screeching dangerously, Aerodactyl struggled to its feet, flexing its joints and leaping into the sky again, more than eager to get its revenge on Staravia.

"Those were some impressive displays of power by Ash's Staravia, weren't they?!" Troy shouted, whilst Warbird's fans cheered with delight at Aerodactyl's defiance. "And the speed from that Agility attack was incredible! Warbird and Aerodactyl can't seem to find the answers against this deceptively tough opponent, and Ash is coming up with all the right moves to counter them! Could we be seeing a minor upset in this match?!"

"Aerodactyl, use Hyper Beam! Finish this!" Warbird bellowed, gritting his teeth as Aerodactyl rose higher and higher into the blue sky.

"Third time's the charm, Staravia, so let's try one last Steel Wing!" roared Ash. Staravia shrieked and pinned its wings to its sides, diving towards the Fossil Pokémon in freefall even as the latter's Hyper Beam began to charge in front of its maw. Fearlessly, the Starling Pokémon's wings burned bright with white light as its head glowed with the orange of its foe's attack, and Aerodactyl's eyes glimmered a moment later as its ball of energy reached its full size.

"_Giiiyaaaah!_" it howled, and its Hyper Beam seemed to split the sky in two as it advanced on Staravia, filling the arena with a fierce vermillion flare.

"Staravia, cross your wings!" screamed Ash. Staravia, still flying into the face of Aerodactyl's attack, swung its wings in front of its head in an X-shape, their glow half-blinding their owner as the Hyper Beam hit its mark. The point of impact gleamed with an intense blast of blinding yellow light, and everybody in the stadium was forced to shield their eyes from it as the concussion wave from the two attacks whipped across the field and sent a wave of dust spiralling outwards.

"Full power, Aerodactyl!" Warbird boomed. Aerodactyl roared again, and the beam of light bursting from its mouth suddenly bulged outwards, a huge bead of orange flying through the path of the Hyper Beam and blasting into Staravia. But, amazingly, the attack hit the Pokémon and fanned outwards, curving through the air before dissolving into the blue. "What is this?!" hissed the shaman, his eyes widening.

"Staravia, break that attack!" Ash called out. With a resounding cry, Staravia slung its wings outwards, snapping Aerodactyl's Hyper Beam into two pillars that flew either side of its body. The Rock-type growled in shock, but Staravia had already flown downwards with its wings still glowing and spread wide, turning into a gentle sideways spin as it raced at its foe. Aerodactyl's wings wildly scrabbled in the air as it tried to slash with its claws, but the Starling Pokémon zoomed straight through the desperate attempt and dealt it a punishing uppercut with its Steel Wing.

Staravia crowed triumphantly as Aerodactyl's head tipped backwards, the rest of its body following as it collapsed in mid-air and plunged limply towards the ground. It took a long time for the Fossil Pokémon to hit the battlefield, falling almost in slow motion as its leathery skin smacked into the grass, but when it came to rest, there was no doubt as to the fact that it was unable to continue the battle, and the referee swung her red flag in Ash's direction to signify it.

"Aerodactyl is unable to battle!" she shouted.

"You did it, Staravia!" cheered Ash, his jubilant voice all but lost in the screaming and applause of the enormous crowd. Staravia chirped happily and flew back down to the ground, landing in front of its Trainer and raising its wings to the sky as a sign of victory.

"_Wow_! Unbelievable! Ash has actually pulled it off!" roared Troy, his voice being muffled under the din blaring out of the stands as well. "Those last few seconds certainly had me gripping the edge of my seat, and I'm sure that I wasn't the only one! Just when Aerodactyl looked like it might put the final nail in Ash's coffin, his Staravia pulls off an unbelievable save! With one foot in the tournament grave, he orders his Staravia right into the face of a Hyper Beam attack, and it finishes Aerodactyl off with a jawbreaker of a Steel Wing!"

"I wonder how Ash knew that Staravia would survive that attack," Anabel mused to the others, who all returned blank looks and even blanker shrugs.

"But you know what this means!" Troy continued, his voice rising with excitement. "Take it away, Catherine!" he grinned, and the referee on the sidelines nodded her head.

"Both Trainers are now down to their last Pokémon!" she stated. "As such, we enter the Sudden Death stage of this fifth-round battle! If a Pokémon falls onto the battlefield and does not rise within five seconds, it will be deemed unable to battle, and its Trainer will be eliminated from the tournament! Do both Trainers understand?" she asked routinely.

"You bet, Catherine!" Ash said eagerly, patting a hand on Staravia's head. "Staravia, I know you can keep going," he muttered to his Starling Pokémon, "so believe that you can. If we believe we can win, then it'll happen."

"_Staraa~!_" chimed Staravia, beating its wings and taking to the sky again, flying in a gentle circle above its Trainer's head.

"And you, Warbird?!" Catherine asked the shaman, who nodded his head and took his final PokéBall from his belt.

"Let us finish this battle, Ash!" he boomed, enlarging the ball. "A battle to test everything we have gained over our lives! Come forth, my final Pokémon!" he roared, tossing the PokéBall high, and it exploded with white light as a large Pokémon flew smoothly out from its depths.

It was, like the five Pokémon before it, a Flying-type Pokémon, this one covered mostly in navy blue feathers. Its long yellow beak dipped forwards from its face, hidden in the shadow of the hat-like crest on top of its head, which was shredded towards the back. Two half-closed red eyes glared out on either side of the beak, and two small crescent moons of white sat in front of the sockets. A huge white collar of feathers stuck out from in front of its chest, resembling a wise man's beard as it pointed towards the two dark sets of talons underneath its belly. The Pokémon cawed and spread its wings wide, showing a red fan of feathers on their fronts, and as it soared into the sky, its tail became visible; it looked like a red bouquet of feathers wrapped in a white sleeve.

"_Kroooooowwwww!_" shrieked the Pokémon, and Ash gritted his teeth agitatedly at the sight of it.

"A Honchkrow…" he muttered, his mind reeling back to months before. He remembered the last time he had battled a Honchkrow; it was his Grotle, then a Turtwig, facing off against one such Pokémon that belonged to Paul. Even though Turtwig had evolved during the battle, he hadn't come close to knocking it out, and the bitter loss still made him clench his fist in anger at the thought of it. He shook himself out of his memories and turned his attention back to the battlefield, where both Staravia and Honchkrow were eyeing each other off unpleasantly.

"So… Warbird's last Pokémon is a Honchkrow…" Max muttered, before turning to Wynter. "Wynter, what do you know about it?" he asked the long-haired boy, whose eyebrows twinged as he looked skyward at the Big Boss Pokémon.

"Actually…" he answered, "I didn't know he _had_ a Honchkrow… I thought he was always going to save Xatu for last, but he sent _that_ out right at the start. I would've used his Drifblim in his situation, but I guess he knows what he's doing with a Dark-type, or else he wouldn't be using it," he added, shrugging his shoulders. "Whatever it is, Staravia's probably worn down from beating his Aerodactyl, so this shouldn't take too much longer."

"_Hey_!" hissed Anabel. "What'd I say before the intermission?! If you're not going to say something nice, don't say it!"

"Don't have an aneurysm, girly," chuckled Wynter. "But you can't expect—ah, never mind…" he sighed, turning back to the battlefield.

"Honchkrow, this is the end! Let's give everything we have, and then give some more!" Warbird rallied, and Honchkrow screeched in reply. "Fire off a Dark Pulse!" he ordered, and Honchkrow opened its beak wide and charged a small ball of dark energy in front of its body. With a flap of its great wings, the attack flew forwards as a spiralling mass of spinning purple-black rings that launched themselves through the air at Staravia.

"Use Agility to dodge the attack, Staravia!" shouted Ash, and the Normal-type dashed from side to side to try and avoid the incoming barrage. It swept past the pulses with relative ease, but Honchkrow and Warbird seemed to be unfazed by the acrobatic display, even as Staravia wheeled around and began to trace a stadium-wide circle in the air.

"Are you warmed up, Honchkrow?!" Warbird asked loudly, and Honchkrow nodded its elegant head.

"Warmed up?!" Ash repeated, shifting his foot backwards. "You mean that was just a tester?" he asked, his face twitching as Warbird nodded.

"Chase Staravia down with your Dark Pulse!" he roared, pointing at his speeding foe. Honchkrow beat its wings again and rocketed after the Starling Pokémon, the latter still racing around with its Agility attack. Staravia dove quickly to the left as it was forced to evade a rapid-fire blast of whirring purple rings from the Dark-type, and Honchkrow followed up its attack by closing the gap and firing another wave of energy, this time falling just short as its foe banked upwards at the last moment.

"You can do it, Staravia!" Ash shouted encouragingly, his heart pounding wildly in his chest with every daring escape that his Pokémon made. "Just stay clear of those Dark Pulses!" he added.

"I'm not sure that's such a wise idea…" Brock murmured, his brow creased as Honchkrow's spinning beam of darkness missed its target by a feather. "Staravia's going to tire itself out if Ash has it dodge Honchkrow's attacks over and over again."

"It's better than getting knocked out by a Dark Pulse!" Misty pointed out hotly. She waved her hand forcefully at the aerial game of cat-and-mouse and shouted, "Would you rather get hit by one of those?!"

"That's not his point," Leoric interrupted. "Honchkrow's too fast. It's going to land a hit whether Ash likes it or not. Look," he said calmly, pointing a finger on each hand at Staravia and Honchkrow. "You see? Honchkrow closes the gap with every dodge that Staravia is forced to make. Max will agree with me when I say Staravia gets hit in five attacks or less," he added gravely, and Max gulped.

"He's right…" he stammered. Just as the words left him, Staravia swooped down in the air and headed straight for the ground, narrowly dodging a vicious blast by its pursuer.

"Four…" Leoric grunted irately.

"This is certainly an interesting passage of play here, folks!" Troy shouted, a look of surprise on the visible part of his face. "Ash seems quite content with letting Honchkrow try and assault Staravia, who's dodging these Dark Pulses with speed and dexterity! But Honchkrow looks like it could do this all day," he added, watching Honchkrow shoot another Dark Pulse at the ground just past Staravia. The Normal-type pulled up short and levelled out just over the field, swinging to the left and racing up past the treetops as it continued to evade the Big Boss Pokémon.

"And _another_ bullet dodged by Staravia!" he exclaimed, whilst the crowd roared with the thrill of watching the spectacle. "Wise move or not, this is certainly some excellent viewing for everyone watching! This'll be great for the highlight reel!"

"Two…" counted Leoric, spying a third close call as Staravia spun past Honchkrow's attack. But the wave of air behind the attack pushed the Starling Pokémon to the side, and it squawked in panic as it hastily tried to fix its direction. Warbird smirked as he saw it, and he took his chance.

"Knock it down with Drill Peck!" he roared. Honchkrow's beak curved into a cruel grin as it charged forwards, the yellow spear glowing with a swirling white light as it homed in on the frantic Staravia. With a savage warble, Honchkrow smashed its powerful beak into the small of its foe's back, and the Normal-type cried out in pain as it fell out of the sky, spinning through the air as it plunged towards the ground.

"Staravia, hold firm! Come on!" Ash yelled, and the Starling Pokémon regained its focus before twisting its body in mid-air, instantly righting itself and hovering halfway between Honchkrow and the forest. "Great job! Now use Steel Wing!" he roared.

"_Staraa—_"

"Not so fast!" boomed Warbird. "Honchkrow, Psychic attack!"

"_Honch…!_" hissed Honchkrow, its body shimmering with a pale outline of blue light, and Staravia was struck dumb in mid-cry as it was frozen by the attack. The Big Boss Pokémon smirked as it spread its wing wide, and, with an almost insulting movement, swung it across the breadth of its body, brutally cannoning Staravia into the hard ground beyond the grass of the battlefield.

"Staravia, no!" Ash shouted, running to the edge of his Trainer's box. "Come on, Staravia, get up!" he yelled, almost pleading with his Pokémon. To his intense relief and joy, the Normal-type struggled to its feet and stood proudly as it glared at the Dark-type hovering in the sky above. Honchkrow screeched arrogantly, and Staravia shrieked back in reply, spreading its wings wide and preparing to launch itself at its foe.

"I knew you still had it in you…" Ash whispered, smiling warmly at his Pokémon. "Alright!" he called out, brandishing his fist. "If you're good to go, then so am I! Use Steel Wing!" he commanded.

"_Staraaaaaaa~!_" screamed Staravia, but instead of its wings shining with light, its entire body disappeared behind a fierce white glow that illuminated the entire battlefield. Warbird cursed loudly, hardly able to believe his luck, and Honchkrow scowled at its foe, as the entire crowd rose to their feet and looked on, captured by the scene.

"What—?!" Ash gasped, staring in wonder at his Pokémon. "Staravia… you're evolving!"

* * *

**Trivia:**

***No Pokémon has knocked out an Aerodactyl in the anime series, including the Aerodactyl that appeared in Pokémon Chronicles.**

***All of Warbird's Pokémon in this chapter know STAB moves for both of their types.**

**Quiz:**

***Aerodactyl is the only fossil Pokémon to be received through a Pokémon trade. Which Pokémon do you have to trade over in return?**

* * *

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!**

Okay, so I got a message/review from a certain reader, who found it amazing that each day passes after about 10 or so chapters! So he suggested a timeline of events just to smooth things out, and I thought to myself "That's not a bad idea, 031ap!" and so, if you care to take a gander at the World Pokémon Championships topic, you'll find a timeline of which chapters make up each day, and so on. So be sure to check it if you're confused about anything regarding time...

**END IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!**

* * *

**As for the chapter you've just read... DP118 Pokéringer, anyone? Haha, Kasuchi nailed it on the head _yet again_ when he reviewed in (about a month ago) to ask me about the possibility of Staravia evolving. So I decided to have it as close to the anime as possible, so yeah. **

**Speaking of Paul, did anyone watch the 599th episode last night? The full battle between Ash and Paul? Epic, I tell you... e-p-i-c.**

**250 reviews! Hurrah! Now all I need to do is hit 300 and I'll be set! Thanks to everyone who reviewed!!!**

**Oh, and this chapter broke the second-to-last chapter before it in terms of word count! About 500 more than the previous two, and its now the big daddy of the chapters! Just goes to show you how much I like writing battles!! And I'm so darn close to 400,000 words, I'm gonna go nuts before I actually publish the next chapter, haha!!!**

**The Affection Collection poll will be taken down when I publish Chapter 81. I need to put a brand new poll up as I count down the last few months before The Elite Sixteen, and this'll be a gauge of what's happened and what's to come. So, you absolutely have to vote for your favourite pairings! Even if you only vote for one!**

**Flashing another reminder to... RREA436 for Eric Trimble's summary. Just as a minor spoiler, he'll be appearing as early as Chapter 81, so make a note to do that. **

**And to Titanic X and TJay-Dragg (I'm sorry I haven't answered your questions before now), Terra White will be appearing during the latter stages of TES and early in the second story, and Joey Terfra will be appearing early into TES as a semi-finalist in the tournament. I hope that answers your questions.**

**Chapter 80 (Fly Another Day) will be published on June 19th, for the thrilling conclusion of Ash's battle against the enigmatic Warbird! ...so make sure to come back for that one next week! ****Thanks again to everyone for their feedback!**

**Don't forget to review!!! Please!!!**


	80. Fly Another Day

**CHAPTER 80 – FLY ANOTHER DAY**

"_Staraaaaaaa~!_" shrieked Staravia, the light from its Steel Wing covering its body. The intensity of the Pokémon's glow spread outwards and lit up the entire stadium, dancing over the eyes of the thousands upon thousands of spectators that excitedly rose to their feet and waited breathlessly for what was about to happen. Ash, standing on the battlefield, gasped in wonder as the light slowly began to reform itself, growing outwards into the shining silhouette of an even larger bird-like figure.

All at once, the light disappeared, revealing a powerful-looking Pokémon in the place where Staravia had once been. It stood at almost double the height of its pre-evolution, a feat that was further helped by the large grey crest of feathers above its brow, and the front of the crest dangled in front of its eyes with a crimson tip. Its beak almost touched the tip of this crest, and it was identical in colour to Staravia's; a dull orange giving way to grey at the point. The Pokémon's stomach was a brilliant, snowy white with a jagged grey zigzag splashed across the centre, which seemed to arc back towards its pointed ears at the side of its face. Two powerful wings shot to their full lengths at its sides, and a pair of firm talons gripped the ground as it gave a roaring bellow.

"_Staraaaptor!_"

"Wow, what an unexpected surprise!" roared Troy, and the fans in the crowd went wild at the Pokémon's appearance. "Ash's Staravia has evolved into a Staraptor!"

"Staraptor…" Ash repeated, a light flicking on in his mind. "Wait, I battled Reggie's Staraptor in Veilstone City all those months ago!" he exclaimed, fishing his red Pokédex out of his pants pocket. "I'd better brush up on my facts," he muttered, training the device on his newly evolved Pokémon.

_Staraptor, the Predator Pokémon, the final evolutionary form of Starly and Staravia,_ chimed the Pokédex. _Staraptor has a savage nature, and will courageously challenge any foe, even ones that are far larger than itself. The muscles in its wings and legs are extremely well-developed, and are adeptly used in close combat situations with foes. Staraptor can easily pick smaller Pokémon off the ground and fly away with them, but it is also skilled at hunting larger prey for long periods of time._

"A close combat situation…" Ash murmured, storing the phrase in his memory as stuck the Pokédex back into his pocket. "Well, that certainly sounds like it could come in handy!" he said confidently as he looked at Staraptor. "What do you say, Staraptor? You ready to get this battle back on our terms?!" he shouted, and Staraptor screeched eagerly in reply. "Then let's get back in the air!" he commanded. Staraptor unfolded its wings and, with one effortless flap, launched itself into the air where it hovered just above the line of the forest trees.

"I'm sure you're used to hearing this by now, buddy," Ash laughed, "but let's test out your new speed with a Steel Wing!"

"Honchkrow, let's discourage that Staraptor quickly!" Warbird barked, folding his arms. "Prepare your Sky Attack!" he boomed, and Honchkrow soared even higher into the air as its dark feathers were wrapped in thick wisps of white light that streamed all around its body. Staraptor shrieked and launched itself upwards, the tips of its wings engulfed in a harsh white light that spread all the way to their bases as it sped towards the Dark-type like a blur.

"Charge it down!" bellowed the shaman, and Honchkrow's eyes focused on the advancing Predator Pokémon as it aimed its body down and plummeted forwards. The streamers of white light cascaded from the Pokémon's red tail as it swerved left and right, picking up more and more speed as the two foes closed in on each other, and Warbird gritted his teeth bracingly as they came within feet of each other.

"_Krow!_" snarled Honchkrow, accelerating forwards into its target, but it passed right through a current of warm air as Staraptor flickered and disappeared into the air. "_Hon?! Honchkrow honch?!_" it crowed, the light of its Sky Attack dying out as its head snapped this way and that in search of its foe.

"Let's try out those Close Combat situations, Staraptor!" shouted Ash, and the Big Boss Pokémon felt an almighty gust of wind just above its body. Honchkrow spun around in disbelief, and there was an odd shimmer in the air before Staraptor seemed to materialise out of thin air just inches away, cawing savagely as it hooked its wicked talons into the Dark-type's wings.

Honchkrow seethed with rage and agony as it felt the razor-like claws tearing at its feathers, but all of a sudden the Normal-type silenced its cries with another brutal strike, this time clobbering its foe's beak with a Steel Wing. Staraptor zoomed out of sight, racing behind Honchkrow so quickly that it looked almost instantaneous, and pummelled it with a combination of bruising every reachable inch of the Dark-type with its wings, searing slashes of its claws, and finishing off the assault with a vicious hook of its left wing into the back of Honchkrow's head.

Staraptor rejoiced in its revenge as it watched Honchkrow crash, battered and bruised, into the mass of trees that was the arena's surface, splitting and snapping branches on its excruciatingly short fall to the ground. There was a tiny puff of dust that rose above the trees, marking the spot where Warbird's Pokémon had landed, and the crowd began to mutter curiously amongst themselves, wondering if Honchkrow – or, indeed, anything – could have endured such an assault without falling unconscious.

"One!" shouted Catherine, her eyes flicking between the large digital clock on the battle screen and the dust-filled clearing on the battlefield. "Two!"

"Honchkrow, get back in the air!" Warbird shouted, his voice lilting at the end when Catherine shouted 'three'. "_Honchkrow_!"

"Four!"

"_Krow… honchkrow!_" growled a voice amongst the dust, and a moment later the cloud lurched to the side as the Big Boss Pokémon hurtled out of it, wings spread wide as the misty beige trailed from them.

"Honchkrow is still able to battle! Let the battle continue!" Catherine announced, her hand letting go of Ash's red flag.

"Now wasn't _that_ a cliff-hanger for us?!" chuckled Troy. "Staraptor really pummelled Honchkrow with that Close Combat move, and it looked like it might have been curtains for Honchkrow when it hit the ground. But Warbird and his chances in this tournament have pulled through, so now the only question is whether they can capitalise on the situation!"

"Hold Staraptor in place with Psychic!" Warbird roared. Honchkrow hissed at its foe and pointed a menacing wing towards it, a blue outline covering its body, and Staraptor squawked in surprise as it the attack locked up its joints and froze it in mid-air. The Dark-type sneered and flicked the topmost feather on its wing, and the Predator Pokémon gave a soundless cry as it felt the weight of the psychic attack squeezing down on it.

"Dark Pulse!" shouted Warbird, and Honchkrow charged a huge ball of black energy in front of its face, spinning and undulating in the air as it grew and grew. Staraptor valiantly fought against its bonds, but it was helpless to escape as its foe blasted the beam of rings into its stomach, and Honchkrow cried victoriously as the Normal-type was blown backwards, smoke trailing from its body as it fell towards the ground.

"Staraptor, pull up!" Ash yelled, and Staraptor frantically beat its wings against the air to slow itself down. "Get back at Honchkrow with a Brave Bird!" he commanded, his Pokémon wheeling around to face its foe and flew at the Big Boss Pokémon. With a battle cry, a wreath of intense red flames appeared from in front of Staraptor's mouth and enveloped its body, giving it the appearance of a fireball being launched from the ground.

"Honchkrow, blast it back with Psychic!" bellowed Warbird. Honchkrow sheathed itself in thin blue light and pointed its wing at the incoming foe, but the attack seemed to be all but powerless, only succeeding in stripping away the flames from Staraptor's body and leaving the Predator Pokémon covered in a blue, crystalline light. The Dark-type screeched and awkwardly flapped its wings and turned tail to flee, but its foe streaked across the sky and hammered its head into Honchkrow's side, knocking it out of the sky as it plummeted back to earth.

"Honchkrow, no!" Warbird exclaimed, wincing as his Pokémon smashed into the ground at the stadium's edge. "Hurry back into the air!" he shouted, and his Big Boss Pokémon struggled ungainly to its feet and ruffled its feathers before leaping into the sky again to continue the battle.

"_Raaaptor!"_ roared Staraptor, glaring at its foe from behind its crimson crest, and Honchkrow screeched back as it tossed its head rudely in reply. The two aerial Pokémon hovered where they were, each one trying to stare the other down without giving away any ground, any signs of a possible weakness after their brutal exchanges. Both waited impatiently for their Trainers' next set of orders, eager for another chance to tear at the foe that had dared to insult it.

"Don't think I'll keep you, Honchkrow!" Warbird yelled. "Hit Staraptor with your Dark Pulse!"

"_Krooowwww!_" snarled the Dark-type. It had apparently been storing its energy for such an attack, for without any visible signal at all, a volley of glowing purple rings exploded from its gaping beak, whizzing lethally through the air towards their target, who hung fearlessly in the air as the projectiles came closer.

"Defend with Steel Wing, just like you did against Aerodactyl's Hyper Beam!" roared Ash, and the Predator Pokémon's wings swiftly began to shine with light as it swung them in front of its chest, forming a protective shield. The barrage of pulses slammed into the shield and bounced to the side, edging Staraptor slowly but surely downwards, their creator squawking fiercely as it intensified its assault.

"Knock Staraptor into the ground!" Warbird shouted encouragingly, pumping the air with his fist as Staraptor was steadily pushed towards the boundary wall below. He looked elatedly across the field at his opponent, confident in the power of his Pokémon's Dark Pulse, but the expression fell from his face as he saw a small grin on Ash's face as the latter stared at Staraptor.

"Hold firm…!" Ash called to his Pokémon, narrowing his eyes when Staraptor began to struggle against the force of Honchkrow's attack.

"What is this?!" Warbird exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock.

"I learned a long time ago that pure power can't win in a battle!" Ash countered. "To be able to win, you've gotta have everything! And that includes _defense_!" he roared, and as he said the last word, his Pokémon roared with its Trainer and threw its wings wide, obliterating Honchkrow's attack into nothing.

"Impossible!" Warbird stammered.

"You've gotta have _speed_ as well!" Ash continued, pointing at the Big Boss Pokémon on the other side of the battlefield. "Staraptor, Agility!"

"_Staaaaar!_" screeched Staraptor, speeding forwards like a bolt of lightning. Before Honchkrow even had time to blink, let alone salvage any hope of defending itself, it found itself on the receiving end of a bone-crunching head-butt from its foe, driving it back through the clear blue sky.

"No way…" Wynter whispered from the stands, half-rising from his seat as the crowd began to swell with noise.

"Honchkrow, stop Staraptor in its tracks with Psychic!" Warbird screamed desperately. Honchkrow's eyes opened in slits as it righted itself in the air, throwing a wing covered in blue light across its body. The Dark-type Pokémon clucked malevolently, rejoicing as the full force of its power struck Staraptor dead-on, immobilising it from head to talon. "Let's hold nothing more back, so throw it into the stadium wall as hard as you can!" ordered the shaman.

"Oh, no you don't!" Ash roared. "Fight it, Staraptor! Get free with Brave Bird!"

Staraptor's face twitched as it summoned all its energy to burst free from its foe's psychic hold, and a sheen of red fire passed over its eyes for a fraction of a second. Honchkrow glowered at the Normal-type and focused its power in response, trying to pin Staraptor's wings against its body, but the latter fought valiantly against its bonds and managed to keep them outstretched even under the enormous strain.

"_Hon…ch…!_" growled the Big Boss Pokémon, but a moment later it was hurled backwards by the power of its own attack as Staraptor threw it right back. Honchkrow righted itself and stared daggers at its foe, but Staraptor had already been covered in its molten case of flames as it shot even higher into the sky. With a brilliant flash, the flaming cover shredded into a million winking pieces around the Predator Pokémon's body, leaving the glittering blue shell of light to surround it as it dove back towards Honchkrow.

"_Staraptor!_" screeched Staraptor, gracefully arcing over the arena as it sliced a path through the air. But grace was quickly forgotten by the spectators as, with a loud crunch, the shimmering blue Pokémon savagely clubbed its wings across Honchkrow's head, swiftly cutting the Dark-type down to size as it rocketed down onto the battlefield. All the Big Boss Pokémon could do was let out a strangled squawk as its body smashed straight through the forest and into the ground, kicking up a plume of dust to replace the trees that had been destroyed in the fall.

"Honchkrow, _no_!" bellowed Warbird, moving to the edge of his Trainer's box. The dust cleared slowly, each moment building the anticipation almost cruelly, until there was a huge roar from the crowd as Honchkrow's form became visible in the middle of a large dent in the field. "Honchkrow, can you still battle?!" he shouted.

"One! Two—!" Catherine began to count, Ash's fans in the stands joining in with deafening gusto. "Three! Four! Five!" she finished, an enormous explosion of noise erupting from all around the stadium with her final word. "Honchkrow is unable to battle! Staraptor is the victor, and the winner is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!" she announced, her arm shooting into the air as it clutched the red flag.

"_YES!_" cried Ash, leaping into the air and punching it with his fist. "We did it, Staraptor!" he shouted to his victorious Pokémon, who screeched with jubilation as it performed a quick victory lap of the sky over the battlefield.

Warbird slumped his shoulders and fell onto one knee at Catherine's declaration, hanging his head to avoid the spectators seeing the tear that slipped from his eye and wound its way down his dark cheek. "I did all I could, and it wasn't enough…" he muttered, his voice thick with emotion. After a moment of crushing silence, he wiped the tear away and stood tall, his eyes shining with pride as he held his valiant Pokémon's PokéBall at arm's length. "Thank you for your strength, Honchkrow. You may return," he muttered warmly, and Honchkrow was recalled to the depths of the ball with a flash of red light.

"What an unbelievable finish!" Troy screamed, jumping up and down in the skybox with exhilaration. "The power! The speed! Both Pokémon went at it with everything they had, and they threw the kitchen sink in for good measure as well! Honchkrow immobilising Staraptor with Psychic, then punishing it with Dark Pulse; Staraptor pummelling Honchkrow with Close Combat; the struggle as Dark Pulse went up against Steel Wing! My head's spinning! But in the middle of all of that intense battling – somehow – we found ourselves a winner, and that winner was Staraptor!"

"And this result means that Ash Ketchum advances to the final qualifying round!" he continued, the adrenaline still blaring in his voice. "Tomorrow night, he'll be duelling in a three-Pokémon shootout with either the mystic—!"

"Staraptor, get down here so I can give you a big hug!" Ash laughed, watching his Flying-type swooping around in the air. Staraptor nodded and dove towards the ground, skidding to a stop just in front of its Trainer and accidentally kicking up a gust of wind that blew Ash's hat from his head. Luckily for the latter, he managed to catch it before it could drift away, and he jammed it back over his black locks before running over and throwing his arm around his newly-evolved Pokémon's neck.

"Congratulations, Ash Ketchum," said a soft voice several feet away, and Ash turned his head to see Warbird standing at the edge of the long grass, having walked all the way across the arena. "Your Pokémon fought with valour, honour, and heart. This victory is one you deserve."

"Thanks, Warbird," Ash replied with a smile, walking over to stand next to the Trainer. "You were a really tough opponent, too! I thought I was in real trouble when Aerodactyl hit Staravia with that head-butt!" he chuckled.

"Well, if I could instil a little fear and doubt in your strategy, then I guess I did my job," laughed the shaman. He then held up a hand and rummaged through his leather vest with the other, apparently searching for something. A second or two later, he grunted as he found the object, and he covered it with his fist as he held the latter out to Ash palm-up.

"This is yours now," he smiled, uncurling his fist to reveal a small piece of metal. It was about the size of a coin, shaped like a pair of green, outstretched wings, with two red lines cutting diagonally across the face of them and meeting at the ends.

"But… that looks like a Gym Badge…" Ash muttered confusedly, hesitating as his hand reached for the item. Warbird's smile widened.

"It's the Gym Badge from my hometown of Sky Point City. I am the Gym Leader, and I hand out the Wing Badge to worthy Trainers who have bested me in battle. You have fulfilled all the criteria in superb fashion, and you have given me a battle I will not soon forget, so I wish to bestow it to you. Take it," he nodded, moving his hand towards Ash, and the Trainer glanced at Warbird's face again for another confirmation before accepting the token.

"Alright…!" Ash cheered, holding the Badge aloft as Staraptor spread its wings wide behind him. "I got… a Wing Badge!" he shouted, striking his trademark victory pose.

"Congratulations again, Ash," said Warbird. "I wouldn't have expected less from a Trainer under the watch of Ho-Oh."

"Huh? Ho-Oh…?" Ash repeated blankly, looking stupidly at his opponent.

"Ho-Oh is the Pokémon whose spirit was watching over you in this battle," he smirked, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "You must be destined for great things…" he added prophetically, surveying Ash's young face with his eyes before half-turning away. "May you fare well in your future," he muttered, nodding a final time to Ash – and then once to Staraptor, who returned the gesture curtly – and waving at the slowly departing crowd as he headed for the tunnel at the stadium's side.

"'_Destined for great things_'…" Ash murmured, looking down at the Badge still held between his fingers.

* * *

Ash sat on a park bench a street down from Stadium Four, twirling the Wing Badge around in his hand, as he waited for Pikachu and the others to catch up with him. Excitable children who were passing by squealed with delight when they saw him, but their parents held the youngsters back, muttering to them about respecting people's privacy, and he blew a breath of relief at every instance of this; he was well and truly drained from the battle, and he felt like he could fall asleep any moment on the warm bench.

_Especially after that dream with Darkrai…_ he thought sourly, leaning his head back so that his face caught the ten o'clock sunlight. _That certainly didn't help getting me refreshed. But, I guess it wasn't all a waste before the battle,_ he added, blushing as he remembered his passionate encounter with Anabel. He could feel his heart starting to beat faster in his chest as he closed his eyes, and so he nearly screamed when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Even though he didn't scream, he still jumped a foot into the air as his head swung around from side to side.

"Hey, don't worry! It's only us!" chuckled Brock. Ash calmed himself down, just as Pikachu jumped out of Anabel's arms and leapt onto his shoulder, rubbing his cheek against his Trainer's. "Congratulations on winning, Ash!" he shouted joyously, followed by a raucous chorus of agreement from his friends, all clustered around Ash in a semicircle full of bright faces and wide grins.

"Yeah, now you're officially one of the world's thirty-two best Trainers!" Max piped up, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. "One more win and you're in the finals!"

"I wonder who you'll have to face to make the Top Sixteen…" Misty pondered aloud. Ash shuffled his feet and glanced uncomfortably at Anabel, who was intentionally staring at the spot between his shoes.

"Who cares about that?!" Dawn giggled, slapping Ash on the back. "Let's just enjoy a win for what it is, right, Ash?" she asked, and Ash nodded his head vigorously.

"Exactly! And check out the what Warbird gave me!" he said proudly, holding the Gym Badge up to the light for everyone to see. "It's called a Wing Badge, and—"

"Warbird gives it to Trainers who beat him at the Sky Point City Gym," interrupted Wynter, looking bored. "I already filled them in on it."

"Oh… and who might you be?" Ash asked politely. Leoric looked from one Trainer to the other for a moment, before slapping himself in the forehead, chuckling.

"Right, right…" he muttered, moving forwards to stand next to them. "Ash, this is Wynter Origami—"

"_Shinigami_," Wynter corrected him, a nerve twitching in his temple. "Twit."

"Shinigami…" Leoric rolled his eyes as he continued the introductions. "And he's from America, just like Warbird. Wynter, this is Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town in the Kanto region. Just north of where we are in the Orange Islands, if you wanna know," he added on a side-note.

"Pleasure to meet the man in person," Wynter grinned, extending a hand, which Ash eagerly shook.

"Wynter, is it?" he muttered, his hand falling to his side. "That's an unusual name."

"It's unique. I'd much rather have an unusual name than a usual name," grinned the American. "Anyways, I watched your battle just now with these guys. You've got some surprisingly powerful Pokémon with you. I thought Warbird was gonna push you over pretty easily, but as you know, you won. So these two—" he waved his hand at Leoric and Anabel, "pretty much force-fed me my words back. Particularly after watching that Staraptor of yours," he continued, his blue eyes glinting from under his coarse fringe.

"Thanks, Wynter!" Ash said sheepishly, fingering his Wing Badge. "I'd bring him back out, but he's pretty worn out from the battle, so I'd better not risk it," he said solemnly, before losing his balance and falling back onto the park bench. "Whoa… looks like he's not the only one who's worn out," he laughed weakly, rubbing the side of his head.

"You sure you're okay?" May asked worriedly, her hand holding a small knapsack slung over her back, which she had hidden under her seat during Ash's battle.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Ash said, waving it off as he jumped spritely to his feet again. "So—" he clapped his hands together, "Leoric, did you manage to make it to the next round, too?" he asked, and Leoric bowed his head.

"Nah… I got swamped…" he murmured. "Six-nothing…"

"What?!" Ash exclaimed. He looked around at the others for some kind of explanation, but his look of shock was replaced by one of cynicism when he saw most of his friends trying to stifle their laughter. "I take it he _did_ win, then?"

"Of course I did!" Leoric said arrogantly. "Come on, what were you expecting? I won my match six-five. A little closer than I was hoping for at this stage of the tournament, but a win is a win, whether it's by an inch or a light year," he chuckled.

"Good, because I still want a battle," Ash said eagerly. "Hang on…" he muttered, his eyes searching amongst his friends, "where's Ari? Is he at his battle?"

"Nope, I'm right over here!" shouted Ari's voice, and everyone turned around to see him jogging down the footpath towards them, waving his hand. "Hi, everybody!" he laughed, once he'd joined the group. "What'd I miss?"

"Ash won his battle!" said Anabel brightly, sidling next to Ash and wrapping an arm around his. "Six-five, but Staraptor beat Warbird's Honchkrow like it was nothing!"

"What about you, Ari?" Dawn squeaked, hopping over to stand next to him. Ari held a sombre look for a few seconds, but it quickly changed to one of glee as he put a hand on her waist and held up four fingers on his other.

"Six-four," he answered, a small round of happy cheers going up at the announcement.

"Hey, between all of us, we've got ten percent of the best in the world!" Brock surmised, pointing between Ash, Ari and Leoric. "Wynter, are you in the tournament too, or are you a spectator like the rest of us?" he inquired.

"I'm in the tournament, alright," Wynter grinned. "I'm already through to the finals qualifier, just like the rest of them."

"So that's four out of thirty-two!" May squealed. "Anabel, how about you?"

"I've still got to have my battle, but hopefully I can win that and advance to the next round," she said. "It's not for an hour or so, so I'm just going over the strategy in my head. So, uh, don't get worried if I start staring into space for a long while," she giggled.

"So Leo, you made it through as well, huh?" Ari smirked, but Leoric had his head turned the other way. "Leo? Oi, Leo!" he shouted. Leoric was apparently focusing intently on something in the street, but it didn't take long for the others to realise that the something was a _someone._ Namely, a slender woman in her late teens who was walking down the footpath with a gaggle of friends, with big yellow eyes and long strawberry-blonde hair that half-covered the back of her white blouse. As the tiny crowd moved on, Leoric leant backwards and tilted his head to the side, enjoying the view, so Ari rolled his eyes and painfully flicked his friend across the nose.

"Ow! What, what did I do?!" Leoric exclaimed, rubbing his nose.

"Nothing… I just wanted to flick you in the nose," Ari said dully. "Hey—" he looked over at May and Misty, both of which were glaring between themselves and the disappearing blonde, "what's up with you two? Actually—" he waved his hand dismissively, "I don't wanna know. It's probably some girl thing I wouldn't understand anyways."

"I hear that," Ash chuckled, toasting him with an imaginary glass. "Girl business is way too complex for us."

"Hey, there do happen to be quite a few girls in the vicinity," Anabel said huffily, tightening her grip on his arm. "And just remember, boys are worse."

"What—?!" Ash exclaimed, breaking free of her hold and rounding on her. "Hey, I've travelled with Misty, May and Dawn, and some of the stuff they do was pretty weird—"

"Hey!" shouted the three girls, all of which were glaring at him now.

"Seriously, you can be pretty mean to each other when you wanna be," Ash brought up. "I mean, I remember once, in Johto, where Misty—"

"Okay, I hate to break up the boy versus girl thing, I really do…" said Brock firmly, stepping forwards, "but you two need a time-out." And with that, he pushed Ash and Anabel a few paces away from each other. "Seriously, you get an hour together and you start debating over tiny things," he added, shaking his head. But then he perked up when he suddenly thought of something. "Hey, I just got a great idea!" he exclaimed, and his fellows all leaned forwards expectantly. "We should have a guy's night!"

"A guy's night?" they all echoed, not understanding the term.

"Yeah! Us guys all get together and do stuff that we like! I'd cook some dinner, and we can tell the other guys about some of the Pokémon we've seen in our travels!" Brock explained, and he received a number of nods from the other boys as they began to like the idea. "What do you think?" he asked them.

"Sounds good!" Ash agreed.

"_Pii pika!_" squeaked Pikachu, smiling.

"Hey, whatever passes the time," shrugged Ari, unable to conceal his grin. He nudged Leoric in the side, and the latter clapped his hands together as a definite 'yes' before turning to face Wynter.

"You're welcome to come along, too," he invited. Wynter considered the proposal for a few moments, weighing up the options, before he shrugged his shoulders and nodded.

"Sure, I don't see why not," he muttered. "But—" he pointed a warning finger at Leoric, "so long as this is the last time you invite me to do something involving you. This is the _second_ time in the space of a day."

"Whatever," sighed Leoric, turning away and pulling a face for Max and May, who both giggled.

"Well, if they can have a guy's night, then we should get one too!" figured Dawn, jumping up excitedly. "We should get together when the boys have their little thing, and have one of our own!"

"It'd be a little hard for you to have a '_guy's night'_ without any actual _guys_…" Wynter sniggered. "Unless there's something you four aren't saying," he added, pointing between Dawn, May, Misty and Anabel and chuckling under his breath.

"I mean a _girl's_ night," Dawn scowled. "Geez, he's a real funny guy, isn't he?" she whispered sarcastically to Ari, who just shrugged his shoulders in reply.

"You get used to this kind of humour after travelling with Leo," he smiled. "Hey, let's go get something for brunch, eh?" he said loudly to grab everyone's attention. "I bet we're all starving after the battles. But—" he wagged his finger, "let's try not to get pulled in by any street merchants like we did yesterday, okay? A café, this time," he chuckled.

"Fine, but you're the one who brought it up, so you're the one to _pay it up_," Leoric smirked. "Brunch is on Ari!" he declared, pointing at him. The group went up in cheers, quickly followed by moans as their stomachs growled noisily, and they sped off towards the centre of town, not even realising in their hunger that they'd left Ari by himself, standing next to the park bench in a stunned silence.

"My poor wallet…" he whimpered, hanging his head before running down the path after them. "Hey, wait for me!"

* * *

**Trivia:**

***In Staravia's first appearance in the story, it was referred to as female; in the anime canon (as I later found out), it is a male, and so this chapter corrects it when Ash calls out to Staraptor.**

***Warbird's Wing Badge design is based on a Xatu, his signature Pokémon. Kudos to Phillip Clark for the idea of giving Ash the Badge, too.**

***Strictly speaking, Kanto is north of the Orange Islands, but Ayers Island is south-west of the archipelago, so Pallet Town would be north-north-east, for the sticklers out there.**

**Quiz:**

***Apart from Staraptor, what is the only Pokémon that can learn Close Combat – by levelling up – not to receive STAB from it?**

* * *

**Okay, well this brings to an end the exciting battle between Ash and Warbird. ****And Staraptor, true to form, defeats the Honchkrow it was facing at the time of its evolution. Now where have I heard that one before...?**

**Wow... nearly a full four chapters... I was honestly not expecting it to go that far, but oh well.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed Chapter 79! It was the most I've ever had for a single chapter (that wasn't Chapter 1) so keep it up!**

**This story has now beaten 400,000 words! YAY!!! It's been such a long time... but I've been enjoying every moment so far, and the rest is yet to come!**

**For those of you who submitted OCs in your reviews... tisk tisk. Because of the rules that were put in place _months ago_ regarding OC submission, your characters have been 'disqualified' from being used in the future. Unless you put them in the forum where they're supposed to go, teehee.**

**Remember that this week is the last one for you to vote in the Affection Collection poll. If I get just a couple more votes, I can begin work on the first few chapters of it as determined by you, the readers, and I'll stop asking you to vote, so really it's a win-win situation.**

**Flashing a reminder to 031ap to send in his summary of Arjun Patel for the OC Thread. I know, it's quicker than you were expecting.**

**Chapter 81 (Mentalwork) will be published on June 26th, and will feature several new faces, including the aforementioned OC of 031ap. Don't worry, this won't be Arjun's only appearance, but it will also include other important characters, so be sure to check it out!**

**Don't forget to review!!! Please!!!**


	81. Mentalwork

**CHAPTER 81 – MENTALWORK**

Ash hungrily bit into the end of his sandwich, savouring the taste of the tomatoes inside and offering a corner to Pikachu, as they and their friends sat at a table outside one of the many cafés dotting the streets in town. In his mind, the moment he was in right then was everything that was it meant to be; enjoying some time with his friends, enjoying the weather, and reminiscing over the battles he'd been having with the other Trainers in the Championships.

"Hey, Ari…" he said through a mouthful of bread, "who are you battling tomorrow?" he asked, glancing over at the dark-haired boy opposite him. Ari finished gulping down his milkshake and wiped his mouth, thinking about the question for a moment before he snapped his fingers.

"He's this, uh, really tough Trainer…" he chuckled, sneaking a sly glance at Anabel, who giggled back. "I'm gonna really have my work cut out for me if I want to beat him… Thankfully, I know which Pokémon he's going to be using, so I've picked my three strongest Pokémon to counter them all."

"What Pokémon is he using?" Ash asked coolly, hiding the frown about to surface in his expression.

"Some really strong Pokémon. Very rare, too. I'm using Dullahan, Colenzo and – of course – Horazon against him, and if a little luck goes my way, I'll be able to pull out the win," smiled Ari.

"_Who_ or _what_ the heck is a _Horazon_?" Wynter interjected.

"So… what about you, Leo?" Misty piped up, poking him in the arm as the others seemed to ignore Wynter's question. Leoric looked up from his meal in surprise, having been so focused on it that he hadn't heard the conversation. "Who are you going to be battling tomorrow?" she laughed.

"Oh, I'm facing my brother," he said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders and twirling some spaghetti around his fork. "Should be a nice challenge," he added quietly, before stuffing the food into his mouth, despite the round of shocked gasps from the others at the table.

"You have a brother?!" Brock exclaimed, his eyebrows disappearing into his spiky hairline. "How come you never mentioned him before?!"

"No-one—"

"And don't say '_no-one asked_'!"

"But no-one _did_ ask!" he whined. "Besides, it's not important."

"I feel sorry for the poor guy who has to share a blood relation with you," snickered Wynter, piling through a plate of chips. "Who is he, anyways?"

"Like I just said, it's not important," Leoric grunted, the question apparently touching a nerve, because he stood up suddenly and placed a few notes on the table. "This is for my meal," he muttered, and without another word he swept away and out of sight. His previous company looked at the slips of paper for a few moments, trying to register what had just happened, before Ari snatched them up and tucked them into his jacket pocket.

"He says that brunch is on me, but then he leaves money," he mused with a grin. "Oh well, his loss."

"What's his problem?" Ash wondered aloud, his brow creased. "Why don't you think he told us who his brother was?" he asked the others, who all exchanged blank looks with him in reply.

"Leo… he just doesn't like mentioning him because he gets compared to him way too often," Ari explained, folding his hands over the table. "You see, he's pretty famous as a Trainer and as a scientist, and Leo's always felt like he's been living in his shadow. That's why he wants to win this tournament so badly; he needs to prove to himself that he can be a strong Trainer without relying on—him…" he trailed off, worried he had almost let the name slip.

"Don't worry about it, Ash," Anabel murmured, patting a caring hand on his thigh. "He's got his own problems to work through. You should just worry about your… your battle tomorrow…" she sighed, casting her eyes downwards.

"Hey, I'll worry about _tomorrow_ once you've beaten your opponent _today_!" he said assertively, thumping a hand on the table. "You've been visiting all my matches, so I'm going to start repaying the favour by watching yours!" he added, looking around at the others for support.

"Exactly!" Dawn squealed, almost squeezing the life out of Piplup in an excited hug. "We haven't seen you in a battle so far in the tournament!"

"And I really want to see how you work your combinations with your Pokémon," May added merrily. "Especially after those battles with Ash way back in Kanto."

"Well, that's really sweet, but—" Anabel stammered, blushing intensely, but Max cut in front of her.

"Oh come on, we really wanna see!" he shouted, bobbing up and down in his seat. "Please please _pleeeeeease_?!" he begged, clasping his hands together. Dawn, Misty and May quickly joined the pleading, and, despite the strange looks they were receiving from all the passers-by, they kept at it until Anabel shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head in permission.

"I was just going to say that it was sweet of you, but my match starts in twenty-five minutes," she said airily, once they'd quietened down. "So I have to get going now. Of _course_ you're welcome to watch me if you want!" she added brightly, to a chorus of cheers.

"Well, we wouldn't be much in the way of friends if we didn't walk with you to your stadium!" Ari said chivalrously, getting to his feet. "Come on, we can talk on the way."

"Yeah, and you can tell us who it is you're battling tomorrow," Ash added curtly, pushing his chair backwards. "We'll finish up here while you pay the bill, yeah?"

"Of course," Ari replied politely, walking inside the café. As he asked the waiter behind the desk for the check, Ash and the others hurriedly wolfed down the last morsels of food and left the table, waiting on the side of the street for him to rejoin them. Whilst they were waiting, Dawn and May struck up a conversation about their Contest combos, and Ash took the opportunity to try and worm some information out of Anabel, so he stepped in beside her, Pikachu sitting complacently on his shoulder.

"So Anabel…" he murmured, "who's Ari battling?"

"What makes you think I know?" she replied cheekily, turning her gaze towards him.

"Well, he looked at you when he said that his opponent was a 'really tough Trainer'," he told her. "So I reckon you know who he might be. Just a thought," he added suavely.

"When you put it _that_ way, then yes, I do happen to know who he's battling," she admitted, looking back at the street across the road from them. "But just so you know, Ari knows that you'll be my opponent next round if I win, and he hasn't breathed a word about it. So I'm not going to seem like a you-know-what by telling you who he'll be battling," she explained, and Ash frowned. "If you wanna know that badly, just ask him straight out!"

"I'll ask him tonight at the get-together," Ash said dismissively.

"_You'll forget,_" said Pikachu in a sing-song voice, making his Trainer laugh.

"Maybe so, but you'll just have to remind me," he grinned, scratching Pikachu behind the ears. He heard the sound of footsteps behind him, so he and Anabel turned around to see the rest of the group standing together, with Wynter a few steps away and looking uncomfortably out of place. "Hey, Wynter!" he called out. "Do you want to come and watch Anabel's battle too?" he offered kindly, but the American shook his head.

"Nah, I've got to go meet my girlfriend back at our hotel," he answered. "But if I'm still invited, I'll see you four, plus Leoric, at the guy's night, yeah?" he added, pointing between Ash, Brock, Max and Ari, who all nodded back. "Okay, I'll see you then. It was nice meeting you all, too," he smiled, giving them a small, gentlemanly bow before turning away and disappearing down the street leading to the north-western clutter of hotels brushing against the blue sky.

"He's an odd kind of guy, isn't he?" said Dawn blankly, her Piplup resting slothfully on the top of her head.

"With hair like that, he'd have to be," May giggled, before leaning forward and looking at her friends. "Well, aren't we going somewhere?" she reminded them, bounding forwards to the street corner and turning back to face them. "Let's go!" she shouted happily, waving her arm towards the Igloo in the centre of the island.

"By all means, lead the way," Anabel muttered, suppressing a laugh as she drew level with May. "Which stadium are we going to, though?" she asked rhetorically. May opened her mouth to answer, but her mouth quickly collapsed into a sheepish smile as she realised that Anabel had never told her that piece of information, and she quickly ushered the latter forwards with her hands as if trying to shoo her in the general direction.

"Just for reference, it's Stadium Nine," she giggled, patting May on the shoulder as she crossed the road. May made sure to sear the number into her memory before following close behind, and Ash led the rest of the group behind the two girls as they chatted animatedly, but soon Dawn and Misty ran ahead to talk as well, leaving the boys behind to fill the time with their own conversation.

"So Ash—!" Max squeaked, jogging up to walk beside him, "can you run through what you were thinking right at the end of the battle?!"

"Max, you should be a reporter for the news," Ash chortled. "They asked me the exact same question…"

The talk of Ash's victory occupied the boys for a few minutes, and before they knew it they had walked four city blocks, but their tiny bubble of chatter was burst by a loud chorus of chanting coming from a pub just before the next crossing. Ash craned his neck to try and see what the spectacle was, but there was a crowd of hollering people in the way, and he almost knocked Misty onto the concrete as he bumped into the back of her, not watching where he was walking.

"Watch where you're going, Ash!" she hissed, nudging him backwards. "What do you think is going on in there, Brock?" she asked the breeder, being the tallest one among them, who stood on tiptoe to try and see past the gaggle of onlookers.

"I can't see a thing…" he growled, budging past the stragglers towards the back. "Come on, let's get closer," he said invitingly, leading his group of friends through the small crowd and moving to the front, where they were met with a confusing sight.

Clustered together, in the centre of the small crowd, was a group of three men sitting at a small café table, each one with a tall glass of drink in his hand. They all counted up to three together, and on three they raised the glasses to their mouths and drained them as quickly as they could, to a steadily rising chant of '_drink!_' from the spectators. One man finished quicker than his fellows, and with a triumphant smirk – half-obscured by a cloud of foam over his mouth – he tipped the glass upside-down and set it on top of his head. He threw his free arm up encouragingly, and the onlookers burst into rowdy cheers and applause, as the other two competitors finished their drinks in quick succession.

"_Kev! Kev! Kev_!"

"That's nothin'!" chuckled the man called Kev, wiping the foam from his mouth with a thickset arm. He was a very stocky man, wearing a simple black singlet and cargo pants, the former doing nothing to hide his enormous shoulders and thick arms. He was wearing a sleek pair of dark shades, and under the shades was a broad nose and an ever broader set of dark lips, which split open into a toothy grin.

"Back home, me 'n' ma boys could drink ten o' these, no swit!" he said proudly, thumping a fist against his muscly chest. "Don't take it personally or nuffin', though," he added kindly, shaking hands with the other two men. "But I thought you were a doctor or something, ay?" he muttered to the second man.

"Hey, there's not much else for me to do here on Ayers Island," said the man, setting his glass down on a coaster. He was a middle-aged man with olive skin and golden eyes, hidden gracefully behind a curtain of wavy black hair that fell around past his ears. "I mean, I got beaten the other day by some disrespectful little kid, so I'm just waiting for the final to come and go. And I'm a _Pokémon_ doctor," he corrected Kev. "I'm not much of an expert on human medicine, but I know there's nothing wrong with the occasional drink," he added with a laugh, tucking the white coat he was wearing a little tighter around his torso.

"That is true," chimed the third man, who was dressed in a smart, deep-brown suit and black loafers, blowing a deep breath up into his short soot-coloured fringe. "I cannot admit I do this very often…" he muttered, gesturing towards his glass, "but, alas, I need to depart." He stood up, bowing politely to both Kev and the golden-eyed man before taking a brown overcoat from his seat and throwing it over himself. "Perhaps again, Kevin, Arjun?" he offered, flashing a casual smile.

"Anytime, Pierre!" grinned Arjun, and the man called Pierre waved back before making to leave, only to be barred passage by Ash and the others, who were unknowingly blocking him.

"Please allow me to pass," he said clearly, his eyes darting from one youngster to the other.

"Huh—? Oh, right! Sorry about that!" Ash laughed, moving aside. Pierre stepped forwards to move past, but his line of vision flickered over to Ash, the two making a brief moment of eye contact between each other. The intensity of his gaze made Ash want to step backwards, and the corner of the man's mouth twitched, but the moment was over almost before it had begun, and Pierre's dark grey eyes snapped back to the street as he walked down the footpath.

_That was weird…_ he thought, looking at the back of the man's head for a moment before turning to face Brock, who simply shrugged his shoulders unhelpfully. "Hey Anabel, we should get over to your battle, shouldn't we?" he asked Anabel, who suddenly blinked and nodded her head as though she'd forgotten all about it. "Then let's go!" he said, moving down the gap into the rest of the street.

"Good idea," Dawn added, nervously eyeing off the two remaining men sitting at the table, and so she and the rest of the group quickly filed onto the street to join Ash as he walked towards the stadiums to the east.

"Who else wants to play _Persian_?!" they could hear Kev booming heartily, holding his glass aloft. "See if you can outdrink the mighty Kev Tautama!" he boasted.

"What's _Persian_? Was that what they were doing?" Max asked curiously, looking at the others for an answer.

Ari chuckled and shook his head. "_Persian_ is how Leoric, uh, decided to '_celebrate_' his victory at Mt. Silver last year," he told Max. "By the time he got beaten at it… he tried to slap himself sober, missed his face completely, and ended up falling into a fountain," he added, a smile and a laugh lighting up on everyone else's faces.

"Whatever it was, it sure was… interesting…" Ash grunted. _And I still can't shake off the way that Pierre guy looked at me…_ he thought with a grimace,_ and why's it giving me the creeps, anyways?!_ He tossed his head restlessly about, trying to physically shake it away, and Pikachu murmured worriedly from his perch on Ash's shoulder. "I'm fine," he whispered calmly, patting his Pokémon on the back, but it did little to ease Pikachu's concern for his Trainer.

"Which Pokémon are you using today?" Dawn asked Anabel, who smirked and tapped a fingertip against her nose.

"It's a secret," she whispered, both of them completely oblivious to Ash. "You'll just have to wait and see in the battle."

"Oh, that's no fun!" Dawn wailed.

"_Piplup pip…_" pouted Piplup in agreement.

"Relax, you'll see them all in about fifteen minutes or so!" Anabel giggled, patting Dawn on the shoulder. "Actually—" she looked up, and saw a large number nine hanging outside one of the stadiums down the road, "it might be a little quicker than that, but only if we run!" she shouted, taking off at pace and speeding down the street.

"Hey, that's no _fair_!" Dawn cried after her. "You've gotta give a countdown!" She held Piplup in place with one hand and chased after the lavender-haired girl, shouting animatedly as they both raced closer to the stadium, and it took all of three seconds for the others to look amongst themselves, shrug their shoulders, and join in the pursuit as they headed towards Stadium Nine.

* * *

A few streets across from the sprinting teenagers, a dark-haired man in a chocolate-coloured suit looked edgily around before stepping into a small public telephone booth. After checking his surroundings for a second time, he tossed a coin into the pay slot and dialled a long series of numbers, impatiently waiting for the call to patch through. After nine rings – the specified number he had been taught – he heard a click that meant the call had connected, and a man's nasal voice answered the call.

"State your name," he grunted. The man in the booth, for the third time, looked around to make sure no-one was watching, before raising the speaker to his mouth.

"My name, is Pierre Benoit," he said clearly. "I come to tell you of news, commander. News which holds most grave importance," he added, a little shakily.

"Grave importance? Well, switch it over to our private line, Mr. Benoit," Pierre's commander barked, instantly hanging up. Pierre latched the public phone onto its hook and drew an ultrathin cell phone from the pocket of his long trench coat, flipping it open and pressing more buttons. The call went through without any wait at all, and Pierre found himself talking to the same man from the previous call. "Tell me what it is, then," he instructed.

"Sir, the two children found to be in the interest of our operation… I believe I may have laid eyes on them, just now," Pierre said hastily, his grey eyes darting about habitually to look at the street outside. "I have also heard, from the word of a doctor of Pokémon, of the youngest child of the criminal Mortiego. That he is on the island as well, and seems he is in participation of the Pokémon tournament."

"Really?!" yelped the commander, excitement and shock in his tone. "All three of them, there on Ayers Island?! That's fortunate…"

"Yes, but there is more I have," Pierre continued. "It would appear that the two children that are not the Paul boy, that they are… _friendly_ with one another," he explained, waiting anxiously for a reply from his superior.

"Those two, friends?" he murmured, and Pierre blinked as it sounded like he was almost in awe of the news. "That… is _not_ so fortunate for us… there may be a problem down the track… especially if our man inside has given me accurate information…"

"Sir, would you like of me to monitor those two children?" offered Pierre. "If they are friends as they seem, it might be a choice of wisdom to place me nearby. Indeed, with the news that our agent undercover has gathered, it may bear to be fruitful in the outcome of a… conflict—" he gulped nervously at the English term, never liking the meaning that it had taken on in modern times.

The man on the phone considered the option for a long time, giving Pierre only a dull silence before he spoke his answer. "Very well. Keep track of them. If our targets turn up on Ayers Island to meet them, you're to apprehend them on sight. Heaven knows we need them to make a mistake…" he trailed off for a moment, and Pierre half-opened his mouth to talk again, "but yes, make it your mission to keep those two out of harm's way."

"What of the Mortiego boy?"

"Yes, you're to protect Paul as well. I've had strict word from _my_ superiors to keep him safe, despite the mess his family is in at the moment," said the commander harshly. "You've got quite a workload ahead of you, Pierre," he added, a touch of sympathy in his voice, "but that's why we asked for your co-operation. You're the most qualified agent at our disposal, and if anyone can keep an eye on those three – all at the same time – it's you."

"I am most flattered at your praise," Pierre smiled. "I shall guard the three children with my life. As I shall maintain a stern lookout as always."

"That's what earned you your codename," laughed his superior. "Keep a weather eye on the horizon," he said cryptically.

"And to you, commander," Pierre replied, registering the phrase as the end of their communication, and he promptly ended the connection.

He opened the back of the phone, took out the tiny plastic chip within, and dropped it onto the ground, stamping it into powder with the heel of his boot. He then took a resealable plastic bag from one of his coat pockets, swept all the fragments into it, and opened the booth door, stepping out into the fresh air of the streets. He turned on the spot, his calculated eyes scouring the immediate area for any suspicious characters, before swiftly pacing to the nearest rubbish bin and dropping the bag inside, throwing a small package along with it.

"That should be all that is needed," he told himself, calmly walking away from the bin, even as there was a small tick from inside. He didn't even turn around to look as it caught fire.

* * *

"Wow, these are some pretty good seats, aren't they, you guys?" Ash grinned, taking his own seat at the end of the row. Misty sat in the seat next to him, alongside Brock, and down the row were Dawn, May, Max and Ari, and they were impressed with the seating as well; they were in the front row, directly in the middle of the ground, with a prime view of both halves of the immense battlefield.

"We've got such a great view of the field!" Misty said loudly, having to raise her voice over the chatter bearing down from the rows behind them. "This crowd seems a lot louder than the one at your match—" she shouted at Ash, but the rest of her sentence was drowned out by a huge roar coming from their left. All eyes focused on that side of the stadium as the large section of boundary wall slid aside, and a lean figure stepped out into the sunlight.

He wasn't a very tall man, only standing at five-and-a-half feet, but he had an air of determination about him that made his size seem meaningless. His grey eyes, still in their youth, shone out from his face like discs of steel, and the tops of his eyebrows ruffled against his ochre-brown fringe. Strangely, his hair was styled in a cowlick, much like that of an Aipom, but the spikes were a snowy white that went completely at odds with the rest of his head. He had a hazy, grey scarf hung around his neck to match his eyes, draped over an ocean-blue shirt and slender grey pants, which gave him the appearance of a patch of blue sky flitting between gathering stormclouds.

"And Eric Trimble has entered the arena!" shouted the announcer, to another chorus of cheers from the stands, and he started telling the spectators some facts about Eric's performances in Pokémon tournaments; Ash, meanwhile, turned to Max and Brock.

"Any idea who he is?" he asked them.

"Weren't you listening? He's Eric Trimble!" Max giggled, and Ash shot him a serious look. "Well, I haven't heard of him before now, but according to the commentators—" he jerked a thumb towards the megaphones at the corners of the stadium, "he's a Trainer who came here from somewhere in the middle of Asia, but he was born in Sinnoh. Oh, and he trains his Pokémon for endurance by having them scale Mt. Tenkō every fortnight or so."

"Mt. Tenkō?" squeaked Dawn, and Brock nodded in understanding.

"It's the world's tallest mountain," he explained. "It sits on the Hariyama mountain range between the Sparhe and Gamba regions."

"Is there a Makuhita mountain range nearby?" Misty joked, but no-one laughed. "Well, how tall could this mountain possibly be?!"

"Nearly nine kilometres high," Max said quickly, his glasses glinting. "You can expect this guy's Pokémon to be in perfect shape. And I _mean_ perfect. This is looking like a battle of brains versus brawn," he mused.

"Speaking of brains, here comes our favourite Frontier Brain right now," Ari observed, pointing at the sliding steel door on the other side of the stadium. Together, Ash and the others stood up and cheered at the top of their voices as Anabel came into the midday light of the stadium, raising her hands over her head in acknowledgement of the crowd that chanted her name.

"_Go Anabel! You can do it!_" Ash roared, frantically waving his arms about.

* * *

"It's good to meet you!" Anabel said cheerily, shaking Eric's hand in the middle of the field. Eric smiled back at her and nodded his head, his steely eyes boring into hers. "I'm Anabel Silver."

"Eric Trimble," he replied. "I don't know about you, but I'm really nervous in front of such a big crowd," he admitted, looking uneasily around at the stands, which were moving like one giant life-form as it swayed to and fro, rippling amongst itself. "I know they say we're meant to shut them out of our heads, but…"

"Hey, it's no different than what you've done before, right?" she pointed out. "Just do what you did then."

"Thanks," Eric said humbly, tucking his hands into his pockets. "Well, good luck in our battle," he muttered, flashing another smile before turning around and heading for his Trainer's box. Anabel looked after him for a moment or two, puzzled by the contrast between his appearance and his personality, before shrugging and striding back towards her end of the battlefield, and the referee at the sidelines promptly ran through the rules of the battle, which were the same as those for Ash's battle earlier.

"Do you both understand?!" he asked, looking at Anabel.

"Perfectly," she said calmly, taking the first PokéBall from her belt. "How about you, Eric?!"

"Ready as I'll ever be," he shouted back.

"Then let the battle begin!" declared the referee, swinging his red and green flags upwards as the siren sounded around the ground. On cue, all eyes turned to the stadium screen to watch the first field being selected, and all too soon the graphic came to rest on a red-shaded image of a patch of short grass. "The first half of this battle will be conducted on the Grass Field! Eric Trimble will summon the first Pokémon!" he shouted.

Eric shrugged nonchalantly as he took a PokéBall from his belt and tossed it lightly in the palm of his hand. There was a dull rumble as the enormous rectangle – inside the white markings of the arena – disappeared below the stadium, slowly replaced by the platform of lush, green grass that whirred into place to become the new battlefield.

"Let's see…" he muttered, more to himself than to anyone else. "Let's see how you fare against this!" he roared, hurling the PokéBall across the field. There was a flash of white light as it split open, and out of the light came a Vespiquen, clicking her jaws and humming violently as she waited for her opponent to be revealed.

Anabel smirked and clipped her current PokéBall back onto her belt, instead taking the one next to it and enlarging it in her hand. "I need you, my friend!" she shouted, throwing the ball into the air with a bright flash. The light within swarmed onto the ground and formed a shape, and once the light had faded, her Pokémon could be seen; a Jynx, swinging her hips to and fro in rhythm with some inaudible beat.

"And the first stage of this fifth-round battle will be Anabel's Jynx going toe-to-toe against Eric's Vespiquen!" observed the commentator, her bright purple eyes gliding from one side of the arena to the other. "It's a pretty even matchup as things stand; Ice-types beat Flying-types, but Bug-type moves are good against Psychic-types! This certainly looks like could be a prime battle, so why wait any longer?!" she giggled, striking the starting bell next to her.

"Vespiquen, Swift attack!" Eric ordered, swinging into action immediately, and Vespiquen's red eyes glowed even more fiercely as she opened her mouth wide and blasted a volley of spinning golden stars through the air towards Anabel's Pokémon.

"Jynx, counter with Copycat!" shouted Anabel, throwing her arm forwards as the spray of stars whizzed closer, scattering golden light and fragments of grass in their wake. Jynx raised her hands in front of her body and began swinging them clockwise, a pale yellow light emanating from them, and suddenly an identical set of Swift stars erupted from the light and soared across the arena towards their twins. The spinning missiles clashed into each other with a bang and a shower of bright light, a million tiny pieces of the two destroyed attacks winking back at the crowd as they settled on the ground.

"Now, use X-Scissor!" roared Eric, unfazed by his opponent's counterattack as his Pokémon charged forwards. The Hive Pokémon's arms glowed with sickly green light as they crossed in front of her body, sweeping across the battlefield as the shining appendages were raised high for the attack.

"Block that attack, Jynx! Use Reflect!" Anabel shrieked. Just as Vespiquen's red eyes narrowed viciously, and as she threw her spindly arms forwards for her attack, Jynx pushed her hands forwards to meet her foe head-on, and the Bug-type shrieked with surprise and pain as it smashed into nothing more than the open air in front of the Humanshape Pokémon. The force of the impact sent Vespiquen reeling backwards, and a pale gleam of light ran across the near-invisible square that shielded Jynx from the X-Scissor as the crowd rang with cheers and gasps of wonder.

"And it seems that Anabel and her Jynx are having _no_ problems meeting and greeting Eric and Vespiquen!" shouted the commentator. "Eric has started out with some impressive and powerful attacks, but Anabel's shown a level head by smoothly countering each one with an innovative application of Jynx's support and defensive moves! I'm not sure how Eric hopes to gain the advantage early solely with power, but maybe it's a clever ruse…!"

"Vespiquen—!" Eric, down on the battlefield, pointed at the glinting barrier between his Pokémon and her foe, "if Jynx wants to try out some stopping power, let's give her a lesson! Show our opponent why the irresistible force _always_ beats the immovable object with a Fury Cutter barrage!" he roared.

"_Queh!_" droned the Hive Pokémon, steadying herself before leaping forwards with her right arm pointing at the sky. The tip of her fist shone with white light, and with a bang she brought it down and struck Jynx's Reflect squarely in the middle, only to be met with a stubborn resistance as the barrier refused to give in. Infuriated, the Bug-type swung her fist around again and crushed it against the glass-like pane, but yet again the Reflect held fast, and soon there was a blurred flurry of white light as Vespiquen wildly tried to beat through Jynx's defences.

"Wait a minute…" Ash muttered to Misty, "doesn't Fury Cutter get stronger with every use? Like when Bugsy's Scyther used it against my Pokémon in our Gym Battle?"

"Hey, you're right…" she whispered, her eyes filling with worry as Eric's Pokémon continued to pound away at Jynx's Reflect attack. "I sure hope Anabel knows what to do next… because Psychic-types are weak to Bug-type moves, like that commentator said earlier… and Fury Cutter would be super-strong after so many hits on that Reflect…" she added quietly, looking across to Anabel, who was standing resolutely with the faintest trace of a smirk on her lips.

_Keep up that Reflect, Jynx, you're doing great!_ thought Anabel confidently, feeling a spark of understanding come to her from her Pokémon. _Once Vespiquen is about to break through, I want you to hit her with a Shadow Ball, so be ready to charge one up quickly, okay?!_ she instructed, giving Jynx her commands telepathically this time, even as the latter continued to pour her focus into keeping the flimsy barrier between herself and Vespiquen intact.

"One more should do it, Vespiquen!" Eric shouted encouragingly, watching as his Pokémon landed another sickening blow onto the pale square, and there was an excited groan from the crowd as the Reflect shuddered in the wake of the impact. "Let's tear down that wall!" he roared, and Vespiquen threw its glowing arm backwards for the final strike.

_Now!_ ordered Anabel, and Jynx immediately moved her hands around to the side, a hiss of light escaping as her Reflect faded away as a crackling ball of black energy was created between her purple fingers. The Hive Pokémon in front of her narrowed her red eyes and tried to cut the counterattack down with a furious swipe, but with a cry Jynx lobbed her Shadow Ball upwards and slammed it into her foe's jaw.

"Great shot!" cheered Anabel, as Vespiquen's head snapped sideways with the force of the blow. The Bug-type crashed into the ground a few feet away from Jynx, quickly picking herself up from the grass and screeching so loudly at her foe that the crowd clapped their hands over their ears to block out the terrible sound.

"Good to see you've still got it in you!" laughed Eric, before pointing at Jynx. "Let's use another Swift attack!" he bellowed.

_Shadow Ball, one more time!_ ordered Anabel, her expression braced as she saw Eric's Pokémon already beginning to launch its scatter of golden stars. Jynx frowned at the sight of the attack and instantly threw one of her own towards it, her spinning Shadow Ball spearing into Vespiquen's stars with a loud boom and a flash of light, as a blast of smoke filled the space between the two battling Pokémon.

"Move into gear, Vespiquen!" Eric barked, eyeing off the obscuring cloud. "X-Scissor, right through the middle! Cut Jynx down to size!"

"_Vuss…!_" clicked Vespiquen, aiming her body towards the black smoke in front of her. She rocketed forwards on her powerful wings, kicking up a thick line of dust behind her, as she tore into the cloud with her arms glowing green, disappearing into the haze.

_Freeze that Vespiquen with your Blizzard attack as soon as you see her head pop out from that smoke!_ Anabel commanded, her lavender eyes glinting with steely determination. With a roar, Vespiquen charged out of the cloud with smoke trailing from her joints, green-lit arms crossed above her head for her deadly strike, but Jynx quickly blew an intense gust of cold air towards her, the sound of tinkling ice crystals filling the stadium as the water in the air froze all around the Bug-type.

"Vespiquen, no!" shouted Eric, as gigantic chunks of crystal began to cling to his Pokémon's hide. Jynx mercifully ended her chilling attack, leaving her opponent encased in a solid matrix of ice from the chest down, leaving only her head and one arm free to move in the air as she hit the ground with a dull clunk. "Vespiquen, get out of there before Jynx can finish you off!" her Trainer pleaded, his face filled with worry; his opponent had been able to mount two counterattacks without even saying a word, and he didn't want to find out what else they might be able to launch his way without a spoken order.

Vespiquen's red eyes flashed with an eerie blue light, sending a shiver up Anabel's spine as a low-pitched buzz started to echo around the stadium. The strange sound was met with confused whispers from the spectators, but it quickly rose to a sharp, piercing note that made all who heard it clutch at their ears once again to block it out. Even Anabel and her Jynx were forced to duck their heads and cringe at the whining drone coming from the Hive Pokémon, but with a loud shatter, the ice imprisoning Vespiquen was ripped away into shreds, a billion tiny shards of diamond-like dust glittering as they fell to the ground all around their former captive.

"X-Scissor while they're distracted, _now_!" Eric roared, and Vespiquen took off towards Jynx with her arms shining pale green. The pained Ice-type barely had time to lower her arms away from her ears before Vespiquen swiftly swung both arms into her face, sending her flying across the battlefield and crashing into the grass just in front of Anabel's Trainer box. The Humanshape Pokémon gingerly got to her feet and glared at her foe, who responded by slicing a hand in front of her spindly neck as her eyes gleamed.

_Shadow Ball!_

"_Jynx jynx!_" grunted the Ice-type, quickly obeying her Trainer by hurling a large orb of darkness towards Vespiquen.

"Let's chop it down like we do on Tenkō!" Eric yelled, and Vespiquen swung around on the spot before driving a Fury Cutter straight down the length of Jynx's attack. The Shadow Ball seemed to hover in mid-air for a moment or two, before two halves of the ball suddenly slid away from each other and exploded in a darkened fireball, having been cut right through by Eric's Pokémon.

"No way!" moaned Anabel, the light from the blast dancing over her face.

"Another Fury Cutter! Go for _Jynx_ this time!" boomed Eric. Vespiquen clicked her jaws together expectantly and rushed towards Jynx with incredible speed, striking the Humanshape Pokémon with another cruel blow. This time, the Hive Pokémon pummelled the brunt of her glowing arm into her foe's jaw, knocking Jynx flat on her back with a plume of dust shaking free of the ground with the impact.

"Keep up the assault, Vespiquen!" Eric cheered, punching the air as he saw his Pokémon raise her glowing arm above her head, ready to drive it straight down onto her collapsed opponent.

But what he didn't see was the smirk that flickered over Anabel's lips as she passed her next command to her Pokémon.

_Freeze that insect with Blizzard; full power! _she told Jynx, just as Vespiquen's arm twitched in that infinitely tiny moment before bringing it down upon her foe.

Jynx's eyes, which had been closed until then, snapped open as she blasted the Hive Pokémon with a gale of frozen wind, even stronger than the one she had launched earlier, and the Bug-type screeched as her shining arm was instantly frozen in a thick sheath of ice. Vespiquen reared backwards, her other hand already beginning to glow as she struggled through the weight of the ice, but before she had time to blink, it too was covered in frost by Jynx. The Ice-type continued her onslaught mercilessly, only ceasing her attack at an unspoken order from Anabel, and when she let down the fierce chill, her opponent was trapped within an enormous edifice of ice.

"Vespiquen, break out with our buzz technique!" Eric screamed, a whisper-quiet drone coming from inside the icy shell in response.

"Jynx, finish Vespiquen with Shadow Ball!" Anabel shrieked, pointing at the glittering prism in front of her Pokémon. Jynx glowered pitilessly at her helpless foe as the crackling sphere of black formed between her fingers, and with a laboured cry she swung it around and catapulted it forwards, the Shadow Ball smashing into the ice and driving straight through to the core that was Vespiquen. The low buzzing that filled the arena instantly rose to a high-pitched whine, but all too soon it faded away as the large berg fell away in pieces, leaving Vespiquen with nothing more to do than close her eyes and fall limply onto the dewy grass at her feet.

"Vespiquen is unable to battle!" declared the referee, looking over at Anabel as he pointed her green flag towards the sky, his voice barely audible by the crowd's screams and the commentator's remarks.

"_Yes! _Great work, Anabel!" bellowed Ash, jumping up from his seat and punching the air wildly.

"Calm down, Ash!" Misty hissed, having almost been smacked in the face several times by his flailing limbs, and she yanked on his arm to pull him back into his seat. "Cheer her on with words, not by making an idiot out of yourself!"

"What's wrong with getting excited?!"

"The fact that you're more likely to punch someone's lights out with all of _this_—!" she waved her arms about stupidly, "than you are to actually get the message across!"

Back on the battlefield, Eric let out a deep sigh as he took Vespiquen's PokéBall into his hand and recalled his unconscious Pokémon. "You did good, Vespiquen," he muttered, shrinking the ball down to miniature size and clipping it to his belt. His fingers danced over the five PokéBalls lined up next to Vespiquen's, and he pursed his lips as he pondered which Pokémon to send out against Anabel's Jynx, before taking the PokéBall at the other end of the row and throwing it high into the air.

"Flame on, Infernape!" he roared, the PokéBall spilling open to reveal his Flame Pokémon as it hopped about on the short grass, throwing punches at the air quicker than the eye could see. Upon seeing the Ice-type on the other side of the field, the crown of fire atop Infernape's head reared up even higher into the sky, and Jynx sardonically blew a kiss in its direction to offset its guard.

_Shadow Ball, Jynx!_ Anabel ordered, not even waiting for the usual pre-stage commentary; she wanted to gain the upper hand of surprise, and Jynx happily complied as she charged her spinning ball of black energy between her purple hands.

But, it seemed, Eric was just as eager, and he was expecting her to use just such a manoeuvre, because he pointed towards the Humanshape Pokémon and cried, "Dodge that Shadow Ball, then make Jynx pay with your Blaze Kick!"

"_Fer—!_" the Fire-type sped lithely over the short grass, daringly sprinting straight into Jynx's line of fire even as the latter hurled her Shadow Ball directly at its head. Infernape leapt high into the sky to dodge the dark missile, which speared across the battlefield and buried itself into the ground near Eric's feet, but all eyes were on his Pokémon as it front-flipped through the air and landed steadily on the ground. Losing no momentum from its stampeding charge, it raced forwards as soon as its feet hit the grass, and it dodged from side to side en route to its foe.

"_In…fer!_" hissed the Flame Pokémon, slowing down for a fraction of a second before launching itself across the field, somersaulting and twisting its body as its foot was drenched in searing flames. With just seconds to spare, Infernape straightened its body out, looking like an orange bullet as it crashed down onto Jynx with its outstretched leg aflame.

* * *

Paul marched down a wide, busy street on Ayers Island, giving way to an enormous open plaza of concrete where many of the larger stadiums for the tournament could be clearly seen, dominating the visible skyline. His jaw twitched as he bumped past a group of excited youngsters, but he took no more notice of them as he looked around for the sign that had led him down this path in the first place.

"Where did that lousy sack of feathers fly off to…?" he hissed to himself, his dark eyes scanning the cityscape for a glimpse of a dark blue Pokémon flying overhead. "Stupid Honchkrow… can't even tail someone properly…" he muttered indignantly, too focused on his task to notice the soot-haired man, sitting down at a nearby café table, peering at him over a newspaper as he sipped a small coffee.

Pierre's eyes glinted as he saw the purple-haired boy stalking down the street towards the cluster of stadiums, and he hastily folded the paper away in one of the many spacious pockets of his overcoat, draining the last lukewarm dregs of his drink as he followed Paul. He retrieved his cell phone from the inside of his suit, flipping it open and raising it to his ear, but he placed no call; he simply needed something to seem occupied with as he continued his pursuit.

"Yes, darling, the weather here is very nice," he recited into the phone, his clear eyes almost burning themselves into the back of Paul's head as the latter rounded a bend in the road. "You really must come here to Ayers Island; there is plentiful sunshine and many good coffee shops to enjoy!"

Paul, still oblivious to Pierre, tossed his head left and right as he tried to spy his Honchkrow amongst the bustling crowds of tourists. He passed through the shadow of a large pub, called the Green Goldeen, which was filled with drunken people clamouring at the top of their voices, and it was there that he saw the Big Boss Pokémon; it was perched high atop the outer roof of one of the nearby stadiums, half-facing both the battlefield within and the island outside.

"So, you're in there, are you…?" he whispered, quickening his pace as he changed course towards the stadium.

"—met some wonderful people at the Green Goldeen earlier today," Pierre masqueraded, subtly edging closer to Paul, who had begun to drift towards the other side of a small group of teenagers. "Yes, one is a doctor, and the second is a Pokémon battler—_excuséz moi—_" he pushed past the gaggle of boys, evoking some colourful and crude language from most of them as he tried to keep his target in sight.

_You'd think people could be more civil to each other…_ Paul thought drily, hearing the faceless insults being hurled at someone behind him, but only partly paying attention as he waited for Honchkrow to fly down towards him.

A few dozen steps behind, Pierre managed to avert the last of the teenagers' verbal attacks, thanking his lack of understanding most of them, but he stopped short as he saw Paul's head tilted towards the roof of the stadium in front of them both. _What could be up there?_ he wondered, his eyes widening with the flap of wings as a Honchkrow soared down from the roof and landed in front of the boy, clucking at him as though relaying some kind of news.

"Good to see you got _something _out of it, then," Paul grunted irritably, promptly returning his Dark-type to its PokéBall. He turned around to head back to his hotel, but he took a step backwards when he saw a tall man with soot-grey hair looking scrutinisingly at him. "What are _you_ looking at?!" he barked harshly.

"Sil vous—pardon?" Pierre said innocently, lowering the cell phone from his ear. "Might you be talking to me?" he asked slowly, pointing to himself with his free hand. Paul held him in his cold gaze for a few moments, but he quickly decided that he was mistaken, because he stalked past Pierre and out of sight, leaving the man to slump his shoulders with relief.

"Far too close, Pierre…!" he chastised, slapping his forehead. "Do not sacrifice your mission for curiosity! But—" he turned his eyes back to the top of the stadium, "I wonder what it is inside that the young Mortiego was curious for…" he muttered, taking a pure red PokéBall from his suit pocket. "Natu, if you please?" he said clearly, opening the PokéBall with a flash of light. A tiny green bird Pokémon appeared from the light, carrying an even tinier rectangular object that was looped around its golden talons.

"_Na-tu!_" chirped the Natu, furiously flapping its wings and flying up to the roof. Pierre pushed back the sleeve of his coat, revealing the digital watch on his wrist, and he pressed a button on the side. A small video display came up, showing him the view coming from the camera on his Natu's feet, and it was giving him a crystal-clear image of a Pokémon battle between a Jynx and an Infernape.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Credit goes to 031ap for his OC submission of Arjun Patel.**

***Another credit goes to RREA436 for his submission of Eric Trimble.**

*****_**Persian**_** is, of course, a homage to the now-infamous Black Persian Beer. Thanks to Blue Bongo for suggesting (and/or approving) its use.**

***Tenkō comes from the terms "ten" and "kou", which mean 'heaven' and 'sky' respectively. You can guess the other names' references from this, though.**

**Quiz:**

***Which anime character owns both an Infernape **_**and**_** a Honchkrow?**

* * *

**Another chapter has come and gone... but guess what? It has part of a non-Ash single battle! Man, I haven't done one of those since Chapter 21, and even then it was only one-on-one.**

**I told you there would be a few new faces, right? ****And I wonder who this mysterious Pierre Benoit character is... well, I'm not the one wondering per se, but you might be.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!!! This story has reached 300 reviews! I'm so happy! And I think it was actually _under_ 200 about this time last month... not bad, eh?**

**In other news, the Affection Collection poll has been officially closed, and the winner was... (drum roll)... SummerShoreShipping! That's Volkner and Cissy. Thanks to everyone who voted for their favourites, even if they weren't voting for the eventual winner.**

**That means that SummerShoreShipping will be the first pairing in The Affection Collection, which will be published once Ocean Music is underway. Man, writing three stories at once is gonna be tough work!**

**In the old poll's place, the new poll is now up! This one's gonna be p-retty important! Be sure to have your say so you can have your way!**

**Anyways, Chapter 82 (Never Mind) will be published... July 3rd! That's the second-to-last week of school for me this term, just in case anyone was wondering. No brief sampler here, so you'll have to read it!**

**Don't forget to review! Please!!!**


	82. Never Mind

**CHAPTER 82 – NEVER MIND**

"Alakazam, finish things off with Shadow Ball!" boomed Eric, throwing his arm forwards just as his Psi Pokémon did the same with the huge sphere of darkness forming in front of its mouth. The sizzling ball flew over the short grass and collided into its foe's stomach, making it cry out in pain as it toppled wearily onto its back, the large shell crown on its head digging into the soft dirt as swirls formed in its eyes.

"Slowking is unable to battle!" declared the referee, met by a universal blast of cheers from the crowd as they leapt to their feet and punched at the air with their fists. Eric gave his Psychic-type a thumbs-up, which it returned merrily, as Anabel wistfully took out her fallen Pokémon's PokéBall and recalled the Slowking to its depths.

"You did good, Slowking…" she whispered to the ball, resting it against her lips for a brief moment before clasping it to her belt.

"I can't believe how quickly Eric's Alakazam took out Anabel's Slowking…" Ash muttered dejectedly in the stands, a frown plastered on his face. "You'd think—"

"Hey, just remember that Slowking beat his Gastrodon going into the intermission," called out Brock from his spot a few seats over, "so it would have been fairly worn out. Or don't you remember that, even though it only happened twenty minutes ago?" he asked rhetorically, and Ash promptly pressed his mouth shut.

"What an exciting continuation from our short break, and hasn't it started out well?!" roared the commentator. "Before the intermission, Anabel looked to be in control! Her Jynx took a lot of working over by Infernape before it went down, but her Medicham made sure that the victory was short-lived! In an unusual show of tactics, however, Eric managed to surprise us with his Gastrodon using the _field_ as a weapon to knock Medicham out!"

"But after that, of course," she continued, "Anabel's Slowking dazzled us – and Eric, I'm sure – before putting Gastrodon out of commission with that _vicious_ Trump Card! Alas, come the other side of that break, it's Anabel who we find on the receiving end, thanks to Eric's brilliant strategy! Using Flash to blind both Trainer and Pokémon was a stroke of genius, and they really gave their opponents no chance to counterattack! But even so, it leaves both Trainers with half their rosters left, so we're having our field change!" he reminded the crowd, who instantly stopped chatting amongst themselves to turn and stare at the stadium screen.

"The battlefield for the second half of this battle will be—!" began the referee, stopping as the graphic suddenly stopped on an image that made both competitors cringe, along with the tens of thousands of spectators in the stands.

"An Ice Field…" Ari groaned, ruffling the hair under his hat. "Great, just great… it's gonna really mess Anabel's land-based Pokémon up."

"But—" May leaned over towards him, "doesn't Anabel have a Metagross? She could use that, and have it hover like Tyson's did in Ash's match yesterday!"

Down on the battlefield, an identical thought ran through the Salon Maiden's mind, and she took her Metagross' PokéBall from its clasp on her belt and tossed it high and proud with a cry. "I'm calling on you, friend!" she roared, and her Iron Leg Pokémon thundered out from the blinding light of the ball, mashing its silver claws into the blue ice to anchor itself; a feat that Eric's Alakazam had accomplished across the field by digging the rears of its spoons into the slippery ground.

"The show must go on, so let's get it back on the road!" shrieked the commentator excitedly, slamming her hammer into the bell next to her.

"Alakazam, Shadow Ball!" ordered Eric, as soon as the note rang through the arena.

"_Ala!_" grunted the Psi Pokémon, opening its mouth wide and launching the crackling orb of black through the air towards its foe.

_Metagross, let's show them some dancing on ice,_ Anabel told her Pokémon with a wry smirk. _Agility!_ she commanded, and Metagross ripped three of its four clawed legs out of the tough ice at its Trainer's word. As Alakazam's Shadow Ball sped closer, the Steel-type roared and leapt to the side, two of its previously free claws tearing down into the ice and flicking enormous chunks back into the air as it continued to scuttle across the battlefield with terrifying speed.

"Impossible—!" exclaimed Eric, watching desolately as his Pokémon's attack sailed well wide and fizzled out near the boundary wall.

_But we're not finished yet, are we, Metagross?!_ Anabel silently cheered, feeling the Iron Leg Pokémon's raging response in her mind. _That's right! Full steam ahead with your Meteor Mash! _Metagross snarled in understanding, still charging towards Alakazam over the thick sheet of ice, as its foremost claw began to shine with a mottled silver light.

"Flash!" Eric cried desperately, biting down on his lower lip as Metagross threw itself into the air and began to swing downwards at his Pokémon. Alakazam fearlessly raised a solitary spoon in the face of the attack, quickly screwing its eyes shut as its Trainer spun on his feet to look the other way. There was a tiny flicker of light from the core of the spoon before, a split second later, a white-hot flash of blinding light erupted outwards from the instrument in all directions, making the crowd hiss and cower as their eyes were seared.

Metagross, whose hollow red eyes had been firmly affixed on its target's head, roared in pain as its vision instantly cut away to a maze of static electricity; the radiant light had tampered with the electromagnetism keeping its body held together. Anabel had been blinded by Alakazam's manoeuvre as well, but she shouted in worry nonetheless when she heard her Pokémon calling out, only to choke it back at the sound of a dull clunking noise.

_Metagross?!_ she screamed within her head, her sightless eyes trying to probe the field as no reply came to her. "_Metagross_! _Are you alright_?!" she shrieked.

"Alakazam, I know Metagross is down right now, but you've gotta hit it with Shadow Ball!" said Eric's voice, a shocked gasp running through the crowd – even though they had been blinded by the light as well – as their ears caught onto the familiar sizzling sound of Alakazam's attack filling the air.

"Metagross, come on! If you can hear me, counter it with Zen Headbutt!" implored Anabel, furiously rubbing and blinking her eyes as, at last, some vision began to return to her.

* * *

_STATUS: ON—RESTARTING…_

_There was an intermittent flash of black and white lights, before a red point appeared in the centre of the screen._

_SYSTEM CHECK IN PROGRESS…_

_A ridiculously long list of complicated equations and calculations began to run down the left-hand side of the screen quicker than the human eye could see._

_POWER: 88%_

_A small yellow bar appeared at the top of the screen, filled nearly all the way to the right._

_RUNNING DIAGNOSTICS—_

_BELL 1— OPERATIONAL; NO DAMAGE._

_A tingling sensation began to flow from a point somewhere in front and to the left._

_BELL 2— OPERATIONAL; NO DAMAGE._

_The same sensation now came from the front-right as well._

_BELL 3— OPERATIONAL; NO DAMAGE._

_BELL 4— OPERATIONAL; NO DAMAGE._

_Tingling was coming in from four points positioned at right-angles, the four points making a complete circle._

_OPTIC SENSORS— SEVERE DAMAGE SUSTAINED._

_A mass of hazy static faded in and out of the screen as an angry buzzing noise began to sound. After a few moments, a red light flashed three times, and the static quickly disappeared._

—_SWITCHING TO RESONANT SENSORS—_

…

_TASK COMPLETED._

_An image of the battlefield flickered on-screen. Green and blurred, it showed an Alakazam standing twenty feet away, and holding a black sphere in front of its mouth._

_**DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!**_

_THREAT IMMINENT: TYPE-R ENERGY ORB IN VICINITY._

* * *

Metagross' eyes snapped open, now glowing a fierce shade of green instead of their usual red hue, as it lifted itself upright just in time to see Alakazam blast its Shadow Ball forwards. Straight away, the Steel-type registered its Trainer's command for a counterattack, and an intense blue glow appeared on its forehead as it bowed its head towards the ground and began to slowly march forwards on its bulky legs.

"_Meta…_" growled Metagross, wincing as Alakazam's attack struck home, slamming directly into the centre of its head. The Iron Leg Pokémon shifted its enormous weight on the loose ice, the force of the Shadow Ball pushing it back towards Anabel, but it dug its claws into the hard arena floor and fought against the attack. With an almighty bellow, Metagross tossed its head towards the air, sending the crackling ball of darkness hurtling upwards to disappear amongst the blue sky.

_This Metagross won't just lay down!_ thought Eric grimly, a fist shaking as he pointed his other hand at Alakazam. "Stop Metagross with Psychic before it stops you!" he yelled, just as Metagross leapt forwards with all clawed legs outstretched, its forehead glowing ominously as Anabel's Pokémon bore down on Eric's. The Psi Pokémon took an anxious step backwards, hesitating for the tiniest fraction of a second at the green fury in its foe's eyes, before it hastily threw its arms forwards in defence, trying to hold back the rampaging Metagross with everything at its disposal.

"_Groosss—!_" boomed the Steel-type, but its roar was cut short, along with its movement, as it was frozen in mid-air by its foe, the outermost tip of its leg twitching barely an inch from Alakazam's fox-like face. Alakazam looked almost piteously at Metagross, the warmth in its eyes matching the frozen ground below the two battlers, before it brought both arms towards the ground and launched its helpless foe right through the covering of ice, kicking up a cloud of dust as Metagross' body collided with the earthy underground.

"Metagross, no!" shouted Anabel, stepping to the edge of her Trainer's box. _Metagross, if you've still got it in you, I want you to lock onto Alakazam's heat signal!_ she instructed, hearing her Pokémon grunt a psychic reply back to her. Two pinpricks of green light twinkled from within the dense brown cloud of dust, as the Iron Leg Pokémon fixed its focus onto the Psi Pokémon standing nearby, and it grunted telepathically to its Trainer again to receive its next order.

_Hyper Beam,_ she thought simply, the ghost of a smirk playing on her mouth as the haze of dirt began to glow from the inside with a dull orange light.

"Alakazam, stop that light with Ps—!" Eric began to scream, but before he could finish his desperate order, the dust cloud was ripped apart by the wide beam of orange energy that was being blasted from Metagross' gaping jaws. Alakazam's face glimmered with the blinding light that rushed towards it, and in the blink of an eye it was hurtled high into the air, the powerful column of light striking it squarely in the middle of its enormous forehead. A small groan escaped the stricken Psi Pokémon, but the force of the attack was far too much for it to handle, and it was unconscious the moment it crashed into the icy battlefield in a crumpled heap.

"Alakazam is unable to battle!" shouted the referee, green flag already raised towards Anabel, and the crowd exploded with cheers at the decision. Anabel pumped the air with her fist, shouting encouragement at her Metagross as it slowly moved back to her side of the battlefield, and Eric slowly returned Alakazam to its PokéBall before frowning at his opponents across the arena.

_This could be a problem… _he thought warily, taking his two remaining PokéBalls into his hands and weighing each one against the other.

"Anabel's got this one in the bag!" said Ash confidently, drumming a hand on his knee as he watched Eric deliberate. "I mean, Metagross managed to take down Eric's Alakazam with just one hit!" he pointed out.

"That's true, but Alakazam was already weakened by having to beat Anabel's Slowking," Ari reminded him. "And Eric's most likely to send out his strongest Pokémon right now, being his second-last one…"

"Hey, have a little faith, would you?!"

"I never said I didn't!" fired Ari, glaring at Ash. "I was just stating the facts. I still have absolutely no reason to think that Anabel's going to lose _this_ match, or her match _tomorrow_!" he added, a little nastily.

"Alright, alright, let's just chill out for a moment or two, okay?" Brock interjected, throwing his arms wide to block Ash and Ari from the other's view as, down on the stadium floor, Eric pocketed the PokéBall in his right hand, tossing the left-hand one up and down as he looked over at Anabel.

"Let's see how you fare against _this_ Pokémon!" he roared, hurling the PokéBall into the small hole in the ice that Metagross' crash had left. The ball burst wide open with a flash of white light, making the crowd reflexively shield their eyes with the memory of Alakazam's Flash still fresh in their minds, but the light pooled together and faded to reveal Eric's next Pokémon to them all.

It stood at the same height as its Trainer, with a green, mushroom-like growth on top of its head dotted with a red circle to the side. A pair of round black eyes gleamed from underneath the beret-like protrusion, a tan beak snapping open as it spotted the Metagross opposing it. There was a tan-coloured frill below its neck that half-obscured a pair of red-tipped claws, and the Pokémon's underbelly was a leathery green of the same colour as its beret. Its powerful legs ended in red claws just like its arms, and a thick brown tail flopped onto the ground behind it, ending with four green bulbs clustered around the tip.

"Breloom, no time to waste!" Eric shouted, throwing his arm forwards. "Hit Metagross with some Seed Bomb attacks while it's still recharging!"

"_Bruloo_!" chirped Breloom, bowing its head and pointing its beret at the Iron Leg Pokémon. The growth suddenly swelled up as the red circle seemed to pucker up, but a moment later there was a loud bang as six glowing seeds were launched from within, whistling across the icy ground and smashing into Metagross' hide in quick succession. The Steel-type groaned as the points of impact began to smoke slightly, the projectiles fading away into the air, and it stamped a claw into the ground in anger, sending a spidery crack snaking across the field.

"_Yeowch_! Metagross would _not_ have liked that one!" shouted the commentator, her voice struggling over the gasps and screams of the people in the stands. "That's to be expected after having to blast Eric's Alakazam with a Hyper Beam, but _still_, Breloom made full advantage of its enemy's recovery phase to land that cracking Seed Bomb!"

"Are you back on board, Metagross?!" Anabel shouted, and Metagross' eyes glinted as it spoke to its Trainer's mind.

"Another Seed Bomb volley, Breloom!" commanded Eric, baring his teeth as he saw Metagross begin to move towards his Pokémon. Breloom cawed again and blasted another spray of glowing missiles towards its foe, but like a blur the Steel-type suddenly accelerated past the attack as though the seeds were snails. "What the hell?!" he roared, his eyes widening as Metagross' head flashed with sky-blue light, claws smashing through the ice as it continued on its path towards Breloom.

"Nail Breloom with that Zen Headbutt!" Anabel shrieked.

"Oh no you _don't_! Knock Metagross off its high horse with a Dynamicpunch!" Eric bellowed, and Breloom half-turned to the side as it cocked a fist backwards, its red claws burning with molten silver light as Metagross rocketed closer with its own glowing attack. Just as the Mushroom Pokémon began to feel the heat behind its foe's Zen Headbutt, it threw itself forwards, swinging its shining claw around to strike Metagross between the eyes with such raw power that the latter was sent hurtling in the other direction, flung into the boundary wall and nearly being buried amongst the dull blue metal.

"Metagross?!" cried Anabel, her eyes shimmering with worry as her Pokémon slid away onto the dusty ground beyond the ice. "Come on, get up! You can do it! That Dynamicpunch was nothing!" she shouted encouragingly, her heart fluttering as the Iron Leg Pokémon groggily got to its feet, wildly shaking its head this way and that as it charged back onto the slippery battlefield.

"Spore, Breloom!" roared Eric, ignoring the cheers coming from Anabel's supporters as he ordered his Pokémon back on the offensive. Breloom swung around in a tight circle, the bulbs on the tip of its tail bursting open and throwing a shower of glittering red particles through the air, floating lazily in a thick torrent as they homed in on their target.

_Agility! Get ready for a Meteor Mash, so we can hit Breloom where it hurts!_

"_Meta!_" grunted Metagross, zipping out of the way of the dangerous red haze as it fell limply onto the ice and stuck fast. Eric gritted his teeth in annoyance at his opponent's Pokémon's alarming speed as it clambered over the uneven ground, the icy surface not slowing it down at all as its claws began to flash with brilliant white lustre.

"If Metagross wants to play some hand-to-hand combat," he shouted to his Breloom, "then let's give them some _real_ handiwork! Power up another Dynamicpunch!" he boomed, Breloom preparing its attack with its beady eyes narrowed at the charging Steel-type. Metagross began to spin sideways as it came closer, its glowing leg turning into a blurry sheet of white light as it drew within striking distance, and Breloom's shattering punch landed just wide in the sharp glare, burying itself in the ground with the crunch of breaking ice.

At the last moment before impact, Metagross suddenly flipped its body so that it was spinning at a right-angle to the ground like a wheel, pummelling the Grass-type with a vicious uppercut that launched it skyward at breakneck pace, its neck stretched out to the point that its beret was digging into its back as it arced higher through the air.

"Head up there to meet Breloom! Greet it with another Meteor Mash!" Anabel cheered, pointing upwards at the Mushroom Pokémon as it began to reach the peak of its climb. Metagross' craggy mouth split open into a savage grin as it tucked its legs above its body, hovering just above the arena's surface before it started to float up towards its foe, who stopped shortly in mid-air before it slowly began falling back down to earth. Or, rather, falling towards Metagross.

"Damnit, Breloom, snap out of it!" screamed Eric, his fists clenched as his Pokémon shook itself out of its sluggish state. "If we don't step it up now, we're in deep trouble! Put Metagross out could with another shot of your Spore attack!" he commanded. Breloom pointed its head towards the rising Iron Leg Pokémon, its tail thrashing downwards as the tip released another seeping cloud of red at its owner's foe.

"Spin around, Metagross!" countered Anabel, uncertainty in her expression as she watched her Pokémon ascending towards the haze. "Send that Spore _around_ you, not _at_ you!" she ordered, the Steel-type immediately spinning itself into a frenzy, looking more like a blue helicopter as it rose into the falling Spore. The crowd roared with excitement as Pokémon met attack, and Anabel's tactic seemed to work, as the shimmer of red looked as though it had hit a large fan, spreading out in all directions around Metagross whilst not hitting it dead-centre.

"And Metagross has used its own body as a pseudo-shield for Breloom's Spore attack!" shouted the commentator, scratching her head. "I gotta tell you, Anabel is really making some brilliant tactical decisions in these latter stages of the b—hang on, what's this?!" he exclaimed, and the crowd gasped as they looked up at Metagross, whose arm was flickering weakly with white light as it tried to charge its Meteor Mash.

_Metagross, what's wrong?!_ Anabel asked her Pokémon, but the only reply she could hear was a faint, low-pitched grumbling noise, and then there was a painful silence as, above the battlefield, the Iron Leg Pokémon simply hung in mid-air, not even budging as Breloom fell down and crashed its clawed feet on top of its flat blue head.

"_Dynamicpunch_!" bellowed Eric at the top of his voice. The Fighting-type raised its glowing fist high, as if offering it as a gift to the heavens, before bringing it down upon the top of its foe's face with a hideous thump, sending Metagross plummeting towards the ice and smashing into it with an enormous bang and a plume of dirt and icicles as Breloom lightly landed on its Trainer's side of the field, glaring at the hidden spot where its foe had hit the dirt.

"Metagross, come on! Get up!" Anabel pleaded, again hearing no psychic reply from her Pokémon as the dust began to thin out.

"I'm not sure Metagross would be _able_ to get up…" sighed Brock with a frown, waiting anxiously like the others in the stadium for a sign of the Steel-type. "It looks like it fell to the effects of Breloom's Spore, and after a Dynamicpunch like that…" he let his words hang in the air, preferring not to give words to the rest of his sentence.

"Just watch; Metagross will be back on its feet before you can blink!" rallied Ash, getting to his feet. "Come on, Metagross! I know from experience that you're not a Pokémon to lie down and take it!" he cheered, thumping the air with his fist.

Down on the field, the last of the dust faded into the air, and in the space that its absence had revealed, Anabel's Pokémon was standing ungainly on three legs, the fourth one folded uselessly underneath its body. The crowd exploded with roars and cheers at the sight of Metagross still conscious, and Anabel breathed a sigh of caring relief as she felt it assert its will to battle to her telepathically.

"Breloom, recover your health with Synthesis!" Eric barked, and Breloom turned its head towards the sky, opening its mouth as the green patches on its body began to glow yellow with the sun's rays beaming down on them.

"Metagross, stop that attack! Use Hyper Beam, now!" roared Anabel, and Metagross shakily formed a small ball of orange light in front of the silver cross on its face. The orb of pulsating energy slowly grew bigger the longer that Eric's Pokémon basked in the sunlight, but all of a sudden the light next to Metagross' head disappeared as the Pokémon itself pitched forwards and crashed into the ice in front of its now unconscious body.

"Metagross is unable to battle!" declared the referee, pointing his red flag towards Eric and Breloom, who jumped into the air with celebration as the latter rushed over and gave its Trainer a high-five.

"Drat…" Anabel muttered, pursing her lips as she took Metagross' PokéBall into her hand. "Good job, friend. Now have a good nap," she said proudly, recalling her Pokémon to the ball's depths.

"That's a pity…" sighed Ari, up in the stands, whilst the commentator summarised the last passage of play. "Now they're both down to two Pokémon. I wonder if Anabel's going to use her—"

"Hey, don't ruin the surprise!" whined Dawn, backhanding him in the shoulder, and Piplup threatened him with one of her trademark Bubblebeam attacks to enforce the message.

"That Breloom is pretty powerful, though," Max said unbiasedly, his glasses glinting in the light. "Eric must have evolved it at a high level from a Shroomish, or else it wouldn't have mastered that Spore technique. And it knows Synthesis, Seed Bomb and Dynamicpunch as well… he's obviously trained it well."

"Am I the only one on Anabel's side here or what?!" Ash shouted. "She's still got the advantage of two full-strength Pokémon against a Breloom – a _Fighting-type_, might I add, that's weak to Psychic-type moves – and only one more Pokémon in reserve!"

"Of course we're on Anabel's side!" growled Misty. "Now calm down before you get thrown out! It wouldn't look very good for you to be tossed out of your own girlfriend's battle, now would it?!" she reminded him, and Ash promptly jammed his lips shut and turned back to the battlefield in a simmering silence.

"Come on out, friend!" Anabel shrieked, hurling her next PokéBall onto the stadium floor, and it burst open with a flash of light. Out of the light came none other than Anabel's Espeon, mewing patiently as her forked tail swished around gracefully behind her. "Are you ready, Espeon?!" she shouted, and Espeon nodded her supple head, staring down both Eric and his Breloom as Anabel waited for her opponent to make the first move.

"Alright then, if you won't kick this off, then I'll be more than happy to!" Eric shouted across the arena, jerking his head forwards, and Breloom bounded onto the icy field obediently. "Hit that Espeon with a Seed Bomb, and make it a good one!" he roared.

Breloom screeched and immediately blasted three of its glowing projectiles over the ice, but Espeon remained unflinchingly still even as the missiles whistled closer, and a split second later she fired her own attack; a rainbow-coloured beam of powerful light that flew from the yellow stone on its forehead and collided with Breloom's attack, causing a loud explosion and a dark cloud of smoke to cover the space between the two Pokémon.

_Nice Psybeam, Espeon!_ Anabel cheered silently, smiling as her Sun Pokémon took a light step forwards on the field, testing her balance on the slippery surface whilst she still had time to do so under the cover of the obscuring smoke in the arena's centre.

"Breloom, charge through that smoke and knock Espeon out of the park with a Dynamicpunch…!" Eric ordered, whispering so that his opponent wouldn't be able to hear him over the din of the noisy crowd; since she could order her Pokémon without spoken commands, he needed to be just as covert if he wanted to win this stage of the battle. The Grass-type nodded in understanding and leapt at the black cloud, its red claws shining with white light before they disappeared into the gloom, and two seconds later it plunged out of the other side with its fist cocked as Espeon came into its sights.

_Dodge it with a Quick Attack!_ instructed Anabel, and Espeon quickly darted to the side, trailing a thick stream of light behind her tail as Breloom clumsily tried to swing its punch into its foe. The attack sailed foolishly wide, the Mushroom Pokémon losing its balance for a moment and nearly toppling onto its back as it tried to swing around and face the Psychic-type, and Anabel took it as her next chance.

_Another Psybeam, this time right in the small of the back!_ she ordered, nodding her head. Espeon growled as the stone on her face gleamed with pale pink, and a multicoloured column of light speared from it into Breloom, hitting its mark with deadly accuracy. Breloom squawked with pain as the power behind the attack knocked it off its feet, and it crashed head-first into the cold ground, sliding across the ice before coming to a stop halfway across the arena.

"Back on your feet, Breloom!" barked Eric, and his Grass-type quickly pushed itself limberly off the ground and landed firmly on its feet, assuming a karate stance as it tossed its head at Espeon. "Let's try that Spore attack one more time; what do you say?!" he roared, throwing his arm forwards. "Let's give Anabel and Espeon a welcome shower!"

"_Loom! Bruloo!_" cawed the Mushroom Pokémon, spinning around in a huge circle and blasting its attack in every direction.

"Future Sight!" Anabel cried out, knowing that her Pokémon couldn't possibly dodge a cloud of that size. The Sun Pokémon raised her head towards the heavens, her tail curling upwards to touch the back of her skull, and a dim light flickered around its body even as Breloom's attack sailed lazily closer. There was a brighter flash of white light that flew out of Espeon's yellow headstone, but all too soon the light had faded, leaving the crowd to wonder what Anabel's order had accomplished at all.

_Good work, Espeon, _Anabel thought proudly, a smile on her face even as her Pokémon was half-hidden behind a shimmering veil of red, _now let yourself fall asleep. I promise you'll wake up on the field on the other side,_ she added, and the Psychic-type's eyes drooped lazily before it slumped onto the freezing battlefield. "Oh no, my poor Espeon," she shouted robotically, covering her mouth with her hand in sarcastic shock.

"Well, this is certainly a surprise!" shouted the commentator. "Eric ordered his Breloom to blanket the field with that Spore attack, but Anabel just let Espeon take it?! I wonder what tricks our young Salon Maiden has in store with that Future Sight of Espeon's… but either way, Eric is in a prime position to deal out some serious damage right here and now!"

"If only you knew…" Anabel's opponent muttered with a dark laugh. "Now, Dynamicpunch! While it can't escape!" he bellowed, jabbing at the air with his fist as Breloom bounded forwards on its springy legs. The Fighting-type charged recklessly at the sleeping Espeon with both fists glowing a blinding white, and with the speed and power of a prize-fighting boxer it hooked its right claw squarely into its foe's jaw, feeling the feline's cheek snap around as Pokémon and all were sent rocketing over the ice. The crowd roared and gasped at the incredible force behind the attack, and they winced as one as Espeon slid across the dirt beyond the battlefield, slamming into the base of the boundary wall in a limp heap.

"Espeon!" screamed Anabel, rushing to the edge of her box closest to her battered Pokémon.

"This doesn't look good…" muttered Ash through clenched teeth, up in the stands. "That Dynamicpunch must've taken a big toll on Espeon's health…"

"No need to worry, Ash, look—!" cheered Dawn, pointing down at the stadium, and Ash craned his neck to see Espeon getting gingerly to her feet, albeit sporting a wicked bruise across the left side of her face. "The impacts of Breloom's Dynamicpunch and hitting the boundary wall must have jolted Espeon awake!" she added merrily, punching the air in support of Anabel and her Pokémon.

"I knew you had it in you!" grinned Anabel, as her Psychic-type trotted back onto the battlefield, sighing contentedly as the cold coming up from the ground seemed to numb the worst of her injuries. _How about another Psybeam for our opponent?!_ she commanded, clenching a fist in front of her chest as Espeon growled and pointed her head at Breloom.

"Dodge that Psybeam!" Eric ordered, just as the Sun Pokémon launched an intense beam of swirling light across the ice at his Pokémon. Breloom snapped its beak together and hastily sidestepped the attack, which drilled itself into the steel wall on the other side of the arena, but the Mushroom Pokémon merely tossed its head left and right lazily as it was left unfazed. "Seed Bomb!" roared its Trainer, his eyes burning with fierce spirit.

"_Bruloo! Loom brelu!_" screeched Breloom, instantly spitting a volley of spinning, glowing seeds from the bulb on its head.

_Psybeam, Espeon!_ Anabel instructed, her panting Psychic-type Pokémon groaning under the stress of her injuries as she loosed yet another sizzling ray of light to meet Breloom's attack in the centre of the arena. The two powerful forces clashed with a dazzling flash of green-and-red light that reduced the ice below to a crust of powder, but there was a huge cry around the grounds as Espeon's seemingly weaker Psybeam pushed the Seed Bomb spray back towards their creator.

"That's absurd!" cried Eric, but the attack continued on and smashed into his Pokémon's belly, throwing it backwards and sprawling spread-eagled on the battlefield. "Breloom, get up!" he roared, and Breloom unsteadily got to its feet, chest heaving unevenly and shaking uncontrollably as the pain of its troubles began to take its course on the Grass-type. Across the field, Espeon seemed to be suffering a similar fate, and for a few tense moments it seemed as though both Pokémon were doing all they could simply to outlast the other one, neither one wanting to be the one to hit the ground first.

"You can do it you can do it you can do it you can do it—" whispered the steely-eyed boy, his teeth bared as he repeated the words over and over to himself like a mantra. A gentle, howling wind swept across the stadium floor, barely tickling at the quiff of hair atop his head, but out on the ice it might as well have been a gale, for it wouldn't take much more for one of the duelling Pokémon on the field to faint.

But, as both Trainers' luck would have it, the breeze did indeed grow stronger, slowly turning into a strong gust that blew the finer pieces of ice into the air with a twinkle. It would have been a beautiful sight, were it not for the ghostly white beams of light that suddenly appeared on the battlefield, streaking dangerously close to the two Pokémon as they sped across the arena.

_It's Future Sight!_ Anabel thought, realising it before anyone else. _Duck and cover, Espeon!_ she warned her Pokémon, who fell to the ground and curled up into a ball as one of the beams whizzed past her feline head.

Unfortunately for Eric, he was a fraction of a second too slow, and before he could even give the order to evade, Breloom was hurled backwards by a ray of light that came too close and struck it across the shoulder. The Grass-type gave a piteous moan as it fell to the ground, and it was unconscious even before the last beam of light could fade out of sight, leaving the arena eerily quiet as the spectators slowly tried to deduce what had happened.

"Breloom is unable to battle!" declared the referee, pointing his green flag at Anabel. The Frontier Brain jumped into the air with joy at the announcement, and she was immediately joined by the crowd, who jeered Eric, applauded Anabel, and commended Breloom all in one jumbled, pounding voice. Eric pursed his lips in silent disappointment, but gave no other sign of sadness as he raised his Breloom's PokéBall and returned it with pride, clipping it in place alongside his other Pokémon.

"Good job, Espeon!" cheered Anabel, thumping the air with her fist as she looked at her Psychic-type, who was still hunched over after the Future Sight. "E—_Espeon_—?!"

The referee quickly jogged onto the battlefield, kneeling over Espeon and inspecting her closely for a few moments. But when he tapped the Pokémon lightly in the side, and she rolled over to show the swirls in her eyes, he showed no hesitation in taking his red flag from its clasp and aiming it towards Eric with a cry of, "Espeon is also unable to battle! The result is a double knockout!"

"Wow, what a way to finish off _that_ stage of the battle!" screamed the female commentator, wiping at her brow with a handkerchief. "It looks like both Espeon _and_ Breloom literally gave it everything they had, and in the end, neither one came out on top! I don't know about you guys in the stands, but I can't help but love a battle where there's no winner, because both competitors are so valiant through the struggle! But alas, there must be a winner in the overall scheme of things, which will be decided with this final matchup!"

"That's a bit anticlimactic, don't you think…?" May pouted from her seat in the crowd, whilst the referee reiterated the sudden-death rules for end of Anabel and Eric's battle. "I mean, you know what they say about a tied battle, right?"

"I'm sure that Anabel's gonna pull it off with her last Pokémon," Ari said confidently, a subtle smirk at the corner of his mouth. "You'd know what I mean, right, Ash?" he called across the row, and Ash looked over in confusion, clearly not following.

"I don't know what she's saved for last, if that's what you mean," he shouted back, "but that doesn't matter, 'cause she's gonna win this regardless! And that's all I _need_ to know!" he added with a grin, looking up in the sky just as a shadow passed over his face to see a Natu struggling to stay airborne high above the battlefield. _Even that Natu knows that Anabel's gonna pull it off,_ he thought happily to himself.

"Do both Trainers understand?!" the referee asked both competitors, once Anabel had safely recalled her Espeon back to its PokéBall, and she nodded in reply as Eric shouted a firm 'yes' in turn. "Then let the final stage of this battle commence!" he roared, the crowd promptly descending into an awed silence as they waited for their Trainers' final Pokémon. Eric shrugged his shoulders and took the only remaining choice from his group of Pokémon, opening the PokéBall in his hand rather than throwing it into the air, as it burst with shining white light.

"I'm counting on you, so let's give it all we got!" he boomed, the light from his PokéBall solidifying into the fearsome shape of an Aggron that tossed its proud head in the air. The huge Iron Armor Pokémon turned around and bounded towards its Trainer with glee in its bright blue eyes, sweeping Eric up into a crushing bear hug as the latter gasped under the bone-crunching grasp.

"I told ya once… I told ya a million times…" he wheezed, "hugs come _after_ the battle… not… _before_…!"

"_Arrgueher!_" grumbled Aggron, releasing Eric apologetically. It turned back to the arena and roared viciously as it crashed back onto the ice, impatiently smacking its razor-sharp claws against the hardened ice as it watched Anabel take her last PokéBall from its clip.

_Mind over matter, friend,_ she willed into the Pokémon inside, before adopting a steely stare as she hurled it high. "I choose you!" she yelled. The PokéBall split open with a flash, revealing a fierce-looking Alakazam that expertly twirled its twin spoons between its clawed fingers as its foe gnashed its spiked teeth together. _Alakazam, use Signal Beam!_ Anabel ordered, and the Psi Pokémon replied by crossing the instruments in its hands, firing a spinning column of pink, yellow and orange light over the ice towards the Steel-type.

"Glance it off, Aggron…!" Eric shouted, almost laughing as his Pokémon simply turned its body away from the incoming blast. The Signal Beam slammed into Aggron's back-armour with deadly precision, but the supposed target shrugged the attack off without any trouble at all. In fact, it barely seemed to register the effect of the attack as it about-faced to glare at its foe once more, its Trainer smirking confidently at the display.

"Now it's _our_ turn!" he snarled, pointing at the Alakazam on the other side of the ice. "Fry that fox with Thunder!"

Aggron growled and hunched its enormous shoulders close to its head, every inch of steel plating on its body crackling with the lethal sound of lightning, and even its electric-blue eyes seemed to glow with energy as it bowed its head towards the Psychic-type. The sound of gathering thunder echoed through the brittle ice, and the crowd roared with delight as the Iron Armor Pokémon sheared off a huge bolt of lightning from its body, zigzagging through the air as it was aimed directly at Alakazam.

_Teleport, now!_

"_Ala…!_" grunted the Psi Pokémon, its body flickering as the Thunder came closer, and it dissolved into the air a split second later, leaving the sizzling bolt to smash into the frozen ground and gouge out a torrent of crystals from the field. Both Trainers stood unflinchingly as the ice rained down all around them, and within moments Alakazam had reappeared right in front of Anabel, unharmed.

"Damnit!" hissed Eric, stabbing the toe of his shoe into the dirt.

"What an evade!" screamed the commentator, fighting over the deafening wall of sound blaring from the crowd. "The moment that Eric and Aggron go on the offensive, Alakazam escapes in the blink of an eye with that fantastic Teleport!"

"It won't escape from _this_!" Eric seethed. "Aggron, Metal Sound, now!"

"_Gergaaaahh!_" snarled Aggron, digging its clawed feet deep into the ice underneath it. A huge shudder ran from its horns to its tail, and all at once the numerous plates of metal covering its body started to vibrate against each other. The clash of steel on steel created a terribly high-pitched grinding, tearing noise that rang throughout the arena, forcing everyone to shout in pain and shield their ears. Anabel and Alakazam, who were closer to the source of the noise than anyone else, fell to their knees and screwed their eyes shut with the unbearable screeching sound.

_Alaka…zam…! _Anabel whispered to her Pokémon, hearing a miniscule groan from the Psychic-type that was almost lost in the Metal Sound. _You've gotta… try and sense Aggron… try and block out the noise so you—_

"Get ready for Iron Head!" Eric ordered, throwing his arm forwards as he seemed to barely notice the harsh ringing coming from Aggron. The Iron Armor Pokémon slowly stepped forwards, making sure to maintain its debilitating attack as its body was engulfed in shimmering silvery light. The bright glow threw dancing shadows over the glittering ice, seeming to make the daylight itself seem dimmer, before there was a profound silence as the ringing noise disappeared.

_Now, Alakazam, get out of the way!_ Anabel commanded, her Psi Pokémon opening its eyes a sliver only for them to widen as it saw the rampaging Steel-type. But there was no time for it to Teleport away – or even to throw itself to the side – as Aggron smashed its horned head into Alakazam's mid-section, brutally driving it straight into the ground with a cloud of dust and a spray of ice.

"Great shot, Aggron!" cheered Eric, thumping his fist against his chest. "That's some power for you, Anabel!" he added with a smirk, his opponent baring her teeth as her eyes flashed over the cloud-covered hole in the field.

_Physical power it may be, but _willpower_ will get us through,_ she thought defiantly, feeling a hot wave of energy pass inside her mind as her Pokémon agreed. There was a blast of wind from within the fading dust, blowing the sandy particles away to show Alakazam standing proud and tall, albeit with several nasty-looking grazes running along its thin torso. "See, Eric?!" Anabel shouted merrily. "Power alone isn't the true strength! It's our determination!"

"Determination isn't going to be enough for you to beat me!" Eric challenged, turning his gaze to Aggron. "Another Metal Sound, Aggron!" he ordered, and within seconds the stadium was filled with that same excruciating, wailing, grinding noise that the Iron Armor Pokémon had produced moments before. And, as before, Alakazam groaned in pain and clamped its hands over its large ears, trying to use its psychic powers to block out some of the sound.

_Come on, Alakazam, you can get through this!_ cheered Anabel, a red glint suddenly appearing in her lavender eyes. _I've got it! Use Disable on Aggron's neck!_ she ordered, and Alakazam shakily pointed one of its spoons towards the Steel-type, opening its eyes for a fraction of a moment as they glowed a milky blue. There was a tiny spark of black light that appeared on Aggron's head, no more than a pinprick before it disappeared, and Aggron was struck dumb in mid-attack, the plates covering its body suddenly motionless as their owner tried to move its neck to no avail.

"Now it's time to step things up a notch!" Anabel roared, pointing at Aggron. _Psychic! Time for some payback on Aggron!_

"_Ala…ka-zam!_" boomed the Psi Pokémon, aiming both spoons at its foe, who was instantly surrounded in neon-blue light as it was frozen. Alakazam flicked its right hand a fraction of an inch downwards, and Aggron gave a silent scream as it was lifted into the air and hurtled into the battlefield with enough force to crack more than half the ice covering it. The crowd rose to their feet in anticipation as Anabel's Pokémon threw Aggron back into the air, sending it crashing into the ground again as the splintering cracks grew larger.

The Psychic-type kept up the relentless assault for close to a minute, and when it finally relaxed its muscles and allowed its foe to move its, the latter was barely able to stand. The creaking sound of its moving armour plates rang through the still air as Aggron tried to keep its balance, swaying dangerously left and right.

"Aggron, an eye for an eye!" Eric bellowed. "Knock Alakazam out with Metal Burst—!"

"Signal Beam, now!" Anabel shrieked. "Let 'em have it!"

"_Gergyuuh!_" moaned the Steel-type, shaking its head to throw off its injuries as it charged forwards on its sturdy legs. Across the field, Alakazam swiftly blasted a tricoloured beam of intense light from its crossed spoons, and with a bang the Signal Beam speared squarely into the rock-hard space that was its foe's chest. Aggron's bright blue eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second, but all too quickly they screwed themselves shut as the Iron Armor Pokémon tipped backwards with the force of the attack, crashing into the cold ground with a final thud and a puff of powdery ice.

"Aggron is unable to battle!" roared the referee, turning to Anabel and Alakazam as he held their green flag aloft. "Alakazam is the victor! The winner is Anabel Silver from Silver Town!" he declared, narrowly dodging a large pitcher of drink that was carelessly tipped onto the sidelines in celebration; from no less than Ash himself as he leapt to his feet and cheered at the top of his voice, outmatching even the noisiest of Eric's supporters who voiced their disappointment.

"Anabel won! I knew she would! In your face!" he roared, pointing and laughing at the more disgruntled of them in the stands. "_Whoa—!_" he ducked his head as a half-eaten hot dog was hurled his way, "Hah! You missed me!" he taunted, failing to see the full can of Red Tauros that a second spectator threw at him, and it hit him right in the middle of the forehead.

"Easy now, Ash!" Misty shouted, latching onto his arm to stop him falling over the boundary wall. "You don't—" she began, but she broke off with a raucous fit of giggling when she saw the perfect circle of red imprinted between his eyes.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***You ever had a Red Bull? 'Cause that's basically what a Red Tauros is.**

***This is the sixth consecutive chapter with a tournament battle taking place within it.**

**Quiz:**

***In Gold and Silver, what three Pokémon are unique to the Mt. Silver region, and which Pokémon was added to make four in Crystal?**

* * *

**And Anabel makes it through to the finals qualifier! Hoorah! Although I'm sure most of you saw that coming anyways. Still, the journey is sometimes better than the destination.**

**I think I'm finally getting the hang of writing these battles... *wipes brow* it's been a month and a half of nothing but battling, so I'd hope so, yeah?**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, a previous chapter, or voted in the profile poll! And if you did a combination of those, then you get even more thanks!**

**The next chapter is gonna take things back down a peg in the excitement department... or is it? As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a tournament battle for a few chapters while I forward the plot. Which only seems to go at night, don't you reckon?**

**Two weeks until I publish the opener of Ocean Music! I decided to push up the release date because of as-of-then unforseen circumstances, so I hope you enjoy it when it comes out! I'll give you the exact date next week.**

**Oh, and to "Kasuchi, Koichi", could you possibly send me your email address over PM or by sending me one? It's a pity that you're not registered, and I've been enjoying your little 'chapter captions'. It's like a comic strip, I suppose.**

**Chapter 83 (False Negatives) is gonna be zipped up on here, on July 10th. Unfortunately, it's gonna probably be fairly late, because I'll be three hours out of town for most of the day, and I'll have to rely on city traffic.**

**Don't forget to review!!! Please!!!**


	83. False Negatives

**CHAPTER 83 – FALSE NEGATIVES**

"_Leoric_?! You finished cleaning all the crud off the floor?!" shouted Ari, busying himself with several large jugs of juice and soft drink. There was a loud knock on the room's door from outside, and with a silently muttered curse he headed for the door to let whoever was knocking inside, only to be cut off when Leoric raced through the hallway and beat him to it. "Hey, what the—?!"

"Too slow, woman," snickered Leoric, flicking the lock open and opening the door to see Wynter standing in the hallway with a box tucked under his arm. "Uh… this is a _guy's_ night," he said loudly, pointing at the boy's three-foot-long braid of hair.

"I love you too," Wynter drawled, rolling his eyes. "Thanks for inviting me, Ari," he added politely to his other host, who nodded his head and motioned to come in. "Good to see that someone's got good manners," he muttered under his breath as he passed Leoric, who pulled a face behind Wynter's back before he slammed the door shut.

"Where are the other guys?" the American asked, dropping his box on the kitchen counter and pouring himself a glass of Oran. "Oh, it _is_ okay to—?"

"Help yourself," Ari smiled, waving dismissively. "They should be here in a minute or two," he added conversationally. "But you two should have really gone to Anabel's match with the rest of us!"

"Like I said before, I had something else to do," Wynter shrugged.

"And I got a spot of training in with my '_el trifecta_' before tomorrow," Leoric pointed out, tapping three PokéBalls on his belt. "You've gotta be able to train, or what good is the rest period, eh?" he chuckled, just as another knock sounded at the door. "That must be them," he added, sneaking a glance at the clock on his way to greet them, which read close to six, "and what do you know, it was forty-four seconds. Losing your efficiency, Ari."

"Just answer the door."

"Don't rush me," he fired back, sighing as he opened the door.

"We brought food, so you guys better have some too!" Ash said with a cheeky grin, holding up a full plastic bag. "Pikachu was still tired after his battle with Warbird, so I left him to rest with the other Pokémon back at my hotel," he added, answering the finger Leoric was pointing at his shoulder, where the yellow mouse normally sat.

Nonetheless, he waved them all inside – Ash, Brock and Max – before tapping the door shut with his foot, waiting for everybody to get a drink and get comfortable. Brock began to chop vegetables for their dinner later in the evening, before he put down a few plates of food on the coffee table and resumed his cooking duties in the kitchen, leaving the other boys to talk amongst themselves for the time being.

"Well, now what?" asked Wynter blankly, taking a deep drink of his juice when no-one replied straight away.

"We could talk about the tournament?" Max suggested with a passive shrug of his shoulders.

"Yeah! The finals qualifiers are on tomorrow!" Ash piped up. "Is it particularly hard? I mean, y'know, compared to the other rounds?" he asked Ari and Leoric, and the latter nodded grimly.

"The sixth round is a three-on-three battle," he started to explain. "Because of that, you've got really limited options when it comes to picking your Pokémon, because you need Pokémon that can counter the previous one's weaknesses, but also so that they can hold their own if your opponent manages to trump you with something unexpected. You only get three Pokémon, so you usually reserve your stronger – if not your strongest – ones for choosing; that way you give yourself every chance you can get your hands on to make it to the Top Sixteen."

"Some experts actually consider it _harder_ than the first day of the finals," Ari added seriously, and Ash blinked in surprise.

"Really?" he asked; he hadn't been expecting something like that.

"Are you kidding?!" Leoric exclaimed, his expression still gloomy. "In my qualifier last year, I only just scraped through with the win. Both me and my opponent were down to our last Pokémon each; my Magnezone and her Jolteon. Magnezone couldn't land a hit, and all of its electric attacks were useless. It was taking a serious beating, but I had it use Explosion at point-blank to win through because I took the battle's first KO."

"Don't let it bother you, Ash," chuckled Ari, shaking his head and kicking Leoric in the back of the shin. "Leo's just saying that to scare you."

"He's doing a pretty good job of it, then," Ash admitted sheepishly.

"So, what happens once you make it to the Top Sixteen?" Max inquired curiously after a few minutes of awkward silence, cradling his chin in his hands. "I mean, I know about the matchup draw and those things—"

"Whoa, come again? '_Matchup draw_'?" Ash repeated, looking blankly from Ari to Leoric to Wynter, who nodded nonchalantly and set his glass down on a coaster.

"There're sixteen people left in the tournament at that stage, right?" he explained. "So that means eight matches. At the matchup draw, which is tomorrow night once the finalists have been decided, everyone gets assigned a number between one and sixteen, you follow?"

"So they get put into their matches based on the number they draw, do they?" Ash muttered as he started to catch on.

"Yep," interjected Leoric, slapping a hand on his knee. "The numbers get turned into the new tournament tree, with one on the far left and sixteen on the far right. One plays two, three plays four, and so on until fifteen plays sixteen."

"And it goes like that until the World Champion is crowned," Ari finished simply. "The winner of one and two battles the winner of three and four, etcetera etcetera."

"But what if someone fixes the process? Couldn't they rig the draw?" Max wondered aloud, drawing suspicious looks from the other four boys who were still in the tournament. "Hey, I'm just saying—!" he threw his hands up in surrender.

"Doesn't work that way," Leoric muttered with a shake of his head. "Instead of being handed a slip of paper with a number on it, competitors pick marked balls out of a box. Sort of like a lucky dip. Wynter's probably an expert at grabbing balls anyways, so _he_ shouldn't be worried about it," he added with a cackle, earning a murderous stare from the American.

"Who picks first?" Ash interjected, still curious.

"It's based on your performance in the first six rounds," Ari continued, quietly enjoying the tandem explanations with Leoric and Wynter. "The Trainer with the highest ratio of opponents' Pokémon KO'd to their Pokémon KO'd gets to pick the first number. The second best goes second, and right on down to the person with the lowest ratio."

"That seems fair," Ash piped up, tossing his hat onto the coffee table, as there was the tinkling sound of a spoon on glass coming from the kitchen.

"Come on, guys, get your fill!" Brock shouted merrily, juggling a huge pot of food and several kinds of bowls as he edged into the lounge room. "Wynter, you're closest, so could you—?!" he grunted, pointing his nose at the bowls stacked across the length of his arms, and the long-haired boy quickly handed them out amongst the others.

"I wonder what the girls are doing," Max muttered, taking a deep whiff of his steaming bowlful of pasta.

"Wot oo girls _normly_ oo?" chuckled Ash, already stuffing his face with food.

"Hey, May might be energetic, but she doesn't usually hang out with me out of choice," Max pointed out, raising his bowl to his face. "So I don't know; probably talking about clothes or guys or whatever it is they—" he cut off suddenly, staring intently at his curls of pasta as his glasses began to fog up in the steam.

"Max, you gonna eat or what?" Brock asked, wondering if there was something wrong with his cooking. "Max, what's up?!" he said a little louder, poking two fingers into his young friend's glasses, and the latter snapped out of his trance.

"Ah—it's nothing," he answered quickly, hastily cramming his food into his mouth to stop himself talking. _If I was right about the girls talking, then I just _know_ there's gonna be trouble…_

* * *

"Everyone nice and comfy?" grinned Anabel, sitting on the soft carpet between Dawn and Espeon and scratching the Sun Pokémon behind the ears as she looked around at the other girls' Pokémon; Piplup was bouncing Misty's Azurill's tail about like a basketball, and May's Munchlax was busy devouring a plate of its Trainer's specially-made Pokéblocks, strategically placed away from the rest of the food.

"You bet!" squeaked Misty, stretching her arms above her head. "So Anabel, tell us… is it scary when you think that you're maybe a day away from being one of the top Trainers in the world?!"

"I… I wouldn't say _scared_—!" Anabel sighed. "But to be honest, I'm gonna be in for one heck of a battle tomorrow, so the last thing I need is to take my focus away from it."

"Yeah, you never told us who you were going to be battling…" pouted May. "Is it a girl or a guy?"

"What is this, twenty questions?" giggled the lavender-haired girl, but she shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Guy."

"Have you battled him before?" Dawn asked, Anabel nodding and holding up two fingers. "Twice?! Wow, out of the whole world, this is gonna be the third battle between you… who's won more?"

"I won the first time, but he beat me the second."

"Is he cute?" pressed Dawn, a sly look in her eyes as she nudged her friend in the ribs.

"I don't see how that's important—! Yeah, he's pretty cute," she admitted, the other girls giggling amongst themselves as they thought of another question.

"Okay… what's his strongest Pokémon?" May inquired, and Anabel opened her mouth to answer before clamping it shut again. "No, say it! It's not like we're gonna know!" she added merrily, ignoring Anabel's doubtful look.

"It's, uhh… eh-heh, it's a Pikachu…" she muttered, whisper-quiet. "And he… comes from Pallet Town—"

"_NO WAY!_" screamed her friends, all jumping into the air as one with looks of shock etched onto their faces. Piplup looked as though it was having an induced heart attack, but Anabel slid down lower towards the carpet as she covered her furiously red face with both her hands, peering through her fingers as the inevitable interrogation started.

"You're battling _Ash?!_"

"When did you find out about that?!"

"What're you gonna do?!"

"_Pip pip lup!_"

"Alright, _alright_, be quiet!" Anabel shouted, her voice unnaturally loud, and the others quickly took the hint as they zipped their mouths shut and sat back down. "Yes, I'm battling Ash tomorrow; I found out this morning, before I visited his hotel room; I'm gonna treat it like I would with any other battle; yes, I will knock Pikachu out if it has to come to that," she said firmly, counting off their questions one by one – even Piplup's.

"But won't it be really hard?" said Dawn, leaning forwards secretively. "I mean, you two are – y'know – going out and all, so wouldn't that kind of get in the way of your battling?"

"Look, I don't really wanna talk about having to battle Ash, yeah?" Anabel grunted, a little grumpily. "I'm worried enough without having to get it all out there, so could we please talk about something different?" she asked, the girls groaning with disappointment before finally giving in.

"Then who are _Ari and Leoric_ battling tomorrow?" Dawn asked cheekily.

"Ari's battling… someone that you'd know, May!" Anabel said brightly, and May blinked in honest surprise. "Yeah, apparently you met him once or twice while he was on one of his little 'trips', right?" she hinted, zipping a hand across her lips as the brunette thought hard about it and clapped a hand over her own mouth as she understood. "I guess May doesn't wanna tell you, either," giggled the Salon Maiden, to a pair of frustrated growls from Dawn and Misty.

"Well, you still didn't tell us who—" chimed Misty.

"—And I'm still not going to tell you who Leo's brother is," Anabel finished, folding her arms with finality. "Sorry, but you're just gonna have to wait!"

"At least give us something to work with!" Dawn pleaded, clasping her hands in front of her and shaking them wildly at Anabel.

"Well, both of them have battled their opponents, and neither beat them," she said cryptically with a wink. "That's all I can say without giving it away."

* * *

"Man, it sure is great for us guys to have this room all to ourselves, eh?!" Leoric laughed, following up with a loud belch. "You should patent that recipe, Brock," he added, slapping a hand on his belly.

"If I got a gold coin for every time someone's said that to me," grinned the breeder, tossing his fork into his bowl and pushing it into the middle of the table.

"Well, it's a good thing that Brandon and Noland went out for training before their battles tomorrow," Ari chuckled, with a sly glance at Leoric. "Otherwise, the girls wouldn't have had Anabel's hotel room to themselves, and all hell would have broken loose!"

"They're still in the tournament?" Ash piped up, hardly surprised at the news. "That figures… if I have to go up against Brandon in the Top Sixteen, I think I'll just spare myself the embarrassment and shoot myself in a quiet place the night before."

"Then Ari will just have to—clean it up," Leoric forcedly smirked, after being jabbed by Ari in the stomach. "Don't ask why it's him; he can be the janitor."

"And that makes you the garbage man," he scowled, before losing the expression as he smiled politely at Ash. "Hey, that night that we saved Dawn from Paul, you said you'd been in Sinnoh before you came here," he remembered. "What did you do over there?"

"I took the Sinnoh Gym challenge!" Ash answered, his eyes glinting with the memories of his adventures. "I managed to get six Gym Badges – Coal, Forest, Cobble, Fen, Relic and Mine – and we only just stopped some criminals on Iron Island before we came here!"

"Criminals?! Sounds pretty exciting," Wynter muttered. "Who were they?"

"Team Galactic," Ash grunted, an edge of anger in his voice. "Not the same guys who took Dawn, but others… we've crossed paths a fair few times, but they manage to slip away every time. Once in Celestic Town, the Sinnoh Champion, her grandmother, a man called—_Cyrus_—" his knuckles whitened for a fraction of a second, "and a whole police force couldn't stop them from stealing the Adamant Orb and the Lustrous Orb."

"They sound pretty brutal, then," the American mused. "But wait—which one's Dawn again? The blue-haired girl, right? She'd be the one with… you, Ari?" he asked, and the latter nodded. "I haven't seen you with girls—" he pointed to Brock and Max, the former slumping his shoulders, "and heaven help a girl who likes you—" he sniggered at Leoric, "so that means that you're with the purple-haired girl, right?" he asked Ash.

"Anabel? Uh, yeah, I guess you could say that…!" he chuckled, scratching his head sheepishly.

"Where's she from? Around these parts?"

"Um, she's from just south of Mt. Silver, so she'd be from Johto, just like Ari."

"Which goes to show that the best Trainers all come from Johto," Ari said proudly, thumping a fist against his chest, and Leoric snorted.

"Except for the fact that it was someone from _Hoenn_ who won this tournament only last year!" he challenged fiercely. "Does the name '_Brendan Birch from Littleroot Town'_ ring any bells?!"

"'_Birch'_?!" exclaimed Max, his eyes shooting wide. "As in _Professor_ Birch?!"

"He's the Professor's kid," Leoric replied. "Explains why he's so damn good with Pokémon. And I'm gonna make it two years in a row for Hoenn by this time next week!" he added, getting to his feet.

"Not a chance!" Wynter retorted, swinging his arm around and chopping Leoric's legs out from underneath him. "That title – and its trophy – are gonna belong to me and America!"

"Where it _belongs_ is in _my_ house in Pallet Town!" Ash shouted, his eyes flashing eagerly.

"Dream on, Ash," groaned Leoric, propping himself up from the floor. "Dream. On."

"Okay, I think we all get it—" Brock interrupted, throwing his hands wide to stop the three parties from getting physically involved, "you all think you're going to win the tournament."

"I _know_ I'm gonna—" Leoric laughed.

"—But—!" Brock continued, raising his voice over him, "actions speak louder than words, so you'll all be better to just save it for the battlefield, yeah? Douse it for now," he said sternly, and Ash, Leoric and Wynter all looked questioningly at each other before shrugging their shoulders and relaxing in their seats. "Better," grinned the breeder, letting his arms drop.

"But speaking of _actions_," muttered Leoric, a snicker playing on his face, "I heard from a little birdie that _Ash_ here got a little _action_ this morning…"

"What?!" Ash shouted, nearly falling backwards over the footstool he was sitting on.

"Well, if you wanna get technical, a Honchkrow told my Salamence, who told me, but you know what I mean…"

"_Brock_!" Ash roared indignantly, looking at Brock as though the latter had just kicked him in the groin.

"I didn't tell him anything!" he fired back. Meanwhile, Ari and Max looked at each other, wondering if the other boy had any more clue than he did.

"Wait… I'm confused," Max squeaked, scratching his cheek blankly.

"Me too," Ari agreed. "So Ash… and Anabel… were doing what now—?" he asked, and Ash slowly began to edge his seat away from Leoric, hoping to put as much distance between the two of them so he could try and avoid any further embarrassment despite his face turning beet-red. Unfortunately for him, Wynter saw the flush, and his mouth instantly fell open in shock.

"Are you serious?!" he cackled, looking back at Leoric. "But he's gotta be—what?—fifteen at best!" he added, jumping to the same conclusion as the fair-haired boy.

"So?" Leoric muttered, shrugging his shoulders and grabbing a curl of pasta from his bowl. "What's wrong with that?" he asked, tossing it into his mouth.

"Uh, I don't think that we're all on—" Brock tried to say, but he was cut off by Wynter.

"Whaddaya mean '_so_'?!"

"What are they _talking_ about?" Max whispered discreetly to Ari, who looked just as lost and shook his head unhelpfully.

"That's a good question…" he murmured, turning to Brock. "Care to fill us in?" he wondered, and Brock tried to shout a response in, but once again he went unheard as Leoric and Wynter continued to argue between themselves, Ash still slowly moving away from them the entire time.

"Hey, Leo!" Ari shouted, making the two boys look around at him in surprise. "Is this anything like that thing with me and Dawn that you were taunting me about a couple of days ago?"

"Dawn?" Wynter muttered, cutting across Leoric as the latter tried to answer. "She's like twelve, isn't she?!" he exclaimed, turning in horror to Leoric, who rolled his eyes.

"I was being sarcastic back then," he explained, and Wynter sighed and nodded his head in understanding. "_This_—" he pointed a finger across the room at Ash, who froze just in front of the hallway, "is actually plausible."

"Guys," Brock growled irritably, "I _really_ think you've got the wrong—"

"—one week and he's already gotten himself some," Leoric continued, slapping a hand on his knee. "You could take lessons, Ari," he added with an evil chuckle.

"Wait—!" Ash yelped, shuffling himself and his seat back to where they were. "What was that last part?!" he demanded.

"The part about Ari taking lessons?" Wynter repeated, pointing at the brown-haired boy who looked back blankly, but Ash shook his head and rounded on Leoric instead.

"Just before that."

"The part about you and Anabel playing a game of mattress limbo?" Leoric sniggered, and Ash looked at him puzzledly. "Wait for it…" he whispered to Wynter, who smirked in agreement as they watched Ash think about what he'd just said. "Three… two… one—" he stifled a laugh as he saw Ash's face quickly change into one of terror and shock, covertly bumping fists with the American as Ash jumped to his feet and started shouting at them, insulted by the thought.

"What the heck gave you _that_ idea?!" he roared, making Brock, Max and Ari flinch in their own seats. "That's just totally—_you two are sick-headed_!"

"Well, what did you _think_ we meant?" grunted Wynter, holding back his laughter.

"Not _that_!" retorted Ash.

"So you _didn't_…" Leoric muttered, making suggestive hand gestures to emphasise his point, and Ash shook his head wildly.

"_NO_!"

"Alright, just asking…!" Leoric fired, throwing his hands in the air defensively, but Max and Ari still looked on with no clue of what the others were talking about, looking at each other as though asking 'did we miss something?'.

"I tried to tell you that you had the wrong idea," Brock said patronisingly, shaking his head. "But you wouldn't listen… great way to make yourselves look like fools…"

"I'd rather look a fool than a tomato… _Ash_," Wynter added playfully, and Ash turned his head away just as the phone erupted in a frenzy of buzzes and rings.

"I'll get it!" he shouted, clambering to his feet and running towards it.

* * *

"Well—" sighed Dawn, scooping Piplup off the carpet and resting her chin on the Penguin Pokémon's head, "even if you _do_ have to battle Ash tomorrow, I think it's great that you both made it as far as you did."

"Really?" Anabel asked, clearly surprised by the statement, and Dawn nodded her head.

"Yeah, of course! I mean, think about it; you two are two of the world's top thirty-two Trainers, and for a place in the top sixteen, you get to battle the person you love!"

"I think Ash would be pretty pleased," Misty agreed with a gentle smile. "Knowing that he's found someone with such similar interests. Plus, you both seem so… _passionate_ about Pokémon and Pokémon battling… it's like you were meant for each other!"

"Thanks, Misty…" murmured Anabel, blushing from ear to ear as she returned the smile. There was a short silence as the other girls allowed her to settle herself down, but she quickly fanned her face when she realised that they were doing it, and she continued on, "So, are you three going to come to the battle, then?"

"When is it?" May wondered, her attention divided between the question and trying to keep Munchlax away from their food.

"Ten-thirty in the morning… I think…"

"Well, I'll be there!" cheered Dawn, Piplup merrily waving her fins. "Ari said his battle isn't until five! Whoever he's battling," she added sneakily, poking her tongue out at Anabel.

"Okay," she giggled, looking over at Misty. "You?"

"Count me in," she nodded. "I think it'll be a great match. May, what about you?" she asked May, who was physically restraining Munchlax from touching her crackers, and was struggling.

"Actually—" she grunted, before falling forwards as the Normal-type wriggled out of her grasp and devoured the plate of food in one large gulp, "I was gonna go over and watch's Leoric's battle…" she finished, her voice muffled by the carpet that her face was squashed into.

"Oh…" Anabel sighed disappointedly, but she hid it as May picked herself up from the floor. "How come?"

"Yeah, May, _how come_?" Misty asked aggressively, her lips pursed and her eyes narrowed.

"Well, his match starts at eleven o'clock sharp, so I won't be able to see Anabel's and his, will I?" she explained. "And he kinda invited me over lunch, so I thought I'd do the polite thing and go over to his battle to watch. I hope you don't mind, Anabel?" she added remorsefully.

"Whatever…" snorted Misty, turning her head the other way. Anabel and Dawn both looked at each other, confused, but May caught on before either of them, and she stood to her feet with her hands on her hips as she rounded on the orange-haired girl.

"What?!" she said loudly.

"You know _what_!" Misty retorted, looking around and getting up as well, the two girls glaring at each other.

"Maybe I do—!" May growled, "so why don't you spell it out just to make sure I don't have the wrong idea, then?!"

"You've got a—a—a _thing_—for Leo, don't you?!" snapped Misty, taking a dangerous step towards the brunette.

"Even if I do, I don't see how that's any of your business!" she shouted back, and Dawn opened her mouth to speak before she was cut off by Misty.

"Oh, yes it is!" she roared, and Dawn quickly shut her mouth and bowed her head. "I liked Leo first!"

"That shouldn't matter!"

"Oh… this is _exactly_ what you did before—!" Misty yelled, laughing almost maniacally as she threw her hands into the air, "waltzing in and trying to take my guy away from me!"

"Uh, Misty…?" Anabel muttered, trying to sneak a word in while May began to silently fume.

"This is the same thing that happened with Ash!" Misty shrieked, her voice echoing strangely off the walls as there was a shocked silence around the room.

"_WHAT?!_" chorused both Anabel and May, the former looking at Dawn as if to ask 'is she for real?', and the latter staring daggers at Misty as she went on.

"I'd liked Ash for years, long before he met you!" she shouted, pointing an accusing finger at an open-mouthed May. "We travelled through Kanto, the Orange Islands and Johto, and we were as close as close could be! But the moment he comes back I found out he's got some—!" she scrunched her face up as she tried to think of the right term, "_Contest trash_ tagging along with him! He'd much rather be with the new girl now that he'd been away from the girl that had always cared for him!"

"Misty?" Anabel repeated, a little louder, but she was again ignored by the infuriated Misty.

"Well it's not gonna work this time!" she shouted, the ponytail on the side of her head even seeming to bob up and down in rage.

"Misty, that's completely absurd!" shrieked May, her bushy hair quivering with an anger to match Misty's. "I didn't even know you until Ash and I were halfway through Hoenn—!"

"See?!" Misty screamed. "_Ash and I_! You took Ash away from me, and now you're trying to do the same thing with Leoric! It took me a long time to finally get over Ash, and I'm not gonna lose another chance at love to some pipsqueak with a bunch of flashy Ribbons! I'm not gonna take it lying down, and if you think you can steal Leoric away from me, the only thing that's gonna get taken down is _you_!"

"You're insane!" May shouted, taking an angry step towards the hysterical girl, and Misty's eyes twitched with anger.

_SMACK!_

"You bitch!" she shrieked, her hand swinging up next to her head as May reeled backwards. "Stay away from him, and go chase after someone else!"

"Misty, what do you think you're doing?!" Dawn roared, scrambling to her feet and rushing over to May, who was holding a hand to the red mark already forming on her cheek and was about to descend into tears. Misty's face crumbled for a fraction of a second, suddenly realising what she'd just done, but the show of sympathy was gone as quickly as it appeared, and she stormed towards the door, wrenched it open, and slammed it shut behind her.

"May, are you alright?" Anabel asked softly, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder, but with a sob she broke away from her comforting friends and floundered away down the hallway, moving so shakily that her PokéBalls began to bounce out from her pockets, tumbling across the floorboards. She blindly reached the room at the end of the hall – Anabel's bedroom – and threw herself inside, slamming the door shut with a _click_ that meant she had locked it from the inside.

Meanwhile, Munchlax, trotting lazily down the hallway in sluggish pursuit, accidentally tapped one of the rolling PokéBalls with its foot, clicking it open with a fierce burst of white light. There was a deep growl as the light shaped itself into a large figure, and as it faded it revealed a tall scarlet-and-yellow Pokémon with a sharp, hawk-like face and flames wreathing her wrists. The large Pokémon looked down at Munchlax, who sighed and pointed at the closed door at the end of the hall, and she nodded in understanding as she athletically strode over and turned around, standing as a resolute guard.

"May?!" Dawn called out, running down the hallway with a frantic Piplup on her heels.

"…Go away…!" was the muffled reply, and the Coordinator could hear the tears in her voice as she stopped in front of May's Blaziken. She leaned to the side and tried to raise a fist to knock on the door, but the Fire-type gently knocked it away, shaking her head firmly, and Dawn sighed with reluctance as she, Piplup and Munchlax trudged back into the lounge room to join a clearly anxious Anabel.

"Is she alright…?" she asked quietly, her Espeon looking up at the two girls with her bright red eyes full of concern. Dawn cast her eyes down and shook her head, and so Anabel rushed over to the table near the door and snatched up the phone resting on its hook, her thumb furiously mashing buttons as she called someone she hoped could help.

* * *

"I'd rather look a fool than a tomato… _Ash_," Wynter added playfully, and Ash turned his head away just as the phone erupted in a frenzy of buzzes and rings.

"I'll get it!" he shouted, clambering to his feet and running towards it, thankful to finally have something to distract him from that rather awkward conversation as he snatched it up and held the receiver to his ear. "Hello, this is Ash K—"

"Ash!" shouted a female voice on the line, and Ash's mouth fell open in surprise as he registered it as Anabel's.

"Anabel!" he exclaimed, drawing suspicious looks from the other boys, particularly Leoric and Wynter, who both snickered knowingly, only to be absent-mindedly slapped across the back of the head by Ari, who was scrutinising a Honchkrow perched on the railing on the balcony. "We, uh… we were just… talking about you, actually…" he laughed sheepishly. "How you doing?"

"Well…" she grunted, and Ash furrowed his brow at the hesitation in her tone. "_I'm_ fine… but we've had a… uh, a bit of an incident over here at my place…"

"Oh? What happened?" he whispered, turning his back on the others.

"There's not really much I can explain over the phone," she said in a stressed voice. "I think you'll understand better if you actually come over… you can bring the other boys along as well if you want."

"Okay, I, uh, I'll be there as soon as I can, yeah?" Ash assured her.

"Sorry about this," Anabel muttered.

"Hey, don't worry about it," he grinned, putting the phone back on its hook. He turned around and jumped in surprise as he saw Brock, Ari, Leoric, Wynter and Max all crowding around him in a semicircle, their curious looks demanding an explanation of the contents of the call. "Something's happened over at the girl's night," he told them, and there was a subtle flurry of murmured surprise amongst his friends.

"Well, _what_ happened?" Brock finally asked, and Ash shrugged his shoulders.

"Anabel didn't tell me," he said unhelpfully. "All she said was that it would be better if I went over there, and that you five should come along as well."

"Why would we—?" Max piped up, but he groaned in annoyance as a thought came to his head. Despite the confused looks he received from his fellows, he quickly ducked away from them and darted to the door, swinging it open and tearing down the hallway towards the elevators.

"You think Max knows something we don't?" Ari asked, scratching his head, but he started in surprise when Leoric groaned, just like Max had, and slapped a hand to his forehead.

"No, because I think I know what it is as well," he muttered darkly, striding to the door and jogging down the hallway after the youngster. The four remaining boys stared after him for a few moments, the cogs turning frantically in their brains as they tried to figure out what was happening, before Ash snapped to his senses and beckoned towards the door.

"We'd better go after them," he advised, leading them out into the hallway. "They probably know what happened, so we might as well catch them and get the full picture before they get to Anabel's."

"Too right," Ari nodded, as Brock snatched the card key from the coffee table and slammed the door shut behind him, and they all ran across the carpet in pursuit.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Brendan Birch being Professor Birch's son is derived from the 3rd Generation games, where the starting rival was Professor Birch's child (since May is Norman's daughter in the anime).**

**Quiz:**

***In which episode of the anime did Ash actually refer to himself as a tomato, or rather as "Tom Ato"?**

* * *

**Bet you didn't see that one coming, am I right? Looks like certain things are coming to a head... what, oh what, could happen next?**

**As I said after the end of the last chapter, I was out of town for most of the day, so this was the earliest I could get this new chapter up. Sorry if it caused any inconvenience.**

**I think I really needed that break from battling... the creative juices are flowing a lot more freely now, so that's always a good thing.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and some of the chapters before that! And another thanks the voters!**

**Which reminds me; after Chapter 85, there's going to be a _new_ poll! That's right, I'm churning out polls regularly now every five or so weeks, just so things aren't gonna get boring. Mind you, they'll be two/three options in each one, but still!**

**Ocean Music is coming out next week! I will time its release to coincide with the (if you exclude the exclusive preview from last week) global premiere of the 12th Pokemon movie, "Aruseus: Choukoku no Jikuu e" (or "Arceus: To A Conquering Spacetime" as it has been translated). That means the first chapter will be published on July 18th, so be sure to remember the date.**

**Chapter 84 (Just Beat It) will snake its way onto the site on July 17th. Apart from the title being a tribute to the late Michael Jackson, it does promise to answer a few questions that might have been bubbling away in some of you readers...**

**Don't forget to review!!! Please!!!**


	84. Just Beat It

**CHAPTER 84 – JUST BEAT IT**

Anabel and Dawn exchanged worried looks between each other, their two Pokémon picking up on their Trainers' concerns and standing in an awkward silence by the girls' legs as they waited for the boys to arrive. Four heads jerked up and swung around to look at the door as, echoing outside and growing louder, was the stampeding noise of pounding feet on the carpet, and a few seconds later they rushed forwards as there was a frenzy of fists knocking on the wood, half-muffled by masculine shouts from the hallway as they tried to get inside. Almost apprehensively, the lavender-haired Frontier Brain reached out to the door and unlocked it, taking a swift step back as it almost exploded off its hinges, and the six boys swept into the room.

"You sure know how to make an entrance…" Dawn muttered dryly, shrugging her arms at Ash.

"Well, we heard that something had happened, and we were a little worried," he countered rashly, moving to stand next to Anabel. "And you didn't really tell me what was going on, so I wasn't really gonna take a chance with that."

"Yeah, so what's the hubbub?" asked Wynter, craning his neck as he looked around the lounge room.

"May and Misty got into a bit of a fight," Dawn sighed, resigned. "Well, a big bit of a fight, actually…"

"Oh boy…" Max moaned quietly as he shook his head, but thankfully the voice went unnoticed as Dawn tried to sum up the situation to the older boys.

"Misty stormed right out of here after she'd gone off her case at May…" she said sadly, "but May, she was in tears by the end of it."

"Where are they?" Leoric grunted, raising an eyebrow at her, and Anabel stepped forwards and shrugged her shoulders.

"We don't know where Misty might have gone off to, but May's hiding out in my room for the time being."

"Go and talk to her, then," Wynter drawled, failing to see the problem, and both girls rolled their eyes at him.

"Because we haven't already tried to do that," Dawn muttered sarcastically, folding her arms. "We would, but her PokéBalls fell out on the way, and now her Blaziken's decided to block our way in," she explained, pointing down the hallway, and the boys all groaned in sudden understanding as they saw the Blaze Pokémon standing firm-footed in front of the door at the end of the short passage.

"My bad…!" chuckled Wynter sheepishly.

"Max," Leoric barked, and the small boy jumped, "you should go and try to talk to her first. You're her brother, so you'd know what's going on in her head more than the rest of us."

"Hey, why don't _you_ go and talk to her?!" Dawn said loudly, puffing out her chest. "After all, this whole thing is _y_—!"

"Calm down, Dawn!" Max shouted, and she hastily quietened down, though it was more out of surprise than obedience. "I'll do it…" he sighed, moving towards the hallway.

"I'm gonna go look for Misty," Brock suddenly decided, tossing his card key to Ash and opening the lounge room door. "I think she might have calmed down by now, but she'll probably need someone to bring her back to face the music."

"Okay then," Ash nodded, Brock giving him a look that said 'good luck with May' before shutting the door behind him, the soft sound of his shoes on the carpet quickly fading out of earshot. Ash sighed in frustration, wrenching off his hat and running his fingers through his thick black hair as he tried to think, but there wasn't anything he could do as long as Max was trying to get past Blaziken.

"I… I think I need some fresh air," Ari muttered quietly, moving past Anabel towards the glass door on the other side of the room.

"Good idea… I think we might need it a bit more, though," Dawn agreed, half-shrugging at Anabel before following him into the open air of the balcony outside. One by one, the others felt the cool gusts of breeze brushing against their skin, and they soon trotted outside as well, but Leoric hovered back hesitantly.

"I'll take Dawn's advice to help Max," he quickly explained, when Ari opened his mouth to ask, and he swiftly turned down the hallway to avoid any further questions. He had to suppress a laugh when he saw what was in front of him; the thought of Max actually getting past Blaziken was about as likely as the boy sprouting wings and flying away. But, Leoric felt a small flicker of admiration for his young friend, because the latter continued to argue his case against the adamant Pokémon.

"Come on, we need to talk to May! We need to make sure that she's okay!" he shouted firmly, waving his arms in front of Blaziken's body, but the Fire-type calmly shook her head and hunched her folded arms. "May, can you open up, please?!" he shouted around the Pokémon, but he scrunched his face up in exasperation when there was a stony silence coming from the space beyond the door. "_May_!"

"Whoa, calm down, Max…" Leoric warned, seeing that Blaziken's clawed hand had twitched a fraction of an inch. He nudged Max behind him and stepped forwards so that he was only two feet or so from Blaziken's body – an odd feeling, because his eyes were level with her neck. "May, can we talk for a minute?" he called out, waiting patiently for a reply, although there was none.

"Ugh, I give up," groaned Max, throwing his hands up in defeat and walking down the hallway. He edged around the large coffee table a few feet down from the edge of the passage and joined the others on the balcony, but Leoric slowly turned his eyes up towards the Blaze Pokémon, who returned the stare just as fiercely, and an idea sprang into the Trainer's mind as he cracked a bone in his neck.

"Screw this…"

* * *

"Max—" squeaked Dawn, spotting the youngster swing the door open and trudge outside to join them, "what are you doing out here?" she asked curiously, her Piplup sitting sombrely on top of her Trainer's head.

"I'm just gonna wait until May decides to grow up and call back Blaziken before I try again," he sighed, shrugging his shoulders. Piplup's beak curved down sadly, but she gave a tiny chirp as she saw a flash of blonde and red, and she saw Leoric try to barge past Blaziken only for the Pokémon to knock him back several steps with a firm push.

"_Pip! Piplup!_" trilled the Penguin Pokémon, pointing down the hallway, and all heads swung around to see Leoric try the same manoeuvre, and Blaziken delivering the same result as the boy struggled to keep his balance.

"What the heck's he doing?" chuckled Wynter.

"He must be trying to force his way inside…" Ash muttered blankly, as Leoric darted forwards for the third time. Unfortunately for him, he seemed to perform the move one time too many, and Blaziken, losing her patience, threw her fist forwards and connected with Leoric's forehead, sending him flying back through the hallway and crashing into the coffee table, which groaned for a split second before splintering under his weight.

"Yeowch!" winced Dawn and Anabel, covering their mouths with their hands as he picked himself up from amidst a forest of woodchips, lollies and spilt drink. Ash and Max both started towards the door to check if he was alright, but Ari threw his arms out to the side to stop them, shaking his head at their questioning looks.

"I wouldn't worry about Leo if I were you…" he whispered smartly, tapping a finger to the side of his nose and watching on as Leoric rolled up his sleeves and charged back down the hallway towards Blaziken.

"Why's that?" Max asked impatiently.

"You'll see—" Ari chuckled, jerking his head towards Leoric as they heard a faint mutter of '_that's it'_ echo towards them.

Wynter snorted doubtfully as Leoric made the exact same move he had for the last three attempts, and for the second time in a row he was met with a straight-armed jab from Blaziken. But it seemed that Leoric had been expecting it, because his head darted to the side, narrowly dodging the blow as his hands shot up to grasp the Fire-type's wrists. Blaziken squawked in surprise and instinctively torched her wrists, and Leoric growled loudly through gritted teeth, but with an even louder grunt of exertion he threw all his weight backwards, using the momentum of both himself and the Blaze Pokémon to toss her over his shoulder judo-style.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Dawn, her mouth falling comically open at the sight as Ari smirked to himself. "How'd he do that?!" she demanded of him, and he simply shrugged his shoulders as they watched Leoric turn the doorknob and walk into Anabel's bedroom.

"For a guy who wrestles a Swampert for training, what did you expect?" he laughed.

* * *

Leo swung the door open slowly, trying to make as little noise as he could as he crept into Anabel's room; he was glad he did, because he sighed when he saw May lying face-down on the bed, tiny shimmering lines running over the blankets from where her tears had slid down their length. Even as he silently closed the door behind him, he could see the tiny spasms of movement that told him she was still crying, but the sounds of her sobs were blocked by the pillow stuffed under head.

"May…" he muttered, taking a nervous step forwards.

"…Go away…" she snivelled, shifting her body to face away from his voice. Leoric sighed and shook his head, although May couldn't see it, and so he gently sat down onto the corner of the bed, looking vaguely up at the ceiling.

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's wrong," he said simply. He turned his head, hoping for May to sit up, but he frowned when he saw that she was still lying stubbornly on her side, pillows still crammed against her face. "Come on, talk to me," he muttered, putting a hand on her ankle, but he jerked it away almost as soon as he had, clumsily dropping it onto his lap as he looked at the wall.

_So much for me thinking this would be easy…_ he thought, a slight tick at the corner of his mouth, and so he decided to try a different approach. He cupped his hands into the back of his head and leaned down onto the mattress, lying alongside May even though she still couldn't see him, and he tried to focus on the ceiling as he felt her weight shift slightly. "May… what's got you upset…?" he murmured.

"It's nothing…" she said thickly, turning halfway towards the roof, but still facing away.

"So you're _literally_ getting upset over nothing…?" he muttered, a little cynically. "You know, you _can_ tell me what's wrong. I might be able to help make it better," he offered kindly. "I'm not gonna judge you. Sometimes, it just—" he paused as he flashed his mind backwards to a few nights before, "it… it helps to get things off your chest. I—I wanna help," he said, glancing over as he saw May slowly swing around, her eyes shimmering with hazy tears from her crying.

"Really?" she whispered, and as she gave Leoric a weak, warm smile, he just couldn't help but smile back at her as she sat up.

"Of course!" he nodded, propping himself on his elbows. "Wait—" his hand darted forwards as he saw a speck of crimson on her cheek, "you've got something on—" he started to say, but May screwed her eyes shut and threw her arms at him, her fingers knotting themselves together around his back as her head fell onto his chest. Leoric almost shouted in surprise, as he could feel her shaking with more sobs, but he sighed as his resistance fell away, putting an arm around her shoulders as she cried.

"Hey… it's alright… come on, now…" he said comfortingly, and the two of them sat there as they were for an impossibly long minute. Once she had stopped trembling, May unthreaded her hands and pulled away from him, her eyes still blurred but no longer shedding tears. "See? Now… how 'bout a smile?" Leoric grinned, and she let out a quiet laugh as she flashed her teeth at him. "There we go… Are you feeling any better?" he asked.

"Lots…" she muttered, her cheeks slowly filling with a pink tinge. "Thank you…" she smiled, wrapping her arms around him for another embrace.

"Anytime," he said gratefully, returning the hug before they moved away from each other. "But I think Max might still be worried about you, so _he's_ probably the one who needs to hear it from you more than me. Before he goes mental," he chuckled.

"Okay then," giggled May, as Leoric lithely hopped off the bed and held his hand out for her. She took it with a beaming smile as he helped her to her feet, but her words of thanks suddenly stuck in her throat as she stood in front of him, still holding his hand, and she could see the hesitation and panic in his eyes as well. "Ah—umm… thanks again, Leoric…" she mumbled hurriedly, thinking how rushed her gratitude must sound, so she quickly leaned up and gave him an innocent kiss on the cheek.

She didn't look him in the eyes as she pulled her lips away, and she kept her head bowed as she reached the door and left the room, leaving Leoric to stare after her confusedly. He just looked at the door that she'd shut on her way out, with an almost dumbfounded expression, and he lightly smacked the back of his hand against the cheek that May had kissed, snapping himself out of his trance as he fell back onto the bed, exhaling deeply as he stared at the ceiling light.

* * *

"Oi—" Wynter nudged Ash in the arm with his elbow and jerked his head towards the inside of the hotel room, "that May girl's coming out," he pointed out, and everyone exclaimed with joy as they swung around to see her open the sliding door and walk out to the balcony.

"May!" Dawn beamed, she and Anabel both running over for a hug. "You okay?" she asked worriedly, and May nodded in reply with a firm smile. Anabel opened her mouth to say something as well, but she shifted her gaze beyond May's shoulder as she saw Brock stride through the wooden door, with Misty trotting dutifully along behind him. He gestured for them all to join him back in the lounge room, and they all crowded through the outside door as they stood around the chairs and sofas.

"Look, May…" Misty mumbled, stepping towards the brunette with downcast eyes and a solemn expression, "I, uh… I wanna apologise for earlier—" she gulped and took a deep breath, before looking May in the face, "I guess I just got myself worked up over something that was really nothing, and I shouldn't have taken it out on you. That's kinda why I stormed out of here after I said it… I was more annoyed with myself for shouting at you than I was annoyed at you… so, I'm really sorry," she said, bowing her head.

"Hey, I forgive you," sniffed May, with half a laugh. "You can probably tell I lost control of things a bit myself…" she smiled, waving a hand at her still-inflamed eyes. "But, the boys came over to help, and Leoric—I guess you could say he let me take my emotions out on him—" she shrugged. Misty raised an eyebrow at her suspiciously, but she gave no other show of feeling as she nodded and held her arms out, and May obliged with a reconciling hug.

"Where is Leoric, anyways?" Brock asked, and Max answered by pointing at the door to Anabel's room. "I'll go talk to him for a minute," he decided, giving May a warm nod and a smile before moving down the hallway and opening the door wide. "I heard you talked to May," he muttered, spotting Leoric sitting on the bed with his palms pressed over his eyes. Leoric shot up at the voice, his hands still glued to his face, and he let them down and slumped his shoulders as he saw the Pokémon breeder.

"Yeah…" he grunted, a frown on his lips. "What I wanna know is what _started_ all this business in the first place," he added, his green eyes locking onto Brock.

"Well, from what Misty told me," he told the fair-haired boy, "the girls were all talking about the finals qualifying round tomorrow, and May said she was going to see your match instead of going to cheer for Ash. Apparently you invited her?" he asked, and Leoric jerked his head in a nod, his frown intensifying for the briefest of moments. "Anyways, Misty got a bit offended by it, and she went crazy at May; called her a bitch and slapped her in the face!" Brock recounted, hoping that a jovial tone would help to lighten the mood, and so his spirits fell when Leoric's face instantly hardened from a frown to a scowl.

"And that all happened because I asked May to watch my match…?" Leoric growled. Brock thought about saying 'yes', but the look on his friend's face scared him enough into answering with a simple nod. Leoric slowly nodded his head as if confirming it, but he jumped to his feet, jaw tensed, and marched towards Brock with fury etched into his eyes.

"Uh, Leoric?" Brock muttered, taking a nervous step to the side, but Leoric's eyes kept staring dead in front of him, burning into the wall. Brock raised a hand to try and snap him out of his trance, but before it had even left his side Leoric had clenched one of his own into a fist and slammed it into the bedroom wall without warning. It drove straight through the plaster with a loud crack that made Brock jump back in fright, before Leoric wrenched his hand out of the wall, leaving the jagged pieces to fall haphazardly to the ground. Before Brock could open his mouth to ask Leoric what he was doing, the latter stormed past him and into the hallway, the anger still imprinted on his face.

"Leo!" shouted Anabel, seeing him walk up the hallway towards her and the others. "Thanks for—" she began to say, but he strode past her without a second glance and threw the hotel door open, slamming it shut behind him rudely, "helping… out…" she trailed off, looking puzzledly at the door before heading for her bedroom, just as the sound of pounding rain began to come from outside.

Everyone else had seen Leoric stalk off as well, and they exchanged blank looks with each other, not knowing what was wrong with him. Whilst the boys, shrugged their shoulders and continued to talk amongst themselves, May and Dawn hurried along after Anabel into the latter's bedroom, and Misty, still feeling guilty after the night's events, decided to chase after him, and so she ran across the room and out the door in pursuit.

* * *

"So, May," Brock said spritely, "are you feeling alright?"

"Better than I was a little while ago, yeah!" May grinned, standing alongside him in Anabel's room. "I just feel like heading back to my room and forgetting about this little episode…"

"Well, Misty has been known to have a bit of a short fuse—"

"—you wouldn't call it '_a bit_' if you were there," Dawn butted in, and Brock threw his hands up in surrender.

"Alright, maybe she _did_ go over the top a bit," he conceded, "but now that she's let it out, she's bound to have calmed down. I don't think she'll get like that for a while now. You've gotta get on her nerves every once in a while, just so she doesn't store it all up. Actually—" he chuckled and scratched the back of his head, "with Misty, a little anger is probably a good thing."

"Well, whatever it is, it's good that it worked out," Anabel smiled, looking around her room, and her grin faded when she saw the rough hole in her wall. "Uh… May, did you do that?" she asked, pointing to the crater, and May's head swung to the side to look at it.

"Hey, there's a hole in your wall!" she exclaimed, completely oblivious to it until just then.

"Leoric did that," Brock grunted, folding his arms.

"He did?! Why?!"

"After I found Misty and brought her back here, I told him what she'd said to make May so upset," he explained, ignoring the winces and hisses coming from the two girls as he said it. "He looked really mad by the end of it, and he just punched through the wall and left."

"Oh…" sighed Dawn, a light bulb flashing in her brain. "So _that's_ why he looked so grumpy when he walked out…!" she realised, her eyes slyly shifting over to May. "Uh, say… Brock, Anabel… could you two just leave May and me for a minute?" she asked. "I've, uh, got a Contest move I wanna run by her, and you two might get in the way…"

"Sure thing," Anabel nodded, waving her hand towards the door, and both she and Brock made their way back to the other boys in the lounge room. May, not hearing a word of what had just transpired, was still staring at the hole in the wall with unfocused eyes, even as Dawn smirked at her. But after a while, she could feel the stare burning into the back of her neck, so she turned her head around to see an odd twinkle in her navy-haired friend's eyes.

"What?"

"_Leoric_," Dawn answered tauntingly, with a shake of her hips.

"What about him?"

"He likes you," she giggled in a sing-song voice, and May instantly blushed and turned away from her.

"D-Don't be silly…"

"Well, let's look at the clues, shall we?" Dawn laughed, walking around so that she was standing in front of May again, and she held out a hand as she began to count off her fingers. "He gave you a Pokémon Egg for Christmas; Max told me that he actually _told_ you that he likes you; tonight, he went toe-to-toe against your Blaziken to get to y—"

"He did _what_?!" May exclaimed, aghast.

"He gave Blaziken his own little Seismic Toss," Dawn nodded, laughing at the priceless look on May's face. "Just so he could talk to you. And that was even _after_ she punched him through the coffee table; you might've seen the mess of chips and sweets on the floor?"

"I was wondering about that…"

"Yeah, and so he comforted you while you were feeling down," Dawn continued, onto the last finger on her hand, "and just now, he went mental when he found out what made you so upset! It doesn't take someone with an Alakazam's brain to figure it out, y'know…" she added, with another wry smirk as May blushed heavily for the second time.

"Right, well… what was that Contest move you said you wanted to run by me?" she asked innocently, leaving Dawn to groan with frustration.

* * *

**Trivia:**

**None.**

**Quiz:**

***One of the final forms of the Hoenn starters is not mentioned in this chapter. In which episode of the anime did this Pokémon make its debut?**

* * *

**And things seem to have been calmed down and sorted out... well, except for Leoric!**

**Things will get back to normal starting next chapter, because I'm wrapping this little spiel up then. Or will they just keep getting weirder?**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! ****In response to a couple of reviews I received, I didn't see Misty and May as that great of friends to begin with, because they only met each other twice. But an opinion is an opinion.**

**The new poll is coming up next week!**

**The first chapter of Ocean Music will be published tomorrow! I'm so happy that I've finally been able to produce another story (that's unrelated to this one) so any feedback on it would be greatly appreciated once it comes out.**

**Anyways, I'll slam Chapter 85 (Mutual Feelings) up on here on July 24th. Hopefully. I'm not sure about my internet arrangments on the day, but I'll do my best to make sure it gets posted on schedule.**

**Don't forget to review!!! Please!!!**


	85. Mutual Feelings

**CHAPTER 85 – MUTUAL FEELINGS**

Leoric stamped through the lobby with silent rage, smashing his palms into the wide double doors at the entrance and throwing them open as he walked out into the street. He clenched a fist as he felt the torrential rain bucketing down on his body, making his blonde fringe cling to his face and drip water into his emerald eyes, but he almost rejoiced in the thundering noise that it made. He could nearly imagine the water washing away his anger, but even the soothing cold couldn't get rid of the burning feeling in his throat, and he dug his hands into his pocket as he trudged down the sodden footpath.

_This whole stupid thing was _exactly_ what I said to Max yesterday morning! _he thought, mentally kicking himself as he stared at the square pavers in front of his swiftly moving feet. _Not having Misty and May putting me above their friendship for each other! It's my fault that they got into that damn fight in the first place! Why the hell did I even invite May to my battle without asking Misty as well?!_

"_Why_?!" he shouted, throwing his head backwards as he roared at the black sky above him. But even the sound of his incensed voice echoing back at him couldn't calm him down, and so he leapt towards a nearby garbage can with his chest heaving, picking it up and throwing it onto the road with a loud growl. He walked over to the rolling bin, both hands forming fists, and he drove his foot straight into the side, hissing at the pain in his toes as the can resisted his kick.

To try and dull the pain, he brought the bottom of his fists into the metal instead, pummelling them into the can as though wanting to dent it beyond repair. He continued to punch the bin for what seemed like an eternity, until he stepped back with his knuckles searing red and his breath coming in short gasps, picking it up by the handle and swinging around to hammer-throw it into a shop wall. He heard the pounding tap of shoes running down the pavement towards him, and so he pushed the bin away with his unhurt foot, hanging his head as the footsteps stopped.

"Leo…!" shouted Misty's voice, and he slowly turned around to see her standing in front of the next shop along, her clothes drenched by the weather and her eyes pleading and remorseful.

_Misty…_ he thought, feeling suddenly sick at himself, and he turned away to hide his emotion. Unfortunately for him, she mistook it for him being angry at her, and she bowed her head as she began to mutter an apology.

"Look, you've got every right to be pissed off at me—I know—but—"

"—not at you."

"—could just hear me out—" Misty continued, not registering his mumbled words right away, but she stopped short when they penetrated her brain, "what…?"

"I said I'm not angry at you," he muttered.

"You're not?" she asked, and he shook his head, his damp hair flopping about from side to side.

"Myself…" he said quietly, his word barely reaching above the drumming of the downpour, but it reached Misty loud and clear, much to her confusion as she took a step towards him.

"Why?"

"For not asking you to my match along with May."

"Huh?"

"I…" he sighed and hung his head, still with his back turned to her, "I told myself that I wouldn't do something to make either of you put me before your friendship with the other one… But that's just what I did."

"Oh… are you talking about the fight back there?" Misty asked guiltily, and she felt a lump in her throat as she saw him nod. "Look, that wasn't your fault, not even in the tiniest bit! It all started because I lost my temper!" she shouted firmly, walking up right behind him. "It had _nothing_ to do with you," she repeated, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"But it was what _I _did that led to it," he replied with a stubborn shake of the head.

"Doesn't matter," Misty said, just as stubbornly. "It's my fault, not yours. Don't go beating yourself up over it, yeah?" she said warmly, a smile lighting up on her face as she felt him shift his shoulder under her hand, and he turned around to see her with that smile as he grinned as well.

"You sure?" he asked, eyebrows raised, and she nodded merrily. "Thanks…" he mumbled.

"Anytime!" she cheered, before she was struck with a wave of shivers all over her body. "Brrr…" she grunted through chattering teeth.

"Here—" he adeptly slipped out of his jacket and threw it around her back, sticking her arms through the long sleeves and pulling the waist strap tightly around her slender waist. "And don't say I shouldn't have, because I won't buy it…" he added with a cheeky smile, just as she opened her mouth to speak.

"Actually—" she smirked, seeing that Leoric was only wearing a sleeveless white shirt underneath where his jacket had been, "I was wondering if _you_ were cold."

"I am a little," he admitted, shrugging his shoulders as he tucked his hands into his armpits, "but I'm fairly accustomed to it. I've been in conditions a hundred times worse than this, and I spent the last month or so travelling through some snowy Sinnoh weather…" he added, his voice softening and his eyes fogging up at the end of his sentence, and Misty giggled at the sight, which she found extremely cute.

"What's a bad boy like you making a face like that for?" she teased, affixing his eyes in her melting gaze. She puckered her lips for the briefest of moments as he seemed to come out of his little trance, and he raised a suspicious eyebrow at her.

"Is that flattery or ass-kissing?" he asked tauntingly.

"You can be the judge of that one," she winked. "But personally, I'd put it between a warm compliment and shameless flirting."

"Shameless flirting it is, then," Leoric chuckled, before looking to the heavens. "What do you say we get out of this rain and head inside where it's not so chilly, eh?" he offered, beginning to dance around on the spot in an effort to keep himself warm.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Misty smiled, looking at him through dreamy eyes. She offered an arm to him as they walked down the sodden street, and he linked it with his own as they went on their way, smiling to himself as she leant her head on his shoulder.

* * *

In a large, sprawling building on Sinnoh's north-western coastline, Cyrus sat at the desk of his luxurious office, facing the panoramic view of the twinkling stars in the clear night sky. His rosewood desk was neatly covered with stacks of files and reports – the only exception was a faded newspaper lying haphazardly at the desk's edge – but he was ignoring them for the moment; he was focusing intently on the small object held in his hands.

It was a tiny book, no larger than a man's wallet, and it was so tattered and worn on the cover that it seemed to be hundreds of years old. Cyrus took extra care when he turned the pages, because inside this book were secrets of history that most of mankind had never seen. He slowly flicked over to a page near the centre of the book, and his sharp eyes scanned four lines of verse that he had read a thousand times before, and were all too familiar to him.

_And by the trio of stones from crafted sand, moved to this rock from a faraway land, it shall all be once again unsealed. Only at dusk will my words be revealed,_ he recited to himself, translating the ancient text inside the book. No-one had spoken the language written on these pages in thousands of years, and it struck him as odd that an artefact as small as this could withstand the test of time and come to be in his possession, of all people.

_It's fortunate that I found this in the Celestic Ruins when I did… once Carolina and those brats had gone chasing after Jupiter and her Skuntank…_ he smirked, lowering the tiny book and swinging around to look at an image on his computer screen. The monitor was split into three sections, and pictured in each section was a snapshot of three enormous Pokémon. Dialga on the left, Palkia in the middle, and a third Pokémon on the right-hand side; one that he, strangely, knew little about.

It was a huge, serpentine Pokémon with six black streamers cascading out of the back of its neck, and red stripes running along the length of its grey belly. There were several spike-like protrusions on the lower side of its body, each one tipped with gold like its head, which was fashioned like a magnificent double-tiered crown with two red eyes gleaming out from the middle like rubies.

Cyrus knew that this Pokémon was called Giratina, and that it – like Dialga and Palkia next to it – was a legendary Pokémon that was somehow responsible for one aspect of the time-space continuum that kept the universe together. As it stood, he couldn't tell what its role was for certain, but he knew that it would be important, whatever it was.

"Trio of stones… Dialga, Palkia and Giratina…" he muttered to himself, tiredly rubbing a hand along his chin. "Mercury should have little problem bringing me the Titans' Spheres from the Orange Islands… faraway land… unless, perhaps… I may be aiming for the wrong stones… Adamant and Lustrous Orbs… maybe this Giratina has a stone as well… in that case, I'm still one short…"

The ghost of a frown crossed his pale lips as he jammed a finger down onto his keyboard, the screen instantly going black, and he pressed another finger on a round button at the side of his desk, connected to a small speaker.

"Commander Saturn, Commander Charon, come to my office," he said to the intercom, folding his hands together as he contemplated the book from the Celestic Ruins, still lying on his lap where he had dropped it. His thoughts occupied him for a good few minutes, and his chain of thought was only broken by a polite knock on the door as two figures in Galactic uniforms walked into his office.

"Sir," said the man in front, his slanted blue eyes flicking to the carpet as he bowed his head respectfully. He stood taller than the man who entered after him, and his sea-blue hair was spiked up in two distinctive bunches, looking like a crescent moon turned sideways. His clothes were black and white, with the Team Galactic logo imprinted in the centre of the chest, but the exact style of the outfit was only reserved for him; in addition to being one of the five Commanders, he was the most senior by rank, and so his uniform was unique.

The second man was much older, possibly in his fifties or early sixties, and it showed in both his slumping posture and his rapidly receding hairline, which he had tried to hide by curling two bangs of lavender-grey hair towards his forehead. He wore pale red spectacles in front of his droopy black eyes, and he had donned a large white lab coat over his Commander's uniform, although he made sure to let the Galactic logo be visible.

"Saturn," Cyrus barked, turning his attention to the younger of the two, "I want you to intensify your search for the Spear Pillar. We need to have our expedition team at the peak within two days, so you're to do whatever you can to find it. Try the Iron Island ruins again if you must."

"Absolutely, sir," Saturn replied, his generally suave tone of voice lined with fatigue; he'd been more or less running the entire organisation whilst Cyrus had been in Canalave City, and it was taking its toll on him.

"You'll need some pretty strong coffee if you're gonna last 'til the climb," Charon whispered smugly. "You might as well mainline caffeine into your system for the next two days, or you're gonna drop dead before we reach the top of Coronet," he added, as Saturn yawned and stretched his arms wide. "Is there anything I need to be doing, or can I catch some sleep?" he asked Cyrus gruffly. "Sir."

"Actually—" the Galactic leader stood from his seat and turned to face the window with his hands folded behind his back, "there _is_ something I need from you…"

"Whatever it is, I'll be sure to get it done," Charon sighed, a resentful edge in his voice that Cyrus noticed.

"I want you to locate a missing field agent of ours."

"What's his codename?"

"Hunter," Cyrus muttered, and the old Commander silently cursed. "I take it you've heard of his recent actions?" he asked, turning back to face his subordinate, who blinked and took an involuntary step backwards.

"O-Of course I have! He broke out of the Ayers Island prison a little over a day ago!" he stammered. "But it's only been a day, so what's the rush?!"

"He hasn't made any effort to contact us since he parted ways with Commander Mercury."

"Right… well, once I get my techs on it, we'll get a lock on his position and send the co-ordinates to Mercury," Charon nodded, making to leave, but Cyrus cut him off with a gesture of his hand.

"There won't be any need for that," he said succinctly, resting his hands on the edge of his desk. "Once you find his exact location, you're to give the data to Osore," he ordered, making Charon's mouth gape open in shock.

"But why?!" he exclaimed, his brow furrowed. "Osore's meant to be gathering intelligence for us on the other side of the globe!What purpose would—?!" he asked, but he quickly shut his mouth at the threatening leer that Cyrus gave him. "Why, sir?" he mumbled quietly, looking intently at his shoes and feeling like a child.

"Osore completed her mission much quicker than I had anticipated. She was very efficient, and her information was of critical importance in our current mission. She isn't a woman who likes sitting around, so I immediately had her placed on a separate mission on Shamouti Island, in tandem with Kyōfu."

"Shamouti Island?!" exclaimed Saturn. "But, sir, isn't that where Mercury—?!"

"Is gathering the Titans' Spheres, yes," Cyrus muttered. "But I have… _other interests_… in Shamouti Island, so Osore and Kyōfu are in the area for some reconnaissance." He looked between his two Commanders, both of whom nodded in understanding, neither even thinking about asking what reconnaissance work was being carried out by the two agents.

"But—" Charon spoke up, adjusting his spectacles along the bridge of his nose, "why Osore and not Commander Mercury?"

"I ordered Mercury to dispose of two lesser agents before leaving for Shamouti Island," explained Cyrus, pacing back and forth in front of them. "A boy by the name of Leoric Reiger discovered Rose and Moon in the Anjiosi Hot Springs within hours—purely by chance—"

"Reiger…" Saturn whispered, a distant memory returning to him. "Th-That means that Ari DeVarro must have been involved as well!" he shouted, a bolt of fear shooting down his spine as his leader nodded calmly. "Sir—!"

"So some brat kids found two bodies! Big deal!" Charon said irritably, the names meaning nothing to him. "Stop interrupting the boss, Saturn!"

"Thank you, Charon," Cyrus said emotionlessly, and Saturn rolled his eyes at his fellow Commander. "Saturn, I am well aware of those children and their affiliations with others, but it is of little consequence at the moment. Now, as I was saying, Rose and Moon were discovered, and Hunter was charged with their murders, so he would know that Mercury was responsible. The last thing I need is for my most important Commander to go after a specialist on the run, bent on revenging his fellows."

"Mercury was promoted three days ago, and now you have him pegged as our '_most_ _important'_?" Saturn grunted, a small tick in his eye.

"Until he relinquishes the Titans' Spheres," Cyrus said smugly. "Then, he's back below you, Charon," he added, making the elderly man sneer.

"Excellent thinking, sir. I'll have my team working on the data through the night," he said with a reverent bow. "You can expect Osore to receive the co-ordinates by this time tomorrow," he muttered, promptly walking out of the office and leaving Saturn alone with Cyrus.

"Sir…" Saturn murmured worriedly. "Are you sure that things aren't getting out of hand?"

"I've been working towards my goal for longer than you've been alive, Commander. I'm comfortable with things getting out of hand, because I've developed ways around every possible outcome. All I ask is that you follow my orders," Cyrus answered, placing a hand on Saturn's shoulder.

"Of course, sir," he said dutifully. "But, what about the Reiger boy? What about Ari? I've seen Ash Ketchum with them during the coverage of the tournament in Ayers Island; this can't be a good thing, knowing Ketchum's track record with us. As improbable as it sounds, they could—"

"How I deal with those boys is of my concern and mine alone," snapped Cyrus, and Saturn quickly backed away as he realised his mistake in asking. He hurriedly rushed an apology and marched towards the door, shutting the door behind him before his leader could decry him further. _At least he knows when he's overstepped the line,_ thought the Galactic leader, a wry smile crossing his thin mouth as he turned back to his computer.

"He shouldn't be so worried about that boy," he sighed. "He's no different from the billions of other people that live and breathe… it's only his father that makes Saturn so nervous," he muttered to himself, laughing to himself as he ran his fingers across the keyboard like a piano player. The display screen slid out from the side wall of the office, and he waited patiently as the icon of a phone and a roll of film appeared on the screen, changing several seconds later to the image of a familiar face wearing a strange bronze mask.

"I was expecting a call from my new associate sooner or later," chuckled Vicious, his eyes hidden behind diagonal slits of red.

"Then would this be sooner or later?" Cyrus asked, with a tilt of his head, and Vicious laughed again.

"It's soon enough," he conceded. "So—" he slapped his hands together, "are you gonna fill me in on our deal now?"

"That was why I called. In one week's time—" he pressed a button on his computer, a large graphic appearing on the side of the display, and he heard Vicious grunt in surprise as the image appeared on his side, "I will be shipping a large number of these machines to various locations in the Johto region. They are part of a nation-wide experiment I'll be conducting over the next few months, and I need you to be the local head of the Johto region during its duration," he explained.

"So I'm just gonna be ordering a bunch of lab coats around?!" Vicious groaned, the frustration showing in his gritted teeth. "That's not very exciting, y'know!"

"You misunderstand me," Cyrus said, a little impatiently. "Your position as head of the Johto region is not specific to the experiment; it is literal," he said firmly, waiting a moment for the words to sink into his colleague. "During the experiment, my machines will render all unmarked Pokémon under their control. This will grant those in possession of the machines with an enormous amount of power and political sway."

"Wait…" Vicious whispered. "What are you saying?"

"You will be free to do as you wish with the Pokémon under your control. You can use them for any purpose you see fit, once the machines have been properly installed."

"No way…!" exclaimed the Rocket, his mouth dropping open. "You're gonna give me complete control with—pretty much—Johto?!"

"Indeed I am," Cyrus said bluntly. "I am a generous man. And just between you and I, I always believe the world could do with a little less order and a little more chaos," he added with a cruel smile that was returned by Vicious.

"You are one stone-cold motherfucker, aren't you?"

"I prefer _visionary_. But perhaps I am giving you too much… might I suggest you find a lieutenant for yourself?" offered the Galactic. Vicious rubbed a hand against his chin, considering the proposition for a long time, before he snapped his fingers as a grin lit up on his masked face.

"I know just the man for the job," he nodded. "He's a powerful Pokémon Trainer, and he lives around these parts as well. Very secretive, though. Always looks like he's hiding something, especially with that headgear of his," he added slyly, tapping a thick-gloved finger against the metal covering his head.

"Your choice is at your discretion," shrugged Cyrus. "Contact this man and let me know sometime within the next few days, yes?"

"Will do, partner," Vicious laughed.

* * *

Ash tossed and turned irritably on the once neatly-made covers of his bed, still dressed in his regular clothes as he tried to make himself comfortable. But even though the sheets, pillows and mattress were soft and warm, he couldn't lie still and allow himself to sink off to sleep; part of it was that he feared Darkrai would visit his dreams again with more frightening words of doomsday and prophecies, but another – and more important – part was that he couldn't get tomorrow's impending battle with Anabel out of his head.

"_Pii pika…?_" squeaked Pikachu, lying at the foot of Ash's bed and peering out from under his drooped ears.

"Sorry, Pikachu, but I've got too much on my mind to sleep right now…" he sighed, a frown briefly flickering on his face as he hurled himself off the bed. "I need something to get me sleepy enough to forget about tomorrow…"

"_Pi pikachu?_" Pikachu muttered, pointing to a large, flat object lying on the bedside dresser, and Ash walked over to pick it up.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about this!" he chuckled, turning the lamp on and sitting down on the covers, the words '_The Ashapedia: How Far You've Come'_ glinting back at him from the book's cover in golden letters. "My Christmas present from the gang," he said, his mind flashing back to the night under the fireworks as he flicked through the book. _Hopefully some Sinnoh memories can drift me off to sleep,_ he thought hopefully, rummaging through to the letters from the Gym Leaders he'd battled in the Sinnoh region.

"Roark… Gardenia… Maylene… Crasher Wake… Fantina… Byron…" he listed, his eyes whizzing over the words as he saw a stamp-sized picture of each Gym's Badge at the top of each page. He flicked past Byron's addition, expecting to see blank pages, but instead he was met with three more pages of writing, and all three were from members of Sinnoh's renowned Elite Four.

"Wow, Brock and Dawn must have pulled out all the stops to get Aaron and Lucian to contribute," he said, impressed as he turned to the final page and, as he expected, he saw a passage signed by Cynthia, Sinnoh's reigning Champion, at the bottom.

"_Dear Ash,_" he recited, having to squint to make her loopy writing legible, "_congratulations on qualifying for the World Championships. Just so you know, that's a feat that not even I've been able to boast accomplishing, so you should be very proud of yourself. Of course, it's no surprise that you have; apart from your natural flair with Pokémon – I've seen it first-hand on many occasions, and I've been amazed every time – you've always a sense of optimism about you that no amount of hardship seems able to defeat. I wish you the best of luck in all your future endeavours, and if there's anything you need to ask of me on the way, I'll be glad to help. After all, you saved both my grandmother's research centre and the Iron Island ruins from Team Galactic, so I'm indebted to you. Signed, Cynthia._"

"Anything I need to ask of her…" he muttered, his brow creasing as Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder. "It's not like she asked for our help in Celestic Town, right, Pikachu?" he asked, and his Pokémon shook his head firmly. "I mean, we were happy to stop Team Galactic… or at least try… what do you think she means by this, though?" he wondered aloud, re-reading the last two lines of the letter.

"Are all grown-ups so cryptic? But… she mentioned Iron Island…" he whispered. "I wonder if she's talking about what she said to me before we left for Chocovine Town…"

"_Pi?_"

"Oh right, you were with Brock…" he chuckled, running a hand over Pikachu's back. "Well—"

* * *

"The name's Riley, isn't it?" asked Professor Carolina, her hand resting on a giant block made of golden stone. She, Ash, Brock and Dawn were standing inside an enormous cavern of a room that was known as the Iron Ruins, hidden deep within the mountains of Iron Island. Together with them were Barry, a blonde-haired boy who never had enough patience to sit still, and Riley, an Aura Guardian with a striking resemblance to the legendary Sir Aaron. Minutes earlier, Riley had foiled a plot by Team Galactic to destroy Iron Island with explosives, and whilst she had showered him with kindness for saving the ruins, there was another matter she was hoping to discuss with him.

"I hear you've been on the island for a while," Carolina continued, looking kindly at Riley and his Lucario. "Would you be able to give us a little assistance while we survey the nearby areas?" she offered, and Riley looked at his Pokémon before nodding humbly.

"Sure!" he said, his dark blue eyes twinkling from under his hat. "I'm always interested in learning more about this island."

"Then it's settled!" smiled the Professor, clapping her aged hands together as she walked towards him. "Welcome to the team!" she added, extending her hands, and Riley shook one while Lucario shook the other.

"It's good to be aboard, ma'am," Riley chuckled.

"Oh, and before I forget—" Carolina turned around and looked straight at Ash, "Ash, my granddaughter told me that should I run into you, I should give you this number," she told him, holding out a small slip of paper with a phone number scrawled on it. Ash hesitantly accepted it, wondering what the number was for. "Apparently, she needs to talk to you about something urgent, so it'd be best if you called her right away," she added seriously.

"But where?" he asked, looking around, but the only thing out of the ordinary he could see was a large curtain blocking off a corner of the room, but Carolina jerked a thumb over her shoulder at that exact spot. "In there?"

"Yes. I've set up a videophone."

"Okay, thanks!" Ash said gratefully, as Pikachu hopped down onto the ground. "This'll just take a few seconds, alright, you guys?" he said, giving his friends the thumbs-up before walking through the curtain. "Let's see… m-hmm, m-hmm…" he muttered, pressing the numbers written down on the paper, and in moments he was met with the smiling face of Sinnoh's blonde-haired Champion.

"Ash! I was wondering when you'd cross paths with my grandmother again," she laughed, both her voice and picture distorted slightly by the magnetic waves still being given off by some of the statues in the ruins. "How did you meet this time?"

"We stopped Team Galactic from destroying Iron Island," he admitted sheepishly, but he fell silent as he watched Cynthia's face fall. "Cynthia, what's the matter?"

"The real reason for me wanting to talk to you actually concerns Team Galactic…" she said sternly. "Ash, do you remember when we tried to stop them stealing the Lustrous Orb from my grandmother's research facility?"

"It's not something I'm likely to forget anytime soon," he muttered darkly, a hand twitching as he recalled the events leading up to the Orb's eventual theft.

"What about… right before the Lustrous Orb was stolen by that Skuntank?" Cynthia pressed. "When we were all standing in the ruins, and Team Rocket threatened to destroy the Orb?"

"Umm… not really…" he mumbled, racking his brains for the memory. "All I remember is Cyrus getting angry at them, and then there was that massive swarm of Golbat that came in through the roof…"

"That's good," she said, and Ash blinked. "You don't need to remember anything about Team Rocket or those Team Galactic goons. I just wanted to know if you remembered Cyrus."

"How come?"

"Because, I—" she broke off and looked him dead in the eye, "you have to promise not to tell my grandmother about this, yes? She'll think I'm delusional."

"O-Of course! I swear!" he said hurriedly, putting a hand over his heart. "What did you want to tell me about Cyrus?"

"He—" she took a deep breath, "he was the one behind the attack on the research centre."

"What?!" Ash shouted, his mind racing.

"Keep your voice down…!" she hissed.

"Sorry…!" he whispered, his face scrunched up in confusion. "How could he be the one behind it?! He was there with us the whole time!"

"I know, which gives him the perfect excuse!" Cynthia retorted. "Besides, don't you remember what he said in the ruins? About the Adamant Orb and the Lustrous Orb actually _existing_ as Dialga and Palkia?!"

"Yeah, bits of it…"

"I've been researching the old Sinnoh legends for years, and _I_ never even knew anything remotely close to that!" she said, a little shamefacedly. "He knew so much about Dialga and Palkia, and he turns up _exactly_ when Team Galactic makes a strike to steal the two most important artefacts relating to them?!"

"I see what you mean, but don't you think you're over-reacting…?" he asked nervously, and Cynthia stubbornly shook her head.

"That's what I thought, so I didn't say anything after he left us in the Pokémon Center—"

"Now I remember!" he exclaimed, cutting her off. "You were all silent and brooding over something, and it showed right when Cyrus walked out! You said it was nothing!"

"It _was_ nothing back then, but now it's gotten more serious!" she snapped. "I did some digging around after the Orbs were stolen, and I came across—this—" two images appeared on the side of Ash's monitor, and he craned his neck closer to look at it. They were small video clips, and seemed to have been recorded inside the Celestic Town research centre during the time of the Galactic attack.

"Hey, that's me!" he exclaimed, pointing to a miniature version of himself as he stood next to Cynthia. "Wait a minute… this is when Team Rocket walks out with the Lustrous Orb!" he noticed, seeing the three criminals crossing the tiled blue floor.

"Yes, now watch this," she muttered, changing the angles. One video showed a shot of the museum from behind Commander Saturn, whilst a second one, looking down from a corner, was focused on Cyrus' face. As Ash watched, he saw Saturn's head turn to look at Cyrus, and a moment later Cyrus nodded back. He looked on, mouth agape, as Saturn smiled at Cyrus and stepped aside, allowing Team Rocket to leave the building.

"What was that?! Did Cyrus just have Saturn move out of the way?!" he demanded, and Cynthia nodded.

"Yes, and there's more," she said gravely. "A good friend of mine is working as an undercover agent in Team Galactic, and he told me in confidence that Saturn is the lieutenant Commander, meaning he's the second-in-command. So the only person who could tell him what to do would be—"

"His boss…" growled Ash, his knuckles turning pearly white. "Cyrus betrayed us… he was on their side all along!"

"Yes, unfortunately for us…" Cynthia conceded. "I think he intended to be there when those bombs went off in the ruins, so he could stay close to the Lustrous Orb and suggest a hiding place. Thankfully, Team Rocket blundered through his plan and took it away, but I always wondered how they had every angle covered…"

"It all makes sense…"

"Cyrus is a close personal friend of my grandmother, and she'd never believe that a peace-loving man like him could be in charge of such a organisation. But it's a million tiny things that have all added up… I wouldn't be surprised if he was behind what just happened over there at Iron Island, either, I'm afraid…"

"Yeah, I understand…" he muttered, still trying to digest what he'd just seen and heard. "I won't tell Carolina about what you've said, I promise."

"Thank you, Ash," she said warmly, pressing a hand on her chest. "I'm sorry to burden you with all this, but you're one of the most capable Trainers I know, and you need to be on your guard. I'm sure you don't like the thought of Team Galactic's new world any more than I do, but they need to be brought to justice, and if we can stop them before they wreak their destruction, so much the better."

"Absolutely!" Ash said, thumping the air with his fist. "Don't worry, Cynthia, your secret is safe with me!"

* * *

"—and then I came back to join you guys…" Ash muttered, finishing his recount as Pikachu sat on his lap. "It all seemed so weird to me… my head was going a million miles an hour, but it all seemed to make sense. What do you think, Pikachu?" he asked.

"_Pii… pii pika pikachu…_"

"Yeah, I guess I _do_ need some sleep," he chuckled, shutting the book and tossing it back onto the dresser. "We've got a big morning ahead of us."

"_Pika!_" nodded Pikachu, hopping back to the foot of the bed and curling into a ball.

"And just between you and me, I don't think Anabel would let me live it down if I lost without a fight," he added with a wry smile as threw back the covers, having changed into his pyjamas while telling Pikachu of his conversation with Cynthia.

He jumped into bed and dragged the sheets tightly over his shoulders, closing his eyes and thinking about sleep, but it took a very long time for him to slip into slumber at last, and when he did, his dreams were full of shadowy figures, crumbling buildings and echoing screams, with a maniacal Cyrus laughing at the centre of it all.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Ash's conversation with Cynthia would have taken place during DP111 (Saving The World From Ruins).**

***The flashback confirms Ash's knowledge that Cyrus is head of Team Galactic, which was mentioned as early as Chapter 24.**

**Quiz:**

***Ash first met Cynthia at which location, and what was she eating?**

* * *

**Well, I'm sure there were a few pretty big surprises in this chapter, wasn't there? Haha, I do what I can.**

**The first flashback I've had in... nearly 70 chapters! Wow, that was way back when Anabel and Ash weren't a thing...**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! And to everyone who reviewed Ocean Music, I'm so thankful!**

**In other news, check out "The Generation Championship Tournament" by Dobblazar, "Fight For Glory" by 031ap, and...**

**The Pokemon Tournament Stories forum! It can be found on 031ap's profile, and it's a forum where you can see the behind-the-scenes activity for all of the tournament-style stories found on this site! Seriously, you'll find a lot of familiar and friendly faces on there, and there's a lot more to talk about than this story. Blue Bongo, Dobblazar, JigglypuffsPillow... they're all there, and hopefully you can be too**

**Also, the Ash/Anabel poll has closed, and the new poll is up! This one asks you if you'd like WPC as one story or two Acts. So be sure to vote, because it's crucial for the format of the entire story!**

**Chapter 86 (Three Fruits) will be tossed up on July 31st! Hey, that's Harry Potter's birthday, haha! But anyways, it'll be the last chapter before the Ash/Anabel battle, and it brings the other events back up to speed, along with... certain _other_ events...**

**Don't forget to review!!! Please!!!**


	86. Three Fruits

**CHAPTER 86 – THREE FRUITS**

"We have found our Chosen One!" Marius roared dramatically from behind his bird mask, throwing his arms to his sides as a crowd of shaggy-clothed dancers warbled and leapt about behind him. A huge cheer rose out from the large crowd of tourists gathered at the sides of the bustling street, as the procession marched proudly through with flair – flares, in the case of the flame-jugglers – much to the excitement and wonder of the tiny children who sat on their parents' shoulders to get a better look.

"Get your piping hot Festival cakes!"

"Sir, I bet your little boy would love a Moltres mask!"

"Delicious hot food right here, ready to melt in your mouth!"

"Step right up and try your luck in fishing out some Magikarp!"

"Let our soup burn up your stomach; we guarantee it won't be burning a hole in your wallet!"

"Wow…" Shane muttered to himself, his dark green eyes glinting with everything happening around him, "this really is a big event, isn't it?"

"You bet it is," Marius grunted, smacking him across the shoulders with a hand, as they walked down the street at the head of the parade. "The Legend Festival is steeped in the history of Shamouti Island. We're very proud of our history, so why wouldn't we want to celebrate, eh?!" he chuckled, humming to the tune of the music filling the air as he swung his arms this way and that.

"So there's the banquet after this," he muttered, screwing his face up in concentration as he tried to remember everything he'd been told about the festival over the past day. "And then the performance by the maiden… and _then_ I can go and collect the three treasures?" he asked.

"Don't be so impatient!" Marius boomed cheerily, pointing towards a winding road that led away from the large pavilion that they were passing. "The banquet's just along that road! In about ten minutes, you'll be enjoying the most exotic food this island has to offer, and listening to our finest musician as she entraps your soul with her beautiful melody!"

"It's something I'm waiting impatiently for," Shane nodded, as he allowed himself to be steered down the path. He and Marius journeyed down the secluded road alone, and by the time they had disappeared from sight, they were already forgotten by the noisy crowd as it continued its merry festivities. "So tell me, Marius…" he said to his accompanier, once they were set on their way, "have you ever heard of any legends similar to that of this island?"

"That's a bit of an odd question…" the old man grunted, flipping open the beak of his mask to show a face lined with puzzlement. "As far as I know, the legend of the Water's Guardian is unique amongst any tale across the world. If you believe it sounds familiar, that might be from the many children's stories that have been spawned with the Shamouti legend as their base and inspiration."

"I didn't know there _were_ fairytales about such a thing," smiled the Commander as he clapped a hand on the top of Marius' back. He took a moment to breathe in the still seaside air, rich and crisp with a taste that he was still unused to, and he allowed his eyes to wander to a clump of bushes as they slowly rustled to and fro, no doubt with some tiny night creatures moving about inside.

"Well," he piped up again after several minutes, by which time he could see a torch-lit temple of some sort twinkling at him in the distance, "what about legends that _mention_ this group of islands? Or even the Titans or their treasures?" he wondered, and Marius came to a complete stop on the well-worn path, his moustache twitching with discomfort as his beady eyes burned a stare into the pebbles at his feet.

"I do recall…" he murmured, running a hand across his brow, "I do believe there was _one_… a story that I only ever heard once, from a man who had travelled to Shamouti from a distant land across the globe—it must have been more than thirty years ago! He said that he had come to the island for a glimpse of the '_Titans' Spheres written in legend_'… I only remember it so well because it was so strange… he was dumbfounded when he read the prophecy inscribed at our temple, saying he never even knew there was a second legend!"

"How ironic, that neither of you had known of the other one's legend before," Shane noted, and Marius nodded.

"Yes, _his _legend was much more vague about the treasures… it called them '_stones from crafted sand_' or some poetic nonsense like that…" he said slowly, finding his feet and leading them towards the banquet hall again. "There was another line to it as well, but it was in a strange language… it certainly wasn't in any form I'd heard in all my years—" he suddenly barked a laugh, "he said he hadn't been able to translate that _one_ line, even though he'd done so with the rest of the legend!"

"Sounds careless…"

"Exactly…!" Marius chuckled. "I think the exact way he said it was something along the lines of… '_tama cedi ari ehu waku lingua illucamant_'…"

"Tama cedi… ah-something…?" Shane repeated, looking to the elderly man to see if he understood the words properly.

"Yes, I'm not too sure on the enunciation of some of the words, but I think it's a good effort for something a stranger told me half a lifetime ago!" he fired, a little grumpily. "Anyways—" he gestured with a hand towards the hall, which loomed up out of nowhere and stood only a few paces in front of them, "shall we go inside and enjoy the atmosphere?" he offered kindly.

"Well, I _am_ the Chosen One," Shane chuckled, resting a foot on the first step, "so it would probably be quite rude and untraditional for me not to." Marius laughed as well, and together they walked up the short flight of steps and into the hall to enjoy the customary meal.

* * *

"Can I sit up _now_…?!" hissed a woman's voice, muffled behind a large clump of fern leaves that were trying to clog their way into her mouth. "Mercury's gone inside, so there's no need for me to be wedged inside this crappy little bush!"

"Maybe if you were a little more sneaky and a little less _squeaky_," crackled a reply in her ear, "you wouldn't have had to dive in there in the first place. The Boss said you're—"

"—_not to be seen by Commander Mercury,_" she droned, rolling her eyes. "I know the memo, Osore."

"Good," giggled Osore's voice, coming from the earpiece she was wearing. "Because you should remember that I can see you from up here!" she added in honeyed tones, making the woman in the bush – her partner, Kyōfu – simmer with anger. "But, I guess you did a good enough job," she admitted, and Kyōfu looked around in surprise as though expecting to see her in the pitch black of night.

"Darn right I did!" she shouted into her receiver. "Err… what was it I did good enough?"

"You picked up on Mercury's little conversation with that old man!" Osore shouted, making her partner cringe at the shattering volume blasting her ear. "I guess the Boss isn't the only one who knows about that crafted glass legend…" she added, an undercurrent of concern in her voice that Kyōfu picked up on.

"Penny for your thoughts?" she asked, untangling herself from the fern bush and noiselessly stealing away to an alleyway.

"The Boss gave us three directives, right?" Osore said. "To protect Commander Mercury, to gather information on the Shamouti Island legend, and—"

"And what you're _supposed_ to be doing right now, instead of chitchatting!" Kyōfu reminded her angrily.

"I'm multitasking! Now, like I was saying… our little seed is gonna be a huge success, but I'm worried about what you just heard from that Marius geezer. I mean, Cyrus is freakishly intelligent and all, but there're bound to be _others_ who know stuff about the legends and prophecies… what if a couple of them band together and figure out what we're up to?"

"They'd have to be on par with our Boss to do _that_," Kyōfu snorted doubtfully, quickly scaling a low wall and running towards the large mountain range that lay just behind the harbour-side town. "And anyways, whoever knew about the legends would have to be able by stopping him! Name one person in the history of the world who _you _think can take down Cyrus. That's exactly what it is; there's no-one!"

"Still…" Osore muttered, unconvinced, "I've just got an uneasy feeling deep down in my gut about this whole thing… I mean, he gave us this thing to put in the ground, but he never even told us what it _does_! For all we know, it could be a huge bomb or some weird mind-controlling device—"

"Or a candy machine! Who cares?!" Kyōfu retorted. "We do this, we get a whole year's pay for one week's work! I'm not gonna give a shit once we finish installing that little hunk of scrap metal; Cyrus can sink this island to the bottom of the ocean with it for all I care! Now hurry up and focus on getting that seed set up; I'll be joining you in half an hour, and I don't wanna have to do everything on my own again!"

"Fine," Osore muttered. "I'll send Cyrus a status update. See you up here in half an hour. Over."

* * *

"What a wonderful performance," Shane said heartily, applauding the mahogany-haired girl on stage as she bowed to the cheering hall and ducked backstage. "I must say, Marius—" he leaned towards the elder sitting across from him, "I'm glad you caught me on Fire Island when you did… or else I might never have gotten as caught up in this festival as I am now!" he chortled, and Marius nodded knowingly.

"But of course!" he agreed, thumping a hand down on the wooden table laden with half-empty platters of food. "Melody's song is one of the centrepieces of our festival! She's a very skilled musician, isn't she?"

"Oh, no doubt about it," Shane muttered, wiping a small crumb of bread from the corner of his mouth, "but if she is, then why don't you have her perform for the whole island, instead of just a select few people?"

"To be perfectly honest, she's very—uncomfortable—playing for large crowds…" shrugged Marius, tossing a grape into his mouth. "It doesn't bother me in the slightest; I get more of these delicious morsels to myself that way!" he added with a booming laugh, almost choking on the tiny fruit in the process.

_Yes, it's always a good thing to have the luxuries to yourself…_ thought the Galactic, a shadow falling on his face as he turned his head towards the sea. _But luxury must always come at a price to someone else… what price will I have to pay in stealing those treasures, so that Cyrus can have his 'luxury'?_ he asked himself, pursing his lips as he tried to shake the thought away like an irksome fly. He opened his mouth to ask Marius another question, but his voice turned into a colossal yawn as fatigue and soreness hit him like a blast of cold air to the face. He quickly covered his mouth out of manners, but the old man smiled as he stood to his feet and gestured towards the road at the hall's entrance.

"You must be exhausted, Mercury," he said, and Shane gave a weak nod as he furiously blinked his eyes to try and stay awake. "Well, there's no point you going through the night! You can go and retrieve the Titans' Spheres in the morning."

"Really?"

"Absolutely! It's not like we need them back right away! You can take as long as you like getting them and bringing them back!" Marius grinned merrily, and Shane slowly got to his feet, concealing an inward smirk as he heard the old man's words.

_As long as I like… _"Thank you, Marius," he said gratefully, shaking the man's hand with both of his own.

"Go and rest up," Marius advised, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "The sun should be coming up in a couple of hours, and it gets _very_ bright down here once that happens. You'd best crash out before sunrise, or the glare is gonna make you suffer."

"I'll keep that in mind," Shane muttered, nodding once before striding down the darkened path and out of sight.

* * *

Ari slowly opened his eyes as he saw the sunlight shining into the inside of his eyelids, wishing he could stay in the warmth of his soft bed for another minute or two. He turned his head towards the window – regretting it almost immediately, as he was blinded by the glare – and he stumbled blindly out of bed, banging his shin on the open door as he tried to feel his way to it.

"Ow!" he groaned, squinting as he dropped a hand down to rub his leg. "This is not my morning…" he muttered bitterly, hobbling backwards and slamming the door shut. He quickly dressed himself and retrieved his hat, which was curiously hanging from the ceiling fan for some reason, before clipping his PokéBalls to his belt and dropping back down onto his bed with a sigh.

_This has to be the worst start to a day I've had in a long time…_ he thought, shaking his head. _I half-blind myself waking up, I have a run-in with my door, and my hat found its way onto the fan! All this on the day I'm facing Brandon—Brandon, of all people!—and his Legendary Pokémon…_

_I would consider it a chance for inspiring success rather than a likely chance of failure,_ echoed a suave voice in his head, but Ari could hear a hint of resentment in the tone.

"Galadriel, you might as well come out now," he muttered, and one of the PokéBalls on his belt split open with a flash of light, revealing the slender form of his Gallade as he stood in front of his Trainer. "You're still upset that I won't be using you in my battle tonight, aren't you?"

_I trust your judgment and your capabilities as a Trainer without question._

"So you _are_ upset."

_I am a fraction, yes,_ admitted Galadriel, extending and retracting one of its elbow blades irritably. _I just fail to see the reason why you would use Horazon – who has no viable advantage against any of Mr. Ceruse's ancient Pokémon – in your battle instead of I, when I possess advantages over all three._

"You think I don't know that?" Ari asked bitingly, and the Blade Pokémon cast his red eyes downwards. "Sorry… the reason for me not using you isn't out of favouritism or anything like that. But you took a brutal beating yesterday—admit it!—" he pointed at Galadriel, who shrugged unhelpfully, "and I don't wanna risk your health. Besides, I need three Pokémon who can battle in the three different mediums, and it would have been between you and Colenzo."

_Three mediums…?_

"Dullahan can fly, Colenzo can battle on the ground, and Horazon…" he smirked, tapping a finger to his nose, and his Pokémon suddenly understood his Trainer's plan.

_Very ingenious, Master…_ he smiled. _Mr. Ceruse won't be expecting an attack of that style. Especially not with Pokémon of as vast a size as those golems…_

"See? There's nothing to worry about, or to be upset over," Ari laughed, standing up and patting Galadriel on his narrow shoulder. "Now come on and join me for some breakf—_argh—_!" he tripped over his shoes and fell face-first into the floorboards, smacking his nose on the hard wood with a loud and painful-sounding thud. "Damnit!" he cursed, picking himself up with one hand and clutching his nose with the other as he felt a warm trickle sliding over his lip.

_An unlucky fall, perhaps?_ Galadriel noted, helping Ari to his feet with its psychic power.

"Not really…" he said thickly, tilting his head backwards. "I think I've been cursed this morning, with the way my luck's gone…" he added with a nasal laugh. "Ugh, better take this off before I spill my blood all over it," he said, shimmying his coat off with some effort before trying to take his shirt off one-handed. After a few moments of cursing and struggling, he slumped his shoulders and turned to his Fighting-type, smiling sheepishly as he said, "Little help?"

_Certainly,_ Galadriel replied, raising an arm. Ari held his breath and held his arms upright, and with a whoosh his shirt flew off and landed perfectly on the bed next to them both. _You're most welcome,_ he added smugly, his red eyes twinkling mysteriously as Ari looked over and laughed, neither of them noticing the drop of crimson that dripped down his neck and past his collarbone.

"Now, like I was saying earlier," he grinned, putting his hand back to his face, "how about some breakfast?" he offered.

_Would you like me to encase you in a Protect so you don't receive any further injuries?_ chuckled Galadriel. Ari threw a fake punch at him, which the latter keenly parried with his bladed arms, and in doing so the drop of blood shook itself from Ari's skin and landed on the stone set in the centre of his chain necklace. Ari, oblivious to it, simply groaned quietly from behind his hand and moved down the hallway towards the bathroom, but as he strode towards the door, his Blade Pokémon saw the blue gem on his Trainer's chest gleam and twinkle with a shimmering cobalt light.

_What in the world…?! _gasped Galadriel, his scarlet eyes narrowing as Ari trotted into the bathroom to fetch some tissues for his nose. _Did Master Ari's necklace just glimmer at me? I wonder what could have possibly caused such a thing…! No—_ he shook his horned head, _I must have been hallucinating… I must still be concussed from my battle against that foe Absol yesterday…_

"Galadriel, you might as well get the jam and bread out!" Ari shouted from down the hall, his voice distorted by his tissue-blocked nose. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving for some toast! If you get them out, I'll get them ready!"

_Of course!_

* * *

A few moments before Ari tripped and fell to the ground, Paul had been sipping a piping hot cup of coffee in his own hotel room, watching the television as it ran a broadcast of the match times for today's qualifying round. He set his drink down on the coffee table as the program ran through the day's fixtures, his ears prickling as he heard his name being called out from the speakers, and he glanced up to see a VS picture; himself on the left, and the grinning face of Gary Oak on the right.

"—an intense battle to make it to the Top Sixteen, possibly one of the key matches today!" Derek Cohen was saying excitedly, as superimposed snapshots of Paul's and Gary's previous battles flashed at the corners of the screen. "If you've been living under a rock for the past week, Paul has been sending shockwaves through the battling community of late; his ferocious and completely overwhelming techniques have seen him progress to the finals qualifier with barely a blemish to his record!"

"That's right," nodded Jeanne, as the camera cut to her, "but Gary is going to be an equal match for him this morning. His encyclopaedic knowledge of his opponent's Pokémon have seen him counter his foes at every turn, and I wouldn't be surprised if he knew how to nullify every last one of Paul's roster today!"

"Defence isn't going to save him, no matter how hard he tries," Paul muttered, one hand reaching for the television remote and the other for his coffee once again. His fingers closed around the remote, but as his right hand grasped the porcelain cup, there was a faint tingling sensation in his chest as the reception on the screen began to waver and fade. He knew what the cause of the strange effects was, but nonetheless he reflexively jerked backwards, cursing loudly as the steaming coffee spilled onto the leg of his pants.

"Damnit!" he roared, hissing as he felt some of the stinging liquid on his hand. He shook most of it off, but as he got to his feet, he heard a strange sound, like the faintest echo of a shout as it came back from the corner of a vast cave. It was a warbling, almost rattling growl that rose in pitch towards the end, as though something invisible had just become interested in a sightless object.

Paul sighed and raised his non-stained hand to his chest, his fingers fiddling about with the necklace hidden underneath his shirt, as the soft mauve light faded away from beneath the cloth. He closed his eyes as he felt the rounded talisman against his chest – the smoothness of the gemstone in the centre cool against his skin – and he could feel his lower lip tremble as he hung his head.

"No…" he whispered, tearing his hand away. _There'll be time for that once I'm World Champion… I'll visit Blackthorn City… _he told himself, switching the television off. "This one wasn't as strong as it was before…" he muttered, slipping the necklace out from under his shirt and holding it in his upturned palm. The pendant on the end was about the size of a watch's display screen, with six purple stripes, placed equally apart on a disc of mauve, running towards the centre. The gemstone between these stripes was perfectly rounded, a dark pink rock that glinted with the light from outside.

_That stupid Ari… I hope this means he's lost an arm,_ he thought as he crammed the necklace back under his clothes, smirking as he trudged towards his bedroom to change his pants.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Shane quotes Ash from "The Power Of One" in this chapter, in saying, "I _am_ the Chosen One". If anyone hadn't already noticed, that is.**

***All four Legendary Pokémon mentioned in this chapter – Moltres, Regirock, Regice, Registeel – can be found in Pokémon Platinum, and not Diamond or Pearl.**

***Ceruse (Brandon's surname) is, in the real world, a pigment mineral used by ancient civilisations, usually found in excavations of stone burial chambers.**

**Quiz:**

***Which Legendary Pokémon from the first three generations have not had starred in one of the twelve Pokémon movies?**

* * *

**Well, another chapter come and gone for another week... but this one hopefully piqued a few curiosities here and there...! Particularly with those in 031ap's forum-space, hehe.**

**Oh, and if this came up a couple of hours early or late, it's because I've got a Japanese excursion (field trip for some of you) that's out of town, and I had to be there to set the knit-picky aspects up.**

**Looks like Shane's getting ready for his assault on the three islands, and those other Galactic agents seem to be doing their thing here and there, too...**

**And Ari has his own little piece of the chapter-pie. I've surprised myself in that I've hardly been writing much of him lately, and that second half was a good way to put him back in. Oh, does anyone else think it's ironic that his primary Pokemon is a Dusknoir, yet he's the one that's cursed? Or is it just me?**

**But, of course, Paul makes another appearance in tandem, featuring a cameo from Gary. Speaking of which, would anyone like to see said Gary/Paul battle in a couple of the later chapters? Because that'll only happen if I keep WPC as the one story, since I'll be able to remove a finish chapter and an opening chapter where the split would be.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, any previous chapter, and/or voted in my profile poll! Any feedback is greatly appreciated by you all, and it's still helping me shape the story after so many chapters. Honestly; I read a couple of reviews from 60-something and came up with a good idea for later on.**

**Oh, and a special thanks to MisterP, for his noble review. There's a reason this guy kicks butt with his AbilityShipping stories, people; check out his "Stardom" series if you haven't done so already. It's worth your time.**

**And look what my word count for this story is at the moment... Haha, how freaky is that, seriously?! Even freakier that my favourite number is 4, but I digress...**

**What else...? Oh, the second chapter of Ocean Music will most likely come out not tomorrow, but next Saturday, the day after Chapter 87.**

**Speaking of which, Chapter 87 (No Lost Love) will be the start of the much-anticipated finals qualifier between Ash and Anabel! That's gonna be put up on August 7th, three days before my 17th birthday, so if you're feeling overly generous, why not gift me with a fic? It'd be a lovely gesture, even if it's a tiny one.**

**Don't forget to review!!! Please!!!**


	87. No Lost Love

**CHAPTER 87 – NO LOST LOVE**

"Well—" Ash said with a smile, swallowing his nerves as he felt himself shaking, "here we are." He looked across to the girl standing not two feet away from him, her face the only thing on his mind despite the clamours and screams of sixty-thousand people surrounding them on all sides as they cheered for their favourite Trainer. He knew that if he were to tilt his head even slightly to either side, he would be deafened by noise and have his eyes assaulted by colourful banners and a shimmering wave of faces, but he dared not turn away from her because he knew that his concentration had to be on the battle and nothing else.

_Even against Anabel, _he thought, his heart trying to overpower his mind as she smiled sweetly at him, her lavender eyes twinkling beautifully in the early light.

"Yeah, here we are!" Anabel giggled, still staring him dead in his dark brown eyes. She wasn't ready to let a crowd, or the fact that she was facing her love, get between her and a victory on the battlefield today, and her experience as a Frontier Brain was searching for any chink in his otherwise impenetrable armour that she could exploit to get that victory.

"I guess I don't need to ask anything to get to know you!" he joked, sheepishly scratching his head as Pikachu, propped up happily on his Trainer's shoulder, slapped a paw to his forehead.

"Which is good, because I don't need to either," she grinned, waggling a finger in front of his face. "And that means I know a lot about you already, so I know your battle style," she added in a honeyed voice, poking her tongue out.

"Careful, or I'll bite that off," he smirked. "Both of them," he nodded, as he wrapped her finger in his hand.

"But—" she entwined her other fingers into his, "don't go easy on me, you hear? I want a battle where the winner deserves to make the finals, no matter what the result."

"Absolutely!" he said fiercely, his free hand thumping the air. "May the best Trainer win."

"That's what I like to hear," she said sweetly, throwing her other arm around his neck as she pulled him in for a tight embrace. "Just remember," she whispered into his ear, as he snaked his arm across her back, "I love you, even if I lose."

"I love you too, even if I win," Ash laughed, kissing her on the cheek. "And, knowing you, it's a big _if_," he added, smiling warmly as they pulled away and moved towards their respective ends of the stadium floor, with Ash and Pikachu taking their places inside the red square at the western end, and Anabel standing in the green box. They turned to the sidelines for the referee to explain the rules of the battle, but they looked on blankly as they were met with a blank stretch of blue wall; he or she was nowhere to be seen.

"Well, _this_ could be a bit of a problem," Anabel muttered, putting a hand on her hip as she waited for the uniformed official to appear. After a minute of tense waiting and confused murmurs from the crowd, a dark-skinned figure dressed in yellow and black jogged down the steps between the rows, vaulting over the boundary wall and striding towards the midway line of the dusty arena. Ash and Anabel stared in open-mouthed amazement as, with a dry smile, the newly-found referee raised both hands towards them, to silence the crowd.

"This battle will be a three-on-three battle!" cried Brock, his narrow eyes sweeping the battlefield despite his friends' gaping. "Substitutions will not be permitted, and any Pokémon recalled after being summoned for battle will be immediately disqualified! There will be no intermission, and the first Trainer to lose all three Pokémon will be knocked out of the tournament!"

"That's right, Brock!" laughed a bubbly voice over the megaphones, and Ash felt himself go weak at the knees as he recognised the voice as belonging to Misty. Sure enough, as he looked upwards at the curved roof of the stadium, he could see the orange-haired girl waving wildly down at himself and Anabel from the commentator's box, but joining her were the rest of his friends, except for Leoric. And, to his horror, they all had microphones in their hands.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen—!" shouted Max, "and welcome to the first finals qualifier match!"

"Today, here in Stadium Three, we have a very _special_ treat for you all!" Wynter added with a grin, seated at the far end of the row, next to Dawn, who nodded and raised her mic.

"That's right, Wynter! We know that Valentine's Day is still six weeks away, but we decided that dates don't matter!"

"So this battle is going to be between the Championships' very own power couple—" giggled May.

"—Featuring the Prince Of Persia—I mean, _Pallet_—Town!" Ari chuckled. "You know him, you love him—heck, even his _opponent_ loves him!"

"Give it up for _Ash_ _Ketchum_!" Misty roared, and the crowd went ballistic with cheers and shouts of Ash's name.

"And his opponent, some cute chick with purple hair," Wynter added lazily, dropping his mic back onto the bench in front of them, only to be smacked in the back of the head with it by a scowling Dawn.

"His _opponent_—!" May continued, rolling her eyes, "is none other than the very talented, the very gorgeous—"

"The Silver Psychic herself!" Ari added dramatically.

"—Anabel Silver!" she finished, and once again they were met with overwhelming noise from behind their wide window. "Wait—" she craned her neck over the flood of faceless supporters to see Ash pointing up at them and shouting something inaudible, "be quiet, he's trying to say something! Go ahead, Ash!"

"_What are you lot doing up there?!_" Ash screamed, a nerve bulging out of his temple as the crowd laughed. _Why does this have to happen to me today, of all days?!_

"Don't worry, Ash," Brock called out, making his friend turn around puzzledly. "We pulled some strings with Derek and Jeanne from the TV station. They let us be in charge of this battle after we gave them the story on Dawn's kidnapping and that Team Galactic agent at the harbour."

"Hey, Ash!" shouted Anabel, already holding a PokéBall in her hand. "You wanna get this battle underway or what?!"

"You bet!" Ash smirked, nodding at Brock. The breeder-turned-referee slipped his twin flags from their clasps on his belt and pointed them at the sky with a cry as, up in the stands, Max excitedly mashed the button to sound the starting siren.

"Come on out, friend!" Anabel shrieked, hurling her PokéBall onto the arena, and it split open with a burst of light. "I hope you recognise a familiar face, Ash!" she added with a fierce smirk, as her faithful Alakazam hovered out of the light and stood squarely on its Trainer's side of the centre circle.

_Alakazam… _Ash thought with a tiny smile, remembering back to the first time he'd seen her Psi Pokémon: saving Anabel and Pikachu from Team Rocket just before he was to challenge the Battle Tower, even before he found out that she was the Salon Maiden. He felt his mouth twinge into another grin as he ran a finger over the third PokéBall on his belt, because it contained the same Pokémon that had opened his two battles against Anabel and her Alakazam.

"Sorry, Corphish…" he whispered, allowing himself an inward smile before he looked across the battlefield. "I'd hate for our third battle to be a repeat of our second, Anabel!" he shouted her way, brandishing a fist. "Because _that _one was a repeat of our _first _battle! So I'm gonna mix things up a bit! Grotle, I choose you!" he roared, unclipping the PokéBall next to Corphish's and lobbing it high and proud. The ball burst open with a flash, and his Grass-type Pokémon landed on the ground with a heavy thud and a small puff of dust.

"_Groh groh!_" barked Grotle, pawing a clawed foot as it stared intently at Alakazam.

"This is certainly looking like an interesting start to the battle, fellow commentators," said Dawn, in a failed attempt at a businesslike voice. "But, here's hoping that it's a whole lot more than that!" she added with a giggle, snatching the striking hammer from Ari and whacking it against the bell to begin the match.

"Grotle, let's get off to a good start!" Ash yelled, pointing across the field at once. "Razor Leaf, go!" he ordered, and Grotle swung its bulky frame left and right. A torrent of blade-like leaves curved out from the two leafy bushes on its back, moving as one as they tore through the air en route to their target, who crossed its spoons in front of its head defiantly.

A moment later, Alakazam blasted a wide beam of multicoloured light from the space between its instruments, which seared into the incoming Razor Leaf and shredded the attack into oblivion, with only a few blackened stems falling onto the ground before curling in on themselves. Ash gritted his teeth as the crowd gasped and applauded, and Anabel gave him a knowing smirk as she tapped a finger to the side of her head.

_You don't need to remind me about your telepathy, Anabel…_ he thought irately, narrowing his eyes as he looked from his Pokémon to hers. _Your Alakazam nearly took down my whole team the first time I battled against it. But don't think I don't have a few tricks of my own up my sleeve…_

"I'll let you hear this one, Ash!" Anabel shouted with a false grin. "Psychic, Alakazam! Lift Grotle high into the air!"

"_Alah!_" grunted the Psi Pokémon, pointing its spoons at Grotle as they were covered in a shimmering blue outline. Ash winced as he heard his Pokémon rasp in surprise, and he saw it become covered in the same blue light that was now enveloping Alakazam, as it was slowly lifted above the battlefield. "_Kazam…_" muttered the Psychic-type, its eyes twitching as it tried to maintain its focus in keeping such a hefty Pokémon aloft.

_Time for a throwdown,_ Anabel said telepathically, and Alakazam swung both its arms low in a wide arc, a faint blue trail following them as Grotle was suddenly plucked out of the air and sent hurtling into the arena. There was a sickening crunch as the Grove Pokémon collided with the ground, and as an obscuring cloud of dust thinned away, it showed Grotle lying dazed on its back, with a hundred earthen cracks spidering away underneath it.

"Ooh…" winced Wynter, rubbing his chin. "That one looked like it _really_ hurt!"

"Yeah, Anabel's Alakazam has shown time and time again in this tournament that its psychic abilities are _not _to be underestimated!" Ari nodded, as the crowd cheered and booed. "Of course, I don't think that it would have hurt Grotle _too_ seriously, but—"

"But Ash is really gonna have to step his game up if he wants any chance of being able to knock Alakazam out of commission!" interjected May with a grin. "Right?"

"Come on, Grotle!" Ash shouted, down on the battlefield, as his Pokémon struggled to flip itself upright. "Use a tiny Razor Leaf attack to spin yourself up the right way!" he ordered, and Grotle shot a half dozen of its green missiles straight into the ground below its head. The leaves ripped through the ground with a bang, knocking the front half of the Pokémon's body upwards, and with little more than a twist, Grotle was back on its feet, gnashing its teeth at its foe.

"Good work!" cheered Ash. "Now, use Bite!"

_Bite?_ Anabel thought, her eyebrow raised. _He couldn't possibly be trying to hit Alakazam close-up… it must be one of his special techniques…_ _Alakazam—_ she turned her attention to her Psi Pokémon, _stand there and wait for Grotle to try something else! The moment it does, I want you to hit it with a souped-up Psybeam!_ she ordered, narrowing her eyes as Alakazam tensed its body and turned to face the advancing Grass-type. _What are you up to, Ash…?_

"Go for Alakazam's wrists, Grotle!" Ash roared. Grotle slammed its hind feet into the ground and pushed itself forwards as hard as it could, crashing its stomach down onto its foe's clawed feet as it clamped its jaw onto Alakazam's hand. The Psychic-type gasped with pain as the jagged tip of Grotle's mouth dug into its skin, and as the Grove Pokémon's grip intensified, it dropped one of its spoons with a clatter, the silver instrument bouncing away as its owner managed to knock its foe away with a Psychic attack.

_Alakazam?!_ gasped Anabel, watching with worry as her Pokémon staggered to one side. She knew that the spoons that an Alakazam carried bolstered its power; without even one of the pair, its psychic abilities would be weakened to a very noticeable extent, and she wondered whether Ash knew that. But as her eyes darted back to him, she saw no tell-tale sign of accomplishment, so she set her focus back onto her Psychic-type.

_Use your powers to fetch that spoon back!_ she ordered.

"Oh no, you don't!" Ash roared, and Anabel faltered in shock. "Grotle, Leech Seed!" he commanded, and a large brown seed – about the size of a person's thumb – streaked out from underneath the dull ridge running along Grotle's back. Before Alakazam could focus its psychic hold at the spoon to drag it back into its grasp, the seed launched itself onto its broad forehead and exploded outwards with a flourish of spindly green vines. The tendrils spread rapidly and wrapped themselves tightly around their prey's body, locking Alakazam's limbs into its body and, with a bright flash of red light, the Psi Pokémon groaned in pain as the Leech Seed began to suck the energy out of it.

"Forget the spoon! Wipe out that Leech Seed before it wipes _you_ out!" shrieked Anabel, clenching her fist as her Pokémon writhed about. The crowd whispered and leaned forwards in their seats as Alakazam's eyes turned a gleaming blue, and as the light rushed outwards it obliterated the vines into tiny scraps of green. Ash gritted his teeth as the Psychic-type then lifted itself into the air with its powers; he wouldn't be able to use direct attacks involving Grotle's body from now.

"Ash, I've gotta ask you something!" Anabel shouted out, and he blinked in surprise. "How'd you know I was giving Alakazam a telepathic order?"

"That's easy!" he countered, pointing at her head. "You had that cute little unfocused look you always get when you're doing something in your head, like that time at your hotel room!" he chuckled, and both of them instantly turned beet-red as the crowd hollered and wolf-whistled at his rash outburst. Alakazam rolled its eyes at its Trainer's embarrassment, which it could feel through their psychic connection, and it lowered itself back onto the ground to focus its powers to the battle once more.

"You're gonna get it after this battle, Ash!" hissed Anabel, a furious look shooting out from under her equally furious blush. "Alakazam, use Energy Ball!" she screamed, and the Psi Pokémon croaked obediently, snaring its missing spoon in its psychic grip and bringing it back towards itself.

"Fight grass with grass—!" Ash yelled, "and use an Energy Ball of your own!"

"_Groh gro!_" snarled Grotle, a burgeoning ball of glowing green-and-blue light already forming in front of its maw. Just as Anabel's Pokémon managed to snatch its spoon back into its grasp, the Grass-type launched the orb towards it with a loud bang, and Alakazam barely had time to conjure up an Energy Ball of its own to fling in the missile's path. The two globes bashed into each other with the sound of a thunderclap, but Alakazam's attack was far smaller than Grotle's, and it was torn apart as the larger ball cleaved through and cannoned into the Psi Pokémon's forehead.

"Alakazam, no!" cried Anabel, running forwards to the edge of her box as the Psychic-type was thrown backwards off its feet. Alakazam crashed onto the ground head-first and slid across the dusty battlefield, its two prized spoons dropping onto the ground several feet away with a dull, final clatter. The Salon Maiden stopped short and hung her head, and the crowd went wild with cheers and groans, as Brock took one look at the Pokémon and raised his red flag high.

"Alakazam is unable to battle!" he roared, as the sounds from the stands rose, if possible, even louder.

"Great work, Grotle!" Ash cheered, he and Pikachu both punching the air as the Grove Pokémon trotted back to him, and he proudly ran a hand along Grotle's head as it grinned up at him. "One down, just two more to go!" he chuckled, and he shifted his eyes past his Grass-type's bushes to see Anabel aiming her PokéBall towards her Alakazam on the stadium floor.

"You did good, friend…" she whispered softly, her eyes becoming unfocused as she returned the sprawled figure her fallen Pokémon to its ball in a flash of red light. She shrunk the PokéBall down to miniature size and went to place it back in its clip at her waist, but she hesitated as something hit her; something wasn't quite right. _What's wrong…?_ she thought worriedly, looking from Alakazam's ball, to Ash and his Pokémon, to the stands full of cheering fans.

"—Lead in the early stages of this battle!" Dawn was shouting from her seat, alongside the rest of the competitors' friends.

"Yes, I'm sure that none of us were expecting one of Anabel's primary Pokémon – let alone her Alakazam – go down so quickly," Ari added with a nod. "But then again, Grotle was able to defeat Kaiden Hayes' Hippowdon in the second round without much effort, so it might be a bit of a secret weapon of Ash's."

"The question is—" chuckled Wynter, his eyes glinting, "will Anabel be able to bite back?"

_You bet I will…_ Anabel thought with a determined smirk, her mind discarding any other thoughts as she finally clipped Alakazam's PokéBall in place and took a second one into her hand. "You ready for this, Ash?!" she yelled.

"Were you hoping I wouldn't be?" he shouted back, grinning as Grotle thundered back into the arena. "Let's get this battle back on!"

"Whatever you say! I'm calling on you, my friend!" she shrieked, hurling the PokéBall across the field, where it split open with a starburst of white light.

There was a range of awed sighs from everyone in the stands as the light faded away into an enormous, rounded, tar-grey Pokémon, the eight pink eyes running around its oddly-shaped head opening and closing in rhythm. Its tiny, spherical torso was brandished with two strange white markings that looked like Qs with circles inside them, and its feet were nothing more than tiny nubs on the underside. Orbiting around the Pokémon's body, however, were two detached arms resembling squashed maracas.

"_Nen…_" hummed the Pokémon, the numerous spike-like beaks between its eyes snapping.

"And so, Anabel's second Pokémon is a Claydol!" said Max excitedly, his glasses glinting.

"That's right, Max," Ari said mischievously. "Claydol is one of Anabel's lesser-used Pokémon in battle, having only been used in the first stage of the opening round, but it was still extremely impressive in that matchup, and to be honest, I'm gonna predict that Grotle's not gonna last very long against it!"

"Not unless he can counter Anabel's strategies by using Grotle's shield-like defences!" Misty countered hotly, her sea-green eyes sliding to look at Ash down on the battlefield, and she smirked when he seemed to open his mouth wide as if he had suddenly understood something. "Maybe… _maybe_ Ash can think of something here…"

_I've already thought of something, thanks to you, Misty…_ Ash thought confidently, his auburn eyes flickering between his opponent, her Pokémon, and Grotle. _It's gonna be risky, though…_ "Pikachu, what do you say we play a little bit of chess?" he murmured quietly to the Pokémon on his shoulder, who raised an eyebrow back at him, clearly not understanding. "Grotle, start off with your Leech Seed!" he bellowed, pointing across the field at the Psychic-type hovering above the ground.

"Claydol, let's go!" nodded Anabel, and her Psychic-type deftly swayed to the side as Grotle blasted its amber-coloured seed through the air, leaving it to burst open in a mess of limp, stretching vines that curled up on the ground towards one of the far corners of the field. _Now use Psybeam!_ she ordered, watching fiercely as the two spinning arms of her Claydol suddenly shuddered to a stop in front of its body and volleyed two intense streams of multicoloured light at its foe.

"Take the hit!" Ash barked, his eyes glinting when he heard the confused mumbles of the crowd; he knew what he was doing, regardless of what seemed likely to happen. The twin Psybeam attacks slammed into his Grass-type's cheekbones, driving Grotle back through the earthen battlefield and digging deep gouges with its small yet sharp claws, but with a powerful sideways thrust of its head, it managed to break the assault. Claydol looked unfazed, however, as its opponent stamped its front legs against the scarred ground, eager for more.

"It looks like Claydol isn't wasting any time in flexing some of its mystical muscle!" Wynter noted, up in the stands. "Grotle knocked out one of its comrades, and I'd say that it would be out for some payback, if not at the very least to even the scores in this battle!"

"How 'bout we get some payback for that Psybeam, Grotle?!" roared Ash, a nerve below his eye ticking as he heard the American's comment. "Energy Ball!" he snarled, and Grotle snapped its jaws together as a sphere of crackling green energy materialised in front of them. "Fire when ready!"

_Block it with Light Screen…_ Anabel instructed her Pokémon calmly, the shadow of a knowing smirk playing on the corner of her mouth as Grotle sent its attack hurtling towards the Ground-type. The sizzling orb careened forwards en route to its target, but instead of Claydol, it slammed into a shimmering sheet of golden squares and exploded on impact, filling the arena with a flare of light and a plume of black smoke.

"Move in for a Bite attack!" Ash ordered with a grimace, already knowing the result of the attack even before the smoke thinned. As Grotle bounded forwards with maw gaping, the cloud faded away to show Anabel's Claydol surrounded by a glowing cube of golden light, shimmering in the morning light, and the crowd cheered with excitement as it realised that the Clay Doll Pokémon was unharmed from Ash and Grotle's attempt to hurt it.

"Shadow Ball, on the double!" yelled Anabel, quickly seeing the advancing Grove Pokémon, and the Psychic-type obediently dropped its Light Screen as a ball of purple-black lightning began to spin in front of its twin orbiting arms.

"_Nen… NEN!_" boomed Claydol, locking on to Grotle and sending the Shadow Ball spearing directly towards it. Because of its poor speed, the Grass-type wasn't able to stop or even turn around, and as the attack collided with its head, it was thrown backwards into the air, falling onto the field with a thud and a puff of dust. With the dust fading, Ash silently cursed his misfortune, as he saw that Grotle had landed squarely on its back, its legs thrashing vainly about in the air as it tried to right itself; unfortunately for him, Anabel saw the same thing at the same time, and took the chance.

"Psybeam, one more time, Claydol!" she shrieked, throwing her arm forwards. "Let's get things back to a level field!" she added, and her Ground-type Pokémon swiftly focused on Grotle, blasting another twin beam of rainbow light at its foe. "You might as well recall Grotle now, Ash!" she shouted tauntingly.

"I don't think so!" Ash roared defiantly, making her step backwards in surprise. "Grotle, use your Leech Seed to spin and gain momentum! Let's see if you can pull off a Counter Shield!" he bellowed, clenching a fist in front of his face.

"_Grotle!_" growled Grotle, and there was a muffled whooshing noise from under its back as it fired one of its brown seeds into the ground directly below. As Claydol's psychic attack shot closer, there was a deep tremor from underneath the battlefield, and all of a sudden a thick web of green vines reared up from the ground, lashing about in all directions like a living cage. The Grove Pokémon was tossed about from inside the barrier, spinning along its leafy back, as the incoming Psybeam shredded through most of the vines, only to be whipped aside by the dozens more that had been shooting up into the air.

"_Huh—_?!" Anabel gasped, taken completely by surprise at the tactic. She wasn't the only one, though; the stands were full of shocked buzzes of conversation, broken here and there by the occasional scream of a supporter, and Ash took the opportunity to order Grotle back on its feet. "That's an innovative take on a Leech Seed, Ash!" she shouted, almost laughing.

"I've got a few Pokémon who know Counter Shield, just so you know!" he fired back with a confident smirk.

"Ash is right, you know," commented Dawn from the skybox. "He's used the Counter Shield strategy several times to good effect, including a battle against Hearthome Gym Leader Fantina!"

"And we can switch back to an offensive just like _this_—!" Ash pointed at Claydol, "Grotle, Leech Seed on Claydol, let's go!" he shouted. Grotle nodded and launched another of its dangerous missiles from the bushes on its back, sending it whistling through the air as it sped towards the Psychic-type, but the latter simply drifted lazily to the side. The Leech Seed plunged into the ground across the field – on the other edge of the arena to the previous one – and burst out like its predecessor, the mass of green vines curling up on itself as well.

"Strike back with Earth Power!" yelled Anabel, just as the last of the tendrils stopped twitching. Claydol hovered high into the air, its rounded form glowing with a shining yellow outline, and Ash took a precautionary step backwards as he felt the ground beneath his feet tremble and shift. But just as he opened his mouth to shout an order at Grotle, a huge web of dark cracks suddenly split the arena, the same golden light shining out from between the jagged edges of earth as what was encasing the Ground-type.

"_Neeeennnnn!"_ Claydol roared, its pink eyes flashing intensely. Grotle stumbled left and right as its balance was thrown about by the moving battlefield, and there was a split-second flash of golden light under its head, before a shaft of brown clay came spearing up out of the ground and striking it in the neck. The thunderous force of the attack sent the Grass-type flying up into the sky with its craggy head snapped up towards its back, and its eyes were screwed shut in pain as it reached the height of its climb and began to slip back under gravity's relentless pull.

"Grotle, no!" Ash exclaimed, his eyes following his stricken Pokémon as it plummeted. "Come on—!"

_Shadow Ball, now!_ Anabel ordered, her eyes gleaming as Claydol focused the aim of its arms at the Grove Pokémon, the sound of crackling thunder filling the air as the familiar ball of darkness began to form from in front of its robust body. Just as Ash caught on to the tactic and opened his mouth to roar a second counter-offensive, the Clay Doll Pokémon sent its attack spinning towards its target, and with a powerful bang it hits its mark with deadly precision.

"_Gro—?!" _Grotle was barely able to manage a distressed cry as it was sent rocketing through the air in mid-fall, smacking into the cracked stadium floor and bouncing across the ground. Its bruised body scraped across the surface of the arena until it came to a hushed stop, its jagged mouth hanging wide open and its eyes filled with swirls, as the lull in the stands was hastily ended by an explosion of applause and hollering.

"Grotle is unable to battle!" Brock declared, unclipping his red flag and waving it in Anabel's direction, as she jumped with glee and sent a message of thanks to Claydol's mind.

"Wow! Claydol's managed to defeat Grotle without having a single hit scored on it!" squealed May, jumping up in her seat as the excitement of the battle took over, and her younger brother shook his head patronisingly.

"Well, having seen this particular Claydol in action against its fair share of opponents," Ari added lightly, "I'm not too surprised! Anabel's trained it to be surprisingly agile without focusing on its ability to Teleport," he added with a grin.

"But regardless of training and possible commentator bias," interjected Wynter, a look of enjoyment aglow on his face, "with Grotle's departure, the scores are tied at one apiece! Ash's second Pokémon had better be a good one, because the winner of this next matchup takes a big advantage going in to the closing stretch, with the choice of countering his or her opponent's final selection!"

"So send your next Pokémon out, Ash!" Misty shouted impatiently. "Quit making us all wait!"

_I'll give you a different kind of wait in a minute…_ Ash thought irately, frowning up at her as he recalled Grotle to its PokéBall and looked at the other balls on his belt. "Let's see… Claydol's part Ground-type, so I should use Water or Grass… I don't have anything to counter the Psychic typing… well—!" he nodded, snatching the PokéBall on the left-hand end of the row, "you might as well make three battles straight!"

"_Pika…?_" squeaked Pikachu, his ears perking up hopefully.

"Corphish, I choose you!" Ash roared, hurling the PokéBall onto the field, and Pikachu slumped back onto his Trainer's shoulder as it split open with a flash of light. The small Ruffian Pokémon scuttled his way towards the centre circle, clacking his crimson claws with an air of fierce determination about it, despite the fact that its opponent was easily five times its size.

"_Cor… cor-phish!_" rasped the Water-type, as Anabel and Ash both heard the starting hammer ringing in the background.

"Bubblebeam, let's go!" ordered Ash, immediately swinging into action, and Corphish responded by opening a claw wide and blasting an array of huge blue bubbles towards its foe. But, like had happened so often in its short battle against Grotle, Claydol simply drifted hastily to the side with a jerk of the head from Anabel, leaving the spread of spheres to sail through and break themselves open on the boundary wall.

"Try again, Ash…!" Anabel said in a honeyed voice, and he gritted his teeth in frustration.

"You heard her—!" he yelled, pointing at the Clay Doll Pokémon, "Bubblebeam again, but jump this time!" Corphish charged forwards, one claw raised high as he leapt towards the sky, and with a vicious swing of his arm he sent a spiralling volley of bubbles down towards his foe, but the attack met the same result as before, with the Psychic-type floating away from the onslaught.

"You know—" Anabel muttered dryly.

"Crabhammer!"

"What?!" she exclaimed, her eyes snapping wide open as Corphish's raised claw – oddly, the one that had been in the air before the jump, but hadn't fired the Bubblebeam – shone with blinding white light as its owner spun and brought his full weight towards the ground. With the sickening crack of an axe hitting stone, Corphish slammed his Crabhammer into Claydol's skull, driving it down into the battlefield and straight through, splitting the cracks that the latter's Earth Power had created only minutes before.

"You shouldn't count your Torchic before they hatch!" Ash said competitively, clenching his fist as his Pokémon touched down lightly on his side of the field. All sets of eyes focused on the cloud of debris that had been hiding Anabel's Claydol, but with a gust of wind it could be seen that Ash wasn't going to reclaim the lead very easily; it was hovering as resolutely as when it had been let out of its PokéBall, and there was barely a blemish on it from the Water-type's brutal blow.

"We'll just see about that, won't we?!" laughed Anabel. _Psybeam!_ she suddenly ordered.

_Here we go again… _Ash thought grimly, watching as the Clay Doll Pokémon's arms homed in the direction of his own Pokémon. "Beat that attack away with a second Crabhammer, Corphish! Whatever that big statue fires at you, you just knock it aside!" he shouted encouragingly.

"_Nenenenen!_" whirred Claydol, blasting two beams of pale rainbow light across the battlefield, and a huge gust of tearing wind kicked up in their wake as Corphish's claw began to glow white once again. The two attacks collided in the middle of the stadium, sending a shockwave of energy ringing through the stadium, and for a moment it seemed like Anabel's Pokémon was gaining the upper hand, with the Water-type's legs digging backwards into the rough earth. But with a gargantuan effort, the Psybeam was sent hurtling wide by the small Pokémon as he stampeded forwards and threw himself up into the face of his foe once more.

"Alright, Corphish!" cheered Ash, his voice echoed by the screams of more than fifty thousand more. "Let Claydol have it!" he bellowed, and Corphish began to savagely pummel every inch of his opponent's head with his crushing Crabhammer attack, making the Psychic-type sway to and fro with pain as it was sent reeling with the impact from every strike.

"Claydol, shake it off!" Anabel shrieked, her hand flying to cover her mouth with worry as Corphish landed blow after bone-crunching blow. _Uh… come on, think! _she told herself, scrunching up her face with concentration, before an idea suddenly flew into her head. _That's it! _"Rapid Spin, on the double!" she ordered. Claydol's eyes flashed for the briefest of moments, even though its foe was still pummelling it with attacks, and it immediately went into a frenzied spin, with Corphish holding on grimly by clamping his claw down on the Ground-type's head spike.

"Come on, Corphish!" Ash shouted, gritting his teeth as his Pokémon was haplessly sent whirling around and around. "Try and Crabhammer that Claydol some more!"

"_Cor…! Cor cor cor!_" peeped the Ruffian Pokémon, his eyes forced shut as he tried to focus on an attack. Claydol suddenly began to spin even faster, and after a few moments it was too much for the tiny Water-type to handle, and he was violently thrown across the field and slammed into the boundary wall behind Ash. Ash staggered forwards to the edge of his box, and the crowd cheered with anticipation as they rose to their feet, but Anabel, at the other end of the field, simply smirked as she pointed towards Corphish.

"Corphish isn't even close to fainting, Claydol! So use Shadow Ball, let's go!" she cried, and Claydol nodded its enormous head before swiftly catapulting the crackling black orb towards its foe, even as the latter struggled to regain its footing on the dusty stadium floor. Ash shouted at Corphish to evade the incoming blast, but with a colossal bang and a cloud of acrid smoke, the Shadow Ball hit its mark, a shower of debris raining down all over the field as both Trainers waited anxiously for the smoke to clear.

_This might have been the quickest comeback I've pulled off in quite a while…_ Anabel thought arrogantly to herself. _Well, since when does that happen to me?!_ she added hotly, as Claydol sent her a brief telepathic grunt. As she focused her attention back on the billowing smoke, she felt her heart leap into her throat as she saw it thinning, and she crossed her fingers as it faded away.

"What?!" she gasped loudly. The only thing she could see in the space where Claydol's Shadow Ball had struck was a large, rough hole in the field; Corphish had seemingly disappeared into thin air. "Where'd he go?!" she shouted, her eyes darting at once to Ash, who was smiling knowingly.

"Corphish?" he laughed. "He's right _there_—!"

"_Coorrrr…phhhiiiissshhh!_" screeched Corphish, bursting out from underneath the ground right in front of Claydol. He leapt long and high towards his foe, his right claw gleaming with brilliant purple light, and with another resounding cry he brought it around and bashed it against the front of the Psychic-type's head, sending it keeling backwards onto the ground with a thud.

"Great shot!" Ash cheered, as Corphish landed proudly on the ground.

Anabel gritted her teeth as the air was filled with the blaring screams of the people in the stands, but she gave no other sign as she ordered Claydol up again. _Alright, that Corphish has clearly gotten a lot more powerful since last time,_ she said to her Pokémon, _but I think that I've got a way to knock it out without too much trouble…_

"Bubblebeam, on the double!" roared Ash impatiently, throwing his arms forwards.

"Counter it with your Light Screen, Claydol!" Anabel shrieked, just as Corphish blasted a powerful spray of bubbles through the air. Claydol hastily encased itself in the same golden cube of light that it had used to block Grotle's Energy Ball, and the hurtling spheres of water splashed uselessly against the front face, forming a small puddle at Claydol's feet as it lowered the shield just as quickly.

"Psybeam, now!" she yelled. Her Pokémon's eyes shimmered with pale pink light as it aimed its orbiting arms at the Ruffian Pokémon, and with a grating cry it blasted two thick torrents of multicoloured light at its foe. The attack was so fast that Ash didn't even have time to give Corphish an evasive order, and so the Water-type was shot sky-high by the impact of the Psybeam as it exploded into the ground right below him.

"Corphish, no!" Ash exclaimed, watching Corphish arc through the air. "Use—!"

_Ash, don't!_ Anabel shouted from across the field, her eyes filled with worry as she spoke to his mind. _Corphish is hurt enough already…! Don't do what you did in your battle against Kaiden!_ she pleaded, clasping her hands together in front of her, and he stopped short in his order, as he remembered what had happened.

_She's right…_ he thought begrudgingly. _But how did she manage to speak to my head?! And what does she—?_

"Shadow Ball!" Anabel roared suddenly, all traces of sympathy gone from her face as she pointed at the now-falling Water-type. With a boom like a gong being struck, Claydol charged an even larger sphere of darkness than those before it, and lobbed it at Corphish with deadly accuracy, the attack cannoning into the Pokémon's midsection. There was a mass of cheers from the crowd as the Ruffian Pokémon crashed limply onto the ground, and there was no doubt as to whether it was still capable of battling or not, as Brock pointed his red flag at the lavender-haired competitor.

"Corphish is unable to battle!" he roared.

"That was a low trick to use!" Ash shouted, stung, as he reluctantly returned his fallen Pokémon to his PokéBall.

"Well, now we're even for you blabbing personal stuff about me to the entire world!" she retorted, a stubborn look upon her face as she put her hands on her hips.

"It, uh… it seems that we're getting a bit hot under the collar here in Stadium Three…" May giggled sheepishly, scratching the side of her face. "But… I guess the important result here is that Corphish has been ruled out of the battle!" she added, her voice becoming more confident as she went on. "Which means that Ash is now down to his final Pokémon!"

"I wonder what he's gonna use!" Dawn squeaked excitedly, bobbing up and down in her seat. "Ash is known for being able to use lots of different Pokémon of various types—!"

"So he'd better make the right choice!" Wynter finished with a cackle. "Or he's gonna fall agonisingly short of making the Top Sixteen! Which, just in passing, _I've_ already qualified for!" he chuckled.

"I'll show you how we do things, Anabel!" Ash challenged, snatching his third – and final – PokéBall from his belt and enlarging it. "It may be my last, but this Pokémon isn't going down to your Psychic-types in a million years!"

_We'll see about that…_ Anabel thought smartly.

"Noctowl!" Ash roared, swinging his arm back as a large shadow blocked out the sun from overhead. "I choose—!"

"_Hey, Ash_!"

"_Rguuhh!_"

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Anabel is the second Frontier Brain to use a Claydol. The first was Spenser.**

***The idea of having Alakazam weakened by losing its spoons comes from Kadabra's Sapphire Pokédex entry.**

**Quiz:**

***In which episode did Ash's Noctowl learn Confusion?**

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**Whew, that was a nice start to the battle, wasn't it...?**

**Also finishing on somewhat of a cliffhanger, which is probably lame by cliffhnger standards, but I digress.**

**And we're back to the battling chapters, haha. It was only five chapters ago that I finished the fifth round, for those of you playing at home.**

**Thanks to everyone who's reviewed and/or voted!**

**Sadly, though, this will be the last chapter I put up for a while. My Year 12 exams are starting on Monday (my birthday, go figure) and as such I'll have zero time for writing. So I hope this can tide you over for a while, because it occupied me for a while too.**

**Ocean Music's latest chapter will be published tomorrow, on the other hand!**

**Chapter 88 (Brain Damage) will be posted on, most likely, August 28th. That's three weeks from today. It'll be the finish of the Ash/Anabel battle, and it'll also be the beginning** **of Leoric's battle against his brother...! *cue dramatic music***

**Don't forget to review!!! Please!!!**


	88. Brain Damage

**CHAPTER 88 – BRAIN DAMAGE**

"Noctowl!" shouted Ash, his eyes glinting as he brought his PokéBall around. "I choose—!"

"Hey, Ash—!" shrieked a woman's voice. Ash tried to look around to find out who had called out to him, but he lost his balance and crashed to the ground, his face half-covered in a fine coat of dust and his arms pinned underneath him. He rolled onto his back with a dull groan, his eyes squinting up at the brightly-lit sky as a large black shape hovered next to the sun, and his ears were filled with the thunderous sound of crashing wing-beats.

"Liza!" shouted Brock from the sidelines, his voice thick with a familiar love-struck tone as he abandoned his refereeing duties and raced over, hearts in his eyes as he waved his arms above his head. "And Charizard!"

"_Charizard_?!" Ash exclaimed, squinting to cut out the worst of the glare. After a few seconds, the enormous black shape above him began to focus into two equally large shapes, and he quickly began to see the features of one of his oldest friends; the huge orange wings with green undersides, the long rubbery tail tipped with a blazing ball of fire, and the leathery neck that gave way to his Pokémon's magnificent head as he blasted a cloud of smoke from his nostrils.

"Charizard, it's you!" he shouted, lurching to his feet joyously. "How'd you know I was here?!"

"We heard your battle with that Tyson guy over the radio," Liza explained, jumping down from the Charizard that she was riding on, who had a pink bow tied to its head. "I asked Charizard if he wanted to come to Ayers Island and help out in person, and he seemed more than happy to do that!" she added with a giggle, and Charizard nodded his head in agreement, before blasting Ash with a Flamethrower attack.

"Ash!" shrieked Anabel from across the field, running over despite herself as she saw him engulfed in flames.

"It's okay, Anabel…!" Brock chuckled, and she stopped short when she realised that she was the only person on the stadium floor who had showed any sign of concern. "This is Charizard's way of greeting Ash, you see?" he told her, lazily pointing a finger over at him. The fire disappeared almost at once, leaving Ash singed a dark brown with scorch marks covering his hat and clothes, but it didn't even seem to faze him in the slightest; he was laughing good-heartedly as he wiped the soot off his face and threw his arms around his Flame Pokémon.

"It's good to see you again, buddy!" he grinned, his smile reaching from cheek to cheek as he stepped backwards. "How've you been?"

"_Ruh…_" Charizard grunted, shrugging his shoulders. He then heard a whisper-quiet humming from behind, and he turned around to see Anabel's Claydol still hovering resolutely on its side of the field, its many eyes staring vacantly in all directions as it waited for an opponent to be called to battle against it. "_Rgh… rruuuughhh!_" roared Charizard, blasting a torrent of flames into the air as he saw the Pokémon.

Ash saw the gesture, and he knew what it meant, so he slowly picked up his Noctowl's PokéBall off the ground at his feet and pressed the button, shrinking it down to its miniature size and clipping it back to his belt. "So you want to battle Claydol, do you?" he muttered to himself, casting a sideways glance at Brock, who seemed to understand as well, because he nodded his head and returned to the sideline.

"Come on, Charla!" Liza called out suddenly, patting the other Charizard on the belly and gesturing towards the stands. "Let's grab a seat and watch!" she offered, and they headed for the boundary wall, leaving Ash, Anabel and Charizard standing in the red Trainer's box.

"What do you say we finish this battle, eh?" he asked Anabel, a glint in his eyes.

"You're using Charizard, I take it…" she muttered knowingly. "Fine. But you didn't have Charizard at the start of this battle. You'd better check to make sure it's allowed in the rules," she warned, before smiling sweetly and returning to her side of the field. Meanwhile, Brock, who had been talking into the tiny microphone mounted onto his collar, pressed a hand to his ear to listen to the instructions being sent to him via an earpiece hidden beneath his sideburn.

"You're sure…?" he whispered, nodding once before switching off the earpiece and looking at Ash. "Ash, please send out your third Pokémon!" he ordered.

"Is Charizard okay to use?!" Ash shouted back, his hands twitching nervously as he looked over at Anabel and Claydol, and he unknowingly crossed his fingers for a green light from Brock.

"Noctowl wasn't released from its PokéBall, so you didn't actually call it into battle," he explained, folding his hands behind his back. "You never call Pikachu to battle using a PokéBall, and it's well within the rules of the tournament to use any Pokémon at your disposal, as long as it _is_ your Pokémon. So go nuts," he laughed, nodding his head.

"Okay, then! Charizard, I choose you!" Ash yelled, pointing at the centre of the field, and Charizard spread his wings wide and took off into the air with a resounding roar. "I've had Charizard ever since my first journey to qualify for the Pokémon League, Anabel, so you'd better come at us with everything you've got!"

"You should worry about your Pokémon, not your opponent!" shouted Anabel. "Claydol, let's start out strong! Shadow Ball!"

"_Nennn…!_" hummed the Psychic-type, as the sizzling sphere blinked and grew in front of its robust body.

"_Flamethrower_!" Ash bellowed. Charizard gave an ear-splitting roar as Claydol spun its attack towards him, and with a low rumble he spewed a searing torrent of yellow-and-red flames in the face of the Shadow Ball. There was a bright flash of light as the two attacks collided in mid-air, and darkness struggled against fire as a hideous grinding noise filled the stadium, but Charizard's eyes narrowed defiantly as he blasted even more fire into the fray. There was a bang and a hiss as Claydol's Shadow Ball shrank into nothingness, melted away by the relentless force of the Flamethrower, which shot forwards at once towards the Clay Doll Pokémon.

_Light Screen!_ Anabel ordered telepathically, and Claydol summoned the protective shield of yellow light just in the nick of time, leaving Charizard's attack to lick harmlessly away at the barrier before fizzling away. "Nice try, but you've gotta step it up a notch, Ash!" she shouted tauntingly, and Ash gritted his teeth.

_She's right…!_ he thought angrily, his eyes flicking from his hovering Flame Pokémon to the bright cube that was protecting Claydol. _I'm gonna need Charizard to knock Claydol down with some physical attacks… his Flamethrower won't be able to penetrate that kind of defense…_

"Ash!" cried Liza, from a seat towards the corner of the stadium, as Charla roared loudly, scaring the other spectators into silence. "Tell Charizard to use Dragon Claw!"

"Dragon Claw?!" Ash shouted back, confused, and the green-haired Tamer nodded. "If you're sure…!" he shrugged, turning back to Charizard. "Break through that Light Screen with a Dragon Claw, Charizard!" he commanded, pointing at the Ground-type within the shield.

"_Grguuhh!_" growled the Fire-type, launching himself through the air towards Claydol, and the long claws at the ends of his hands began to glow with a fierce white light.

"Earth Power! Knock Charizard out of the sky!" Anabel shrieked, and the golden Light Screen was sucked towards its creator, turning into a covering of gold light as the ground trembled and shook. Charizard's eyes widened in shock as a jagged square of rock suddenly threw itself at him out of the ground, and it only escaped it slamming into him by swiftly rolling to the side at the last moment.

"Slash right through those rocks!" shouted Ash fiercely, watching as his Pokémon was forced to bank low over the ground to avoid a second hurtling boulder. "Don't try and dodge them forever! Cut through and hit that Claydol!"

Charizard nodded his sleek head and spiralled across the field, swinging a glowing claw backwards as it came within range of his foe, and with a triumphant cry he smashed the brunt of his Dragon Claw into Claydol's head, instantly destroying the golden veil surrounding it and making it sway dangerously on the spot as it gave a rattling moan.

"A brilliant shot by Charizard!" cheered May with a grin, as the Flame Pokémon turned in the air and landed back on Ash's side of the field. "I've gotta say, he looks a lot tougher than when I saw him in Kanto! He was even able to take down an Articuno back then, so I'm not sure what it spells for Anabel!"

"I wouldn't count my Torchic before they hatch, May," Ari said seriously. "Charizard may be tough, but that doesn't mean Claydol isn't either. If you'll take another look at it, it doesn't seem to have taken as bad a hit as you might have thought…" he muttered, and, indeed, Anabel's Pokémon quickly righted itself as it hovered just above the arena's surface, its eight eyes glowing with a faint pink light. "And sure enough, it's still going strong!"

"We'll just see about that…" Ash muttered under his breath, a nerve ticking under his eye at Ari's words. "Flamethrower!" he barked to Charizard.

"Light Screen…!" smirked Anabel. Ash cursed loudly as Claydol erected the yellow sheet of light, and Charizard's overwhelmingly hot fire was stopped brutally short as it died out only feet in front of its intended target. _Good work, Claydol,_ she told her Pokémon proudly, _now keep that Light Screen active, and aim a Psybeam at Charizard…_

"Knock down Claydol's Light Screen with your Dragon Claw attack!" Ash roared, pointing at the barrier, and Charizard grunted as his flew towards his foe with his claws outstretched and shining.

"_Nenen—NENENNNN…!_" screeched the Psychic-type Pokémon, and a pencil-thin beam of intense purple light blasted itself out of the protective cube, blinding Charizard with its brilliance before cannoning right into his stomach. The Flame Pokémon was sent rocketing backwards through the air, the beam throwing him across the arena with crunching force, and Charizard was slammed into the rear boundary wall before he had a chance to draw breath or blink.

"_Charizard_?!" Ash exclaimed, running to the end of his Trainer's box as the attack died out and left his Pokémon to crash to the ground in a heap.

"And Claydol strikes back with a sickening counterattack!" Ari shouted excitedly, as the crowd roared with delight.

"It certainly looks like it, Ari!" nodded Wynter, his eyes glinting mischievously. "If I know my battle tactics, I'd take a guess and say that Anabel had Claydol use its Light Screen like a piece of glass to _focus_ the power of its Psybeam attack into a laser beam!"

"Well, whatever it was, it sure did the trick!" Max squeaked. "Ash is gonna have to watch out for that combination if he ever forces Claydol to put up a Light Screen!"

_Come on, Ash… think, think, think!_ Ash willed himself, clenching his fists and screwing his eyes shut as Charizard picked himself up and trotted back onto the battlefield. _Claydol's got the edge with long-distances, so Charizard's skills in the air are all but useless…! I've gotta strike at close range… but how can I knock it out, when it took a full-on Dragon Claw right to the head—?_

"Shadow Ball, now!" yelled Anabel abruptly, her order breaking through Ash's chain of thought. His eyes snapped open as his head snapped back towards the centre of the battlefield, just in time to see the Clay Doll Pokémon charging the large ball of black lightning between its cannon-like arms.

"Flamethrower!" he blurted hastily, shouting the first command that came to his head. "Just enough to block the attack!" he added loudly, as Charizard bellowed and volleyed a torrent of flames towards the Shadow Ball that was sent hurtling his way. The two attacks smashed into each other with a flash and an explosion, hiding both Trainer and Pokémon from their opponent's view, and as the smoke rippled over the field, Ash was struck with a sudden idea.

"Charizard—!" he bellowed, "take to the sky!"

"_Rguuoghhh!_" growled the Fire-type Pokémon, gladly spreading his wings and soaring high into the air, until he was barely able to be distinguished from the sunlit sky. A wry frown crossed Anabel's lips as she wondered what Ash was planning, but she blinked when she saw Charizard wheel around and begin to dive towards her Claydol, his eyes burning like the fire on his tail.

"Spin and use Flamethrower!" Ash roared, throwing his arm forwards, and Charizard spiralled through the air as he breathed an intense spout of red-hot flames at Claydol, who easily blocked the attack with its Light Screen. As the flames battered themselves against the impenetrable barrier, Anabel allowed a sidewards glance at her opponent, and she almost took a step backwards in surprise when she saw Ash grinning from ear to ear, as though he had been expecting her to give the command for a Light Screen all along.

_Let's see if you expected _this_!_ she though irately, focusing her mind back to her Pokémon. _Psybeam through the screen, go!_ she ordered, and she could see Claydol's arms move into position from behind the cube, just as Charizard's Flamethrower flickered out.

"I'm pretty sure that Claydol's about to use that Psybeam laser, Charizard!" Ash shouted to his diving Pokémon, who snorted. "So use Steel Wing!"

"_Steel Wing_?!" exclaimed the commentators and Anabel, as the crowd fell silent with anticipation, and Charizard's right wing turned a fierce white as he brought it around to cover the front of his body. With a screeching bellow, the Psychic-type Pokémon on the ground launched its attack, the pencil-like beam of light hitting its target with deadly accuracy, but, somehow, the Steel Wing that Charizard had used was holding it back.

There was a bright flash as the irresistible force fought against the immovable object, and a split-second later there was a chorus of gasps and screams from those in the crowd closest to the field as the Psybeam hitting Charizard's wing deflected into the ground, cutting a wide and sizzling gash across the surface of the arena. Charizard winced in pain as he felt his wing grow hot under the force of Claydol's attack, and he bent the inside of his wing reflexively, only for the beam to veer wildly towards the boundary wall.

"That's it!" Ash gasped. "Charizard, use your wing to direct that beam back in on itself!" he shouted.

"_Grguuuooohhhh!_" roared the Fire-type, his eyes barely wider than slits in the glare of his glowing wing as he moved it closer to his face, and the crowd's eyes flicked between wing and battlefield so many times that they quickly got dizzy. Ash bit his lip as his eyes moved with the others, first to Charizard as the latter struggled with the force of Claydol's attack, then to the searing point of purple light on the ground as it cut a steaming curve through the arena on its way back to its maker.

The Clay Doll Pokémon behind its barrier began to tremble and shake as it saw the beam coming back, and with a bright flash it was blinded as the brilliance of the Psybeam shone through its very own Light Screen. The yellow shield instantly disappeared, and Anabel clutched her head as she felt the pain of her Pokémon ringing into her brain, and Ash wasted no time as he turned his head up to his Flame Pokémon.

"Dragon Claw, then Flamethrower!" he boomed, and Charizard obliged at once, sweeping down low over the field before bringing the full weight of his body around to slash at Claydol's mid-section with a ferocious, shining right hook.

_If you can hear me, friend, use Earth Power! _Anabel ordered, her eyes screwed shut like her Psychic-type's, and it began to glimmer with a golden veil of particles as the ground began to tremor and quake again. There was a loud crack from below the two Pokémon as a thick spray of spear-like stones burst up in all directions from the battlefield, and both Claydol and Charizard winced as they felt the rocks graze against their bodies.

"Tough it out, Charizard!" Ash shouted encouragingly, and Charizard, feeling the bite of a stone that had dug itself into his wing, opened his jaws wide and scorched Claydol's hide with a sheet of molten flames. The Ground-type Pokémon gave a piercing wail as the fire washed over its rotund body, and it fell with a thud onto the ground before falling backwards, as the stones flying haphazardly about in the air dropped with a dull clatter. The stands erupted with fanatic screams and jeers as Anabel hung her head in defeat, and Brock took one look at the Pokémon from his spot on the sideline before thrusting his red flag into the air.

"Claydol is unable to battle!" he declared, and Ash whooped with delight as he jumped into the air and punched it with his fist.

"Great job, Charizard!" he shouted cheerily, as his Flame Pokémon wheeled high into the air and blasted the sky with a triumphant Flamethrower, before swooping down and landing in front of his Trainer for a congratulatory hug.

"So Ash and Charizard have managed to level the scores at the closing stages of this Finals Qualifier!" Dawn shrieked excitedly, almost jumping up and down in her seat as the microphone in her hand shook about.

"Yep, Anabel and her Claydol sure put up a good effort, though. You can't take that away from them, especially since they managed to take down Ash's Grotle and Corphish consecutively," Ari agreed. "But like you said, Ash has drawn this battle into a sudden-death showdown!"

"The big question we have to ask ourselves is—" Wynter said teasingly to the crowd, "which Pokémon is Anabel going to rest her hopes on? She's shown us some marvellous tactics so far, including that Psybeam and Light Screen combo, but that Charizard is still looking pretty mighty right now, so she's gonna have to pick her strongest Pokémon—!"

"—If she wants to advance!" finished Misty, with a giggle, and Wynter groaned. "Remember, folks, that only one of these lovebirds is going to be in the Top Sixteen come tonight! So let's get back to the action!"

_You battled bravely, Claydol…_Anabel thought warmly, as she returned her fainted Pokémon to its PokéBall and clipped it to her belt. _Ash, I underestimated the strength of that Charizard of yours… I guess it's only natural, since it defeated the Articuno that befriended Noland… but my Pokémon is stronger, and this time your Pikachu isn't here to take her down!_

"Lend me your strength, my friend!" she shouted, taking another PokéBall from its place and hurling it high into the air. There was a burst of light as it split open, and a slender, feline Pokémon hopped down onto the battlefield, a forked purple tail swishing gently behind the rest of its body as a red stone on the centre of its forehead glinted in the sunlight. Ash smiled inwardly and nodded his head as he saw the Pokémon; he'd been expecting Anabel to use her, and it was a fitting way to find which one of them would advance to the finals.

"Now _here's_ an interesting choice!" Wynter exclaimed, his eyebrows flying up into his hair. "Looks like this battle's going down to a Charizard and an Espeon! I can't imagine why Anabel would pick a pure Psychic-type, given the power behind that Slowking she used in that highly televised battle against Eric Trimble yesterday…"

"Well, Wynter, I've seen Anabel and Espeon in action personally," May countered gruffly, "and I can tell you that Ash is definitely going to have his hands full."

"Espeon is a very quick, very smart, and very strong battler," Ari continued, "and Charizard's been significantly worn down by that intense round with Claydol… It's up to either Trainer to win. We know it, they know it, and you all know it too, am I right?!" he roared to the crowd, who shouted back as one with incredible force. "Then let the final matchup begin!" he declared, snatching the starting hammer from Wynter and tossing it at the bell.

"Steel Wing, go!" yelled Ash, taking the first chance to go on the offensive. Charizard gave a barking roar and flapped his enormous wings, pushing off and launching himself into the air with frightening speed as he flew towards his foe, his wings already lighting up with dazzling white light.

_You'll see that sometimes it's a bad idea to barge in with force…_ Anabel thought craftily. _Give that big boy a taste of your Charm, Espeon…!_ she smiled, as Charizard tore closer to her Pokémon, and with an elegant circle of a prance, the Sun Pokémon gave her advancing foe a suggestive wink and a flick of her twin tails. The Flying-type was struck dumb in mid-flight, his wing-beats becoming clumsy and his eyes unfocusing as he lazily lowered himself onto the ground, staring adoringly at his opponent.

"Charizard…?" Ash said sheepishly, feeling his face grow hot. "Uh… _what the heck are you doing_?!" he roared, memories of his loss at the Indigo League shooting into his mind. "I don't wanna lose a second tournament because you started slacking off! So snap out of it!" he added sharply, blinking as he actually heard himself say the words. _Ugh, I sound like Paul…_ he thought bitterly, before shaking his head. Mercifully for him, Charizard did the same thing, getting rid of his infatuated thoughts for Anabel's Pokémon, and growling indignantly at her as he cast a humble glance back at Charla in the stands.

"_Rugh…_" he mumbled, quickly turning his attention back to the battle as the female Charizard narrowed her eyes and snorted a puff of smoke.

"Get a Flamethrower going, Charizard!" ordered Ash impatiently.

_Charm, again,_ Anabel instructed, and Espeon drew her foe's attention once more, even as the latter readied his attack. The Flame Pokémon stopped short once more, his long neck swaying from side to side as it followed the movements of the feline Pokémon's tails, and Ash felt himself flush with anger; his last chance of making the Top Sixteen was being brought to a standstill by little more than a wink and a flourish.

"Charizard…! _Focus_!" he screamed, almost tugging at his hair.

_I guess the second time's the charm, _Anabel mused, smirking. _Psychic._

"_Fiii…_" mewed Espeon, her gemstone glowing brightly as her body was covered in a fine blue glow. Ash bared his teeth in visible frustration as he watched his own Pokémon become enveloped in the same light, and with a tiny flick of her head, the Psychic-type across the battlefield sent Charizard hurtling high into the air, his wings forcibly pinned to his sides by the telekinetic powers of his opponent.

"Break out, come on!" Ash shouted helplessly from the ground, craning his neck upwards to keep his eyes on his Pokémon, but the Fire-type was sent rocketing down even quicker than he had been thrown up, Espeon's Psychic pulverising him into the hard surface of the ground and sending him straight through with a colossal bang and a spiral of dust and debris. "Charizard, get up!" he yelled, his voice lilting as no roaring reply came his way. _Come on, you're tougher than just one hit…!_

"_Grguugh…!_"

"Hah!" laughed Ash, thumping the air with his fist as he saw the tip of Charizard's head break above the smoke. "You may beat some, but you can't beat me, Anabel! With Charizard by my side, I'm unbeatable!" he shouted proudly, his Fire-type roaring fiercely in tandem as he spread his wings wide and beat his claws against his chest. "Let's show them why with a Steel Wing!" he yelled, pointing at Anabel's Espeon.

_Dodge it with Quick Attack, Espeon, _Anabel ordered, undeterred as Charizard tore through the air towards her Pokémon. Espeon pawed once at the ground, standing firm before leaping to the side with a sheet of white light trailing behind her, and the Flame Pokémon blindly slashed his glowing wing right through the afterglow. _Signal Beam!_ added Anabel firmly, her eyes glinting as Ash's Pokémon blundered across the field with his eyes screwed shut.

"_Fii effffiiee!_" growled the Psychic-type, her red stone turning a bright shade of pink as she aimed it at her foe. Her body tensed up as a spinning beam of pink, yellow and white light erupted from her forehead, her tiny paws digging into the ground behind her as the attack rocketed towards Charizard and drove itself into the space between his wings. The crowd roared and rose to their feet, and Charizard was sent toppling forwards into the hard battlefield, a cloud of dust spurting into the air as he angrily got to his feet and shook a streak of dirt off his face.

"You want a payback shot, Charizard?!" Ash shouted, the hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Then move in for a Flamethrower, full power!" he commanded, his Pokémon gladly blasting a wave of blistering flames at the small feline across the stadium, who tensed her legs and leapt away with a flash of white light streaming along in her wake. Trainer and Fire-type both gritted their teeth in frustration, but with little more than a blink of Anabel's eyes, Espeon abruptly changed direction and ran over the battle-scarred field towards her foe.

_That's a Quick Attack,_ Ash realised, understanding what Anabel was planning. _She's letting me wear Charizard down with powerful attacks, while she has Espeon dodge before knocking him down with a quick hit. Well—_ he narrowed his eyes, _that's not gonna happen this time!_ "Grab Espeon by the tail!" he snarled, just as the Sun Pokémon sprang high into the air with her head tucked forward. Charizard thumped his feet into the ground and locked them in place, throwing his wing around and slashing the tip of it across Espeon's face, and grabbing her forked tail just before she was sent flying sideways.

"Espeon!" exclaimed Anabel, her eyes widening as her Pokémon cried out in pain.

"Charizard, time for your Seismic Toss!" Ash roared. The stands exploded with cheers of expectation as Charizard slammed his foe against his chest and crossed his arms, pinning the Psychic-type in place as he flapped his tarp-like wings and launched himself straight up into the sky. Ash's hand curled into a fist as he watched his Pokémon somersault in mid-air, carving out a perfect circle of red amongst the blue, with Espeon cringing within her foe's iron grasp as she was helplessly wheeled along for the ride.

_Espeon!_ Anabel shouted telepathically, but she was met with no response; the Sun Pokémon was in too much distress, and moving far too quickly for her to hear her Trainer properly. "Espeon! _Espeon, use Psychic_!" she shrieked aloud, screwing her eyes shut as Charizard broke free of his somersault and dove straight towards the ground, shooting down like an arrow from the sun with his wings spread wide.

"Let her have it!" Ash shouted confidently, a triumphant smirk on his face, but as the words left him, his Fire-type Pokémon was engulfed in a pale blue aura. "_What_?!" he roared disbelievingly, watching as Espeon somehow slipped out of her foe's grip and hovered in the air, her eyes flaring blue as Charizard grunted in shock, a wave of psychic energy blasting him through the battlefield.

"Yowsers, that has _got_ to hurt!" Ari said dramatically, wincing up in his seat as a barrage of rocks splintered down onto the ground surrounding the newly-made crater in the arena.

"Yeah… Espeon managed to turn Charizard's own finishing move against him…!" Max muttered with amazement. "I wonder what's gonna happen next…" he wondered aloud.

"Whatever Ash does, he'd better hurry up about it," chuckled Wynter, leaning back lazily in his chair. "Because Anabel looks in total control of this battle, and the crowd's starting to turn," he added, listening as the crowd cheered Anabel's name over and over again with one deafening voice.

"Charizard, get up!" Ash barked impatiently, his anger beginning to simmer as he felt the match slipping away from his fingers. He scowled as the sound of the cheers in the stands filled his ears; he didn't know why he was getting so worked up. _Maybe because I'm so close to a place in the finals_, he thought, _and I deserve to be there after everything I've done!_ "Charizard, come on, get up!" he shouted, as the dust cleared to show his Pokémon standing on one knee, his head bowed and his eyes screwed shut. "_Charizard_!"

"Charizard looks like he can't take much more of a beating," Ari noted. "I reckon one more hit and he – and Ash's campaign – are done for."

_That's because you'd think Anabel would win even if I were only using my _first_ Pokémon, _Ash thought savagely, clenching his fist. "Charizard, I'm not going down now, and neither are you! Let's win this battle, okay?!" he yelled, his voice ringing through the air. Charizard gritted his sharp fangs and stamped his feet, throwing his head back and blasting the sky with fire, and as he opened his eyes the crowd gasped, and even Anabel frowned as she saw that his pupils had changed from blue to the red of an inferno.

_Blaze…_ she thought knowingly.

"_RGGUUUHHH!_" bellowed Charizard, his tail-flame doubling in size and emitting bright orange flashes of light, looking like a huge drop of molten metal as it waved through the air.

"Espeon, let's finish this battle right now, before they have a chance to fight back!" Anabel shouted firmly, as the Flame Pokémon flew out of the crater and landed back on his Trainer's side of the field. "Knock Charizard out with a Signal Beam, full power!" she commanded, pointing across the field.

"Flamethrower!" roared Ash, throwing his arm forwards. The red gem on Espeon's forehead shone with bright, twinkling light as Charizard puffed up his cheeks and threw his head back, the two Pokémon blasting their attacks across the field at the same time, a beam of pink and yellow smashing into a spout of sizzling flames in the centre of the arena, throwing up a furious shower of gold and white sparks. The two beams struggled against each other in mid-air, a high-pitched grinding noise emanating from the impact and tearing up the ground all around as both Pokémon intensified their attacks.

"Come on Espeon, drive that Flamethrower back towards Charizard!" Anabel shrieked, the power from the attacks blowing a fierce gale that made her shield her eyes from the billowing dust. Espeon screeched as she dragged a paw forwards, pushing the fiery white ball in the field's centre ever so slightly towards her foe, and she fought to put another leg in front of the others, forcing the ball back at Charizard.

"Charizard…! You can do it…!" Ash growled, watching helplessly as even his Pokémon's innate Blaze ability seemed to be getting overwhelmed by the power behind Espeon's attack. _As much as I hate to admit it, Ari's right…!_ he thought with bared teeth. _Well, only one way out now…_ he thought resignedly, looking down at the ground before casting his eyes back to Charizard. "Charizard…" he muttered, "stop, drop, roll!"

"_Rgugh…?!_" grunted Charizard, shocked by the order to quit, but he obeyed it anyways, clamping his mouth shut and throwing himself to the side. Espeon's attack charged forwards, sending the dual Flamethrower-Signal Beam roaring past the Flame Pokémon's ear as it careened towards the other side of the stadium, and Ash threw himself at the ground as it sailed over his head. The ball exploded on contact with the sturdy boundary wall, disintegrating a large round chunk of it, and the crowd directly behind the blast ducked for cover before realising that the attack had fizzled out.

"Steel Wing!" Ash bellowed, and Charizard pushed himself off the ground and into the air, his wings gleaming with bright white light as he charged across the stadium with frightening speed and swooped low, slamming his wing into Espeon's head on the rise and sending her high into the air. The stands rang with cheers and groans as the Sun Pokémon arced into the sky, but Anabel hung her head as her mind was filled with an empty whistle that told her one thing.

_I can't believe it…_ she thought brokenly, a tear forming at the edge of her eye. _I came so cl—_

"Charizard, we're not finished yet!" Ash shouted, pointing up at the Psychic-type as it reached its peak and began to fall. "Finish Espeon off with Dragon Claw!"

"Ash, don't!" Anabel screamed, stepping forwards. "She's already been knocked out! You've won!"

"I'm not falling for that low trick again!" he fired, his brow twitching. "So don't try it! Dragon Claw!" he barked to his Pokémon, who growled and took to the air, the claws on his left hand shining white as he flew straight at Espeon. The two Pokémon met in mid-air, one rising and the other falling, and Charizard hovered just above his foe before swinging his claw around in a wide arc, slashing Espeon's mid-section and brutally sending her rocketing towards the battlefield.

"_Espeon_!" Anabel shouted, choking back a sob as she ran beyond her Trainer's box and onto the pockmarked field with her PokéBall held aloft. She aimed it at the Psychic-type, but before she could recall her, Espeon landed head-first on the stony field with a sickening _crack_. The crowd gasped and fell silent as Anabel quickly recalled the Sun Pokémon, not bothering to look at Ash or his Charizard as she ran from the field and disappeared behind the tunnel.

"Umm…" Brock muttered, still standing on the sideline and looking blankly at the gap in the wall that Anabel had sprinted through. "Well, uh… Espeon is unable to battle, Charizard is the winner, and Ash advances to the Top Sixteen…!" he said dutifully, unhooking Ash's flag and waving it at him. Ash barely registered the declaration; he was still staring open-mouthed at the spot where Espeon had hit her head on the ground, the crack of her skull on the field echoing in his head over and over again.

_What did I do…?_

* * *

"You ready for this, big bro?!" Leoric shouted excitedly, his blonde fringe waving about in the air as the mass of fans in the stands cheered, clapped and stamped their feet together, the commentators' words winding them into a frenzy even before the battle had begun. "Just because you're family doesn't mean I'm gonna go easy on you!" he added with a smirk.

"Just because you're my brother doesn't mean I'm not gonna beat you," chuckled his opponent. He was wearing a red beret-like hat, a grey singlet and a matching set of slacks, both of which were half-covered by a long white lab coat. "I sure hope you're ready, Lil' El!" he laughed, and Leoric gritted his teeth with embarrassment at the nickname.

"You're going down, Noll!" he roared, snatching a PokéBall from his waist and throwing it high. "Triton, prepare to charge!" he thundered, and the PokéBall split open with a flash of white light to reveal a large, four-limbed Pokémon with a huge, fan-like black tail rising vertically from its rear, and two similarly coloured fins above its eyes. Each cheek had a large orange protrusion with two sharp spikes, and small orange pods were on each of its four powerful limbs, as a three-pronged upper lip snapped open and roared.

"A Swampert, eh?" Noland muttered, shrugging as he took a PokéBall of his own. "Bad idea to pick the first Pokémon in a hurry, Leo. It always gives your opponent a chance to take the early advantage! Exeggutor, come on down!" he shouted, throwing the ball onto the battlefield.

The PokéBall burst open with light, forming a huge, tree-like shape before fading away to reveal the Pokémon within. It did, indeed, look a lot like a palm tree, with a mess of sharp green leaves atop its head, and a jagged array of lines crossing horizontally over its torso and its two three-toed feet. However, instead of coconuts, four large eggs were clustered around the base of the 'tree's' leaves, each one with a craggy face.

"You nasty piece of work…" Leoric muttered under his breath. "Triton, move into gear! Ice Beam, now!" he yelled, the Mud Fish Pokémon opening his jaws wide and spearing a spike of bright blue light towards his foe.

"Nice try," Noland smirked, "but Exeggutor will counter with Egg Bomb!"

"_Exeggutor exegg…_" groaned the Grass-type robotically, lowering his head and blasting a huge glowing egg into the oncoming attack. The Ice Beam sizzled as it struck the egg, freezing it solid, and it crashed to the ground with a loud bang, exploding on contact and leaving a large, black, smoking hole in the battlefield.

"I'm sorry, that attack was ineffective," Noland taunted in an effeminate voice, like a woman from a customer service hotline. "Please try again."

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Ash says lyrics from the opening theme "Unbeatable" after Espeon's initial Psychic attack on Charizard.**

**Quiz**

***What is the TM in Generation I exclusive to an egg-bearing Pokémon?**

* * *

**Huff, huff, huff... Finally, I posted this darn chapter...**

**Well, anyone who wasn't expecting Noland to be Leoric's brother just got proved wrong then, didn't they?**

**And Ash went a bit overboard. Tisk tisk.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! And/or voted in the poll, which I think is as good as done now. Of course, you're still welcome to keep going.**

**Thanks in particular to SuicidalToeSocks for getting me off my butt and hurrying up with this!**

**Chapter 89 (The Not-So-Symbol Life) will continue the Leoric vs. Noland battle, and it'll also have all the post-match blowups one might expect to come about because of Ash's over-enthusiasm with Charizard's Dragon Claw.**

**Not entirely sure when that chapter will be posted, because of assignments and whatnot. But most likely within two weeks.**

**Don't forget to review!!! Please!!!**


	89. The Not So Symbol Life

**CHAPTER 89 – THE NOT SO SYMBOL LIFE**

Ash ran out the gates of Stadium Three as fast as his legs could carry him, Pikachu sprinting just as quickly by his ankles as they charged towards the Pokémon Center on the western side of the island. Before he left the field in a frenzied bolt, he'd told Liza to sort out getting Charizard's PokéBall from Professor Oak in Pallet Town – assuming they'd gotten back by now – but at this moment, his only was concern was for Anabel and her Espeon.

_Come on, please be alright!_ he thought desperately, every jolt of his feet flying over the warm concrete making him sick with worry. _Why is it that I keep acting like a complete jerk when I have to fight my way out of a corner?! I should be above that!_ he told himself angrily, his eyes locked on the path in front of him as he tore down the road, much to the confusion of onlookers. He glanced to the right for the briefest of moments, only for someone to walk out in front without seeing him, and the two collided, hitting the ground with a thud.

"Hey, watch your movement!" grunted the young man that Ash had blindly run into as he picked himself up off the ground. He was tall and thin, with golden skin and slanted black eyes, his equally dark hair slicked and pulled tightly back into a small ponytail, just reaching the back of a navy blue singlet he was wearing. His pants were baggy and at least three sizes too big, held together by a ragged strip around his waist, and he seemed to be wearing black loafers.

"Sorry, whoever you are—!" Ash shouted as he jumped to his feet.

"Cal."

"—Cal, but I've gotta run!" he finished, bolting down the street again towards the Pokémon Center. He could hear the boy named Cal shouting indignantly after him, but he didn't care about it. _Please let Espeon be alright…! I'd never forgive myself if I did something heartless and seriously hurt her!_

"_Duu…_" boomed a deep, gonging voice some way down the street, and a dark rippling circle appeared on the pavement in front of Ash as he skidded to a stop. He gritted his teeth as a thin, yellow shape appeared from out of the void, followed by a red eye and a frill, a huge stomach covered in a face-like pattern, and a wispy underside, as the Dusknoir materialised and hovered in front of him.

"Look, I don't give a _damn_ what Ari has to say!" Ash roared, pointing a shaking finger at Horazon. "I don't care what he thinks! Now get out of our way so we can go and see Anabel!"

"_Dusk… nwa…_" rasped the Ghost-type, his red eye glowing a harsh blue, and Ash gritted his teeth as he felt himself paralysed by an intensely powerful Psychic attack. Pikachu growled ferociously and launched a Thunderbolt, but the Gripper Pokémon seemed to be expecting it, because he waved his hand towards the blast, snuffing it out in mid-air like a floating ember. "_Noir…!_" he boomed again.

"Let… me… _GO_!" Ash bellowed, throwing his arms wide as he broke free of Horazon's hold, panting with breath as he clenched his fists. His hand instantly reached for a PokéBall at his belt, and he hurled it at the ground just as quickly, releasing the vast, rotund form of his Snorlax as it thumped onto the street and stood glowering over Ari's Pokémon, who returned the gaze fearlessly despite being the shorter of the two.

"_Snor…!_" rumbled Snorlax, his clawed paws raised in anger.

"_An excellent counter-selection against a Ghost-type, Mr. Ketchum…_" said a polite voice behind him, "_but Normal-types like your Snorlax possess an alarming weakness to Fighting-type Pokémon such as myself._"

Ash spun around in disbelief, feeling the white-hot anger inside him bubbling away even more fiercely than before as he saw Ari standing a few feet away. His Gallade was right alongside him dutifully, his blades at full length as he assumed a battle stance, aiming straight at Pikachu. As his two Pokémon glared at the others, Ash narrowed his eyes as he realised that Ari had him boxed in; he didn't seem to be going anywhere, as much as the notion irritated him.

"You stepped over the line, Ash," Ari said dangerously, his eyes piercing out from beneath his untidy fringe. "You'd already won the battle… Anabel pleaded with you to stop and let the match be over like that… but you wanted to put it beyond any shadow of a doubt. You had to prove to everyone that you were capable of crushing her, didn't you…?!" he hissed.

"Hey!" Ash fired, taking a threatening step towards the insolent boy. "She played a pretty indecent trick on me when Corphish was taken out! She told me that I was doing the same thing to Corphish, then, as what I did with Donphan in my first match against Kaiden Hayes! You think I'd have let Corphish take that hit if I didn't believe what she said?!" he added, his voice echoing back to him off the buildings at either side of the street, and several bystanders stopped to look at the argument unfolding before them.

"So you retaliated by doing just what you didn't want to do," Ari said dryly, a hand on his hip. "Inflicting even more damage on a foe that was never in any condition to fight back. Well, congratulations for severely hurting Espeon, you _moron_!" he thundered, and Ash's lip twitched as he saw the Trainer's hand form into a white-knuckled fist.

He took an impulsive step forwards, ready to hit Ari for what he was saying so hot-headedly, but there was a flash of darkness as something sharp whistled straight past his face. He staggered backwards in shock and rage, and he saw that Galadriel had just swung a Night Slash attack barely an inch in front of his nose, the Pokémon's back turned as he followed through with the swipe.

"_I will warn you only once, Mr. Ketchum,_" said the Blade Pokémon, in a careful tone of voice. "_I have assisted your endeavours in the past, but if you threaten my master with violence,_" he added, turning his head to face Ash as his large red eyes locked on to the Trainer's brown ones,"_you will leave me little choice but swift and hard retaliation of my own._"

"How could you have known that Espeon was already out before Charizard's Dragon Claw?!" Ash shouted, his fists bunching together even tighter than before.

"Because I saw her go limp the moment she went in the air," Ari seethed, folding his arms as he stared daggers at Ash. "You would've seen it too, if you'd have looked hard enough. Speaking of hard, you _did_ hear the sound Espeon made when she hit the ground?" he added in a low mutter. "I don't see how you could have missed it, though… it sounded a heck of a lot like _a skull breaking_!" he roared, and his words finally broke the tether that had been holding Ash's caged fury inside.

"_So what_?!" he screamed at the top of his voice, advancing on Ari. "Yeah, I get it; I overstepped the mark, I made a mistake! A careless, stupid_, blind _mistake! And if I'm going toapologise to _anyone_, it's going to be to_ Anabel_," he added fearsomely, "because she deserves for me to apologise to her_ face_! So I'm not going to apologise to_ you, _Ari! This has absolutely nothing to do with you _whatsoever_!"

"You made Anabel upset, it has something to do with me alright," Ari rebuked, a nerve pulsing in his clenched jaw.

"No it doesn't! All you did was sit there in the commentator's box, spouting praise for her every moment you had the chance! Even when I gained an advantage, you were talking her up, you—!"

"Oh, so you're going to blame me for riling you up, now?!" growled Ari. "Well I hate to tell you this, Ashy-boy, but I've seen Anabel plenty of times outside the battlefield! I know that she's capable of bringing out potential in any Pokémon to win any battle, no matter what the odds might be! I _know_ her, which is more than I can say for you!" he added cruelly, scowling at Ash. "She may have feelings for you, but you sure don't act like you should deserve them."

"You son of a b—!" Ash growled murderously, his brown eyes flaring with detest at the boy standing in front of him, and he took a threatening step towards Ari, his fists clenched and one already drawn back.

_BAM!_

Ash opened his eyes, a throbbing pain in his head as he found himself lying on the ground, a slender shadow standing over him as Pikachu blasted a Thunderbolt in the air. There was a deep roar as something exploded over his head, showering sparks onto the warm pavement as something huge crashed onto the floor with a tremor. He raised a hand to his head and winced as he felt a patch of inflamed skin right next to his brow, getting hotly to his feet as Horazon froze Pikachu with a Psychic, having been the one responsible for knocking Snorlax over nearby.

"_I did warn you,_" said the voice of Galadriel, shortening his blades as he took a step backwards; he was the one that had knocked Ash onto the ground, pummelling a Brick Break into the latter's temple. "_I hope you learn from this, Mr. Ketchum. Because another reckless advance on Master Ari will find you without a hand,_" he added, his suave voice laced with danger as it echoed in Ash's raging mind.

"_Laaax!_" bellowed Snorlax, pushing his tonnage up off the cracked concrete as he stomped towards Ari, revenge burning with orange light in the slits of his eyes.

"I wouldn't do that," Ari barked, because as Snorlax stepped even closer, Galadriel spat a wide arc of red light from his bladed arm. The slicing beam struck Ash's Pokémon cleanly on the leg, knocking it out from underneath and sending the Normal-type crashing face-first into the ground again.

"_If you even consider trying another round, you'll be drawn and quartered,_" boasted the Blade Pokémon, looking down at Snorlax. "_A Gardevoir I might not be, but my loyalty for my master is to the same extent._"

"_You_…" Ash growled thickly, before pointing squarely at Ari's head and shouting a stream of curses at him. Taking a deep breath after the attack, he tore his eyes away from the loathsome Trainer and saw his Snorlax still face-down on the ground. "Snorlax, return…!" he said in a pained voice, returning his Pokémon to its PokéBall and clipping it back to his belt, and Ari replied by recalling Galadriel to his own.

"You listen to me…" he whispered, stepping right up into Ari's face as Pikachu and Horazon glared each other down. "I'm gonna walk away from this, you're gonna let me, and I'm going to go to the Pokémon Center. I am explaining myself to Anabel… and after that, you and I are going to have a long chat, just the two of us. No friends, no Pokémon—"

"No witnesses…?" Ari muttered defiantly, his hazel eyes twitching as Ash's stared hatefully at him. He leaned forwards and to the side, so that his head was alongside Ash's, and he said, in a voice quiet as a whisper, "Tell me… you seem to hate Paul as much as I do… then why are your personalities so similar when you feel threatened by something? You two might be more alike than either is willing to believe."

Ash's jaw clenched at the suggestion, badly wanting to send his fist crashing against the boy's nose, but he saw Horazon floating a few feet away with his red eye trained firmly on him, so he decided, against every impulse, not to try anything and risk being frozen in a Psychic. He just stood there, quaking inside with white-hot rage as Ari drew back and folded his arms.

"I've got my – and Horazon's – eye on you, Ash…" he smirked, folding his arms. "Make sure Anabel gets what she deserves to have, or else you'll have me, Brandon and Noland to answer to. And—" his eyes glinted, "next time, you won't have a Psychic attack to keep you out of harm's way," he added silkily, and Ash's eye twitched violently, before he about-faced and stalked off towards the Pokémon Center.

"_Go on, catch up to him,_" Horazon said to Pikachu, once Ash was out of earshot, and the Electric-type gave him a confused stare before turning and sprinting after his Trainer. Once they were both out of sight, Ari instantly slumped his shoulders and shook his head wildly, kicking the toe of his shoe into the ground as he looked anywhere but at his first Pokémon.

"Ugh… I don't know how people can act that way…" he muttered, a hint of disgust in his voice. "Too violent for me… but I did it for Anabel's sake, so I guess it'll be worth it in the long run, right?" he asked, his voice perking up with hope as he looked to the Gripper Pokémon for support.

"_You did what needed to be done,_" shrugged Horazon, folding his arms over his enormous stomach as he floated. "_You told me once that she's a sister to you in all but blood, remember? We protect our loved ones, and it's as simple as that. No excuses, no exceptions. Ketchum needs to pull his head in. The way I see it, you're making sure that happens, for the sake of he _and_ Anabel._"

"I guess so," he frowned, tossing a PokéBall onto the pavement, and the lithe form of his Gallade appeared from the burst of light it created. "Galadriel, I… uh, I'm sorry for telling you to say—"

"_Apologies are not necessary, Master Ari,_" Galadriel said calmly, holding up a thin hand. "_I do not regret following your orders._"

"—those things to Ash and his Snorlax," Ari finished.

"_You didn't do too badly for a sharpened stick figure,_" Horazon chuckled, smacking the Psychic-type hard in the back with a broad hand.

* * *

Swampert broke out of his Rollout attack, his eyes glazed and unseeing. Moments before hitting Exeggutor, the Coconut Pokémon had blasted the ground in front of him with an Egg Bomb, slamming it into the ground with a bright white flare of light that had blinded the Water-type. As Swampert staggered backwards, Exeggutor was covered in a bright green glow as a torrent of razor-sharp leaves flew out of the palm leaves on top of its head, spearing into its foe's body and sending the Mud Fish Pokémon crashing into the ground.

"Triton?!" Leoric roared, but his Pokémon's eyes were covered in swirls, its mouth hanging limply open, and the referee thrust her green flag towards Noland and Exeggutor with authority.

"Swampert is unable to battle!" she declared in a high-pitched voice, which was quickly devoured by the blaring sounds of excitement and disappointment coming from the enormous crowd, which was somewhat larger than the attendance of Ash and Anabel's battle which had ended only fifteen minutes earlier.

"Argh, damnit…" Leoric hissed, pointing a PokéBall at his unconscious Swampert. "Triton, return," he muttered, returning the Pokémon with a flash of red light and placing the ball back on its clasp at his belt.

"A quick game is a good game, Lil' El!" Noland taunted from across the field, as his Exeggutor stomped back into position on his side of the field. "Send out your next Pokémon so we can get back to it, yeah?!"

"Fine!" Leoric roared, snatching the PokéBall closest to his belt buckle and throwing it high. "Apache, prepare to charge!"

The PokéBall split open with a bright flash of white, and there was a shrieking roar as his Salamence spread his red wings wide and soared down to the stadium floor, his razor-like fangs glinting in the sunlight. There was a mass of high-pitched squeals as the younger children in the audience shrank back at the sight of such a fearsome Pokémon, but Noland hid a smirk as he saw his brother's signature Pokémon enter the fray.

_I was wondering if you'd send out Apache now or save it for last… _he thought. _Calling it out now – particularly with the alternatives you had – suits me perfectly. _"Exeggutor, let's wear this flier down, and it'll be down before we know it!" he shouted at his Pokémon, who rhythmically stamped its clawed feet into the ground with each fierce cry it gave.

"Apache, let's start off hot! Flamethrower!" ordered Leoric, pointing across the field.

"_Giiiyaaaaaahh!_" screamed Apache, throwing his head forwards as he launched a searing column of scarlet flames through the air towards Exeggutor, who stood there obediently as Noland watched on with a silent expression.

"Egg Bomb!" he snapped suddenly, and the Coconut Pokémon lowered his head to volley a glowing white bomb straight into the face of the incoming blaze. The two attacks collided in mid-air, the Dragon-type's Flamethrower incinerating the obstacle, as the latter exploded with a colossal bang and a billowing wave of dirt about the arena. Apache roared in frustration as the smoke faded from the blast, leaving his foe completely unharmed and glaring at it just as fiercely as the Grass-type was glaring back.

"Stay on course, Apache!" Leoric called out, in a wary tone, and Noland's mouth twitched into a knowing smirk.

"One more Egg Bomb, Exeggutor!" he yelled, throwing his arms forwards, and his Pokémon growled obediently, sending another glimmering egg spearing over the battlefield en route to its target.

"And you think _I_ charge in recklessly…" Leoric said dryly, his lip curling. "Iron Defense, quickly!" he ordered. Apache gave a grating roar as there was a dull grey flash of light, and its body seemed to lock into place as there was another flash, this time running across the length of its body as every muscle turned as hard as steel. Exeggutor's attack whistled through the air with deadly accuracy, splitting open with a bang as it hit the Dragon Pokémon square in the snout, but as the smoke faded away it left Apache unscathed and unfazed.

"Not bad," Noland shrugged, as the crowd erupted with cheers. "Good to know you've been able to learn a few things about a healthy defence, instead of trying to blast your opponents out of the way."

"You're one to talk, trying that Egg Bomb," Leoric fired back, his brow furrowed in irritation.

"Whatever," his brother said dismissively. "Psychic, Exeggutor!" he shouted, pointing at the motionless Salamence on the other side of the field.

"Hold firm, Apache!" Leoric warned, as the Grass-type surrounded itself with a ghostly blue aura. "Keep that Iron Defense online, and we'll see if that overgrown weed can lift you up!" he added with a derisive laugh, and Apache's eyes glinted from behind its shining coat of armour as it tensed its body even tighter than before, simply letting itself be enveloped in its foe's Psychic without any struggle at all.

"Send it flying!" Noland cheered fiercely, punching the air with his fist. Exeggutor's eyes shone blue, and its four faces scrunched up in concentration as it fought to lift the heavy Dragon-type into the air. Both Trainers locked stares with each other, trying to intimidate the other into calling off their Pokémon's attack; Apache growled as it felt its foe's attack squeezing down on its body like a vice, and Exeggutor's sturdy legs trembled as it pushed its mind to the limit, trying to force Apache's immense weight into the air.

"Oh, just rip it off…!" Leoric barked impatiently.

"_Grrrahh… giiyyaaahhh…!_" screeched the Salamence, and there was a chorus of astonished gasps from around the stadium as its body seemed to bulge outwards, shredding the blue light covering it into pieces with a flash of silver light. Noland remained emotionless and impassive, however, even as his Pokémon was sent stumbling backwards and panting from the effort of its failed attempt at an attack.

"Flamethrower, now!" followed Leoric. Apache threw its head backwards, blue cheeks swelling up before it blasted a molten spire towards the Coconut Pokémon, and there was a pained groan as Exeggutor was hit head-on. The searing flames relentlessly blasted its bark-covered body, and Leoric bobbed a fist in the air as he watched the Flamethrower pounding away, but Noland still said nothing even as the Grass-type shrieked and wailed, the sap running through its body beginning to bubble.

_Hold…!_ thought the Factory Head, folding his arms as his eyes were trained, not on Exeggutor, but on Apache; the Dragon Pokémon's face was slowly becoming the same colour as its Flamethrower. Leoric gritted his teeth as the attack continued, barely able to believe that his brother was letting one of his own Pokémon slowly be cooked by the intense heat.

"Apache, stop!" he shouted begrudgingly, and Salamence called off its attack, stamping its four clawed feet into the ground in frustration as its foe refused to fall over. On Noland's side of the field, Exeggutor stood tall, a smoking, charred mess of a Pokémon, but its dull black eyes still glinted fiercely as it straightened its body and shook off the pain of the damaging assault it had just had to endure.

"Excellent work, Exeggutor," said Noland proudly, as the crowd gasped in unison, and the commentator in the skybox voiced his amazement. Exeggutor nodded its blackened head happily and stomped its round feet, and Apache snarled and screamed at its foe, incensed as it spread its huge red wings wide and launched itself into the air. "Now that Salamence is a featherweight again, bind it down with your Psychic!" he added with a shout, pointing up at the Flying-type.

"Climb for a Dragon Rush!" yelled Leoric, and Apache shot upwards like a bullet, spinning wildly in flight as Exeggutor's singed frame glowed with fierce blue light. The Dragon Pokémon banked steeply, curving around as it pulled a tight somersault before pointing its sleek body straight towards the Grass-type on the ground, the latter no longer able to reach it that high in the sky with its attack.

"_Giiiyaaaaahhhh!_" roared the Salamence, a blinding pinprick of blue light twinkling in the sky before a shimmering blue veil surrounded it. Apache hovered in the air for a moment or two, the energy from its Dragon Rush flowing around its body in waves, before it roared again and dove, Exeggutor directly in the middle of its line of flight as the latter looked at its Trainer for an order.

"Leaf Storm," Noland muttered, almost absent-mindedly as he watched the descending Pokémon streaking through the sky. The Coconut Pokémon's palm leaves glittered with green light, and Exeggutor gave a strangled cry, a seething torrent of glowing green leaves suddenly volleying themselves out of their creator, whistling and cutting effortlessly through the air as they speared up to meet the incoming Dragon Pokémon.

"Cover that barrier with a Flamethrower, Apache—!" Leoric roared at once, "and incinerate those leaves!"

Apache roared from behind its Dragon Rush, spewing flames into the blue coating in front of its face, and there was a rushing sound as the air seemed to explode with flames, a blazing fireball appearing in the space where the Pokémon had been a moment before. Noland's mouth twitched into a frown for a fraction of a second, and Exeggutor's Leaf Storm crashed straight into the flaming bullet of a Salamence, crumbling into ashes the moment they made contact.

"Let's finish this _off_!" Leoric bellowed, driving his fist forwards. Apache roared savagely in reply and picked up even more speed, spearing through the sky like a shooting star before it smashed into Exeggutor with a blast of red flames and a colossal bang. The incredible force behind the Dragon Rush kicked up a howling wind and a whirlwind of dust, but no-one was in any doubt of the result, even before the wall of dirt wavered and fell onto the ground, landing on the unconscious Psychic-type.

"Exeggutor is unable to battle!" declared the referee with a flourish of her red flag in Leoric's direction, just as the stands filled the air with sounds of celebration and disappointment.

"Great work, Apache!" Leoric cheered, thumping the air with both fists as his Salamence flew over and landed at its Trainer's feet, grinning proudly as he received a pat on the head. On the other side of the field, Noland merely shrugged his shoulders and recalled Exeggutor to its PokéBall without a word, a shadowy smile crossing his lips before he pocketed it in his long lab coat.

"Not bad for a comeback knockout," he admitted, flicking his nose with a thumb, "but don't think I didn't know that you would have won that exchange."

"Say what now?!" Leoric shouted angrily, as the crowd began to jeer. "You're telling me you _let_ me win that?!"

"No, I'm telling you that I knew Exeggutor would lose," corrected Noland, with a patronising wag of his finger. "You've gotta have a fairly intimate knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of yourself _and_ your opponent. Short of a disqualification, your Salamence would have beaten Exeggutor in sun, sleet or snow."

"Uh… thanks, I guess…!" Leoric said warily, caught completely off-guard by his brother's words.

"But—" the Factory Head's eyes glinted from under his red cap, "that doesn't mean I didn't have a strategy planned out. I _do_ hand out the Knowledge Symbol, remember," he added smartly, and with a flick of his wrist, a pure white PokéBall slipped out from under his sleeve and landed in the palm of his hand.

"What's that?" Leoric asked, nervously eyeing the strange ball.

"This?" Noland chuckled, tossing it lightly in his hand. "This is a Cyber Ball! You remember what Pokémon is inside, don't you? My own little creation!" he added, smirking as his opponent's face fell. "Good to know… time to get technical!" he roared, throwing the PokéBall across the battlefield, and it split open with a bright flash of light.

There was a ripple of confused muttering around the stands as Noland's Pokémon appeared out of the light, met with a knowing grin by Noland and a groan of frustration from Leoric. Calling it an odd Pokémon would be an understatement; it seemed to float above the ground, but it was in two pieces at the same time, with its head being completely detached from the rest of its body. The head was a rose-coloured sphere, a tiny rounded spike on top with a large blue bill jutting out from the front, and two yellow eyes, resembling bull's eyes, on the side that looked as though they'd been painted on.

The body itself was just as strange; what seemed to be the torso was the same colour as the Pokémon's head, except with a broad blue stripe running across the chest. Two flipper-like arms were joined to this stripe, flapping about aimlessly, and there was a third flipper-like appendage, presumably its tail, at the bottom. The crowd watched on in silence, none of them ever having seen such a Pokémon before, and not even the commentator was able to tell them what species it was.

"I give you Porygon-Z," Noland muttered with a laugh. "It's probably a good thing that you're the first person it gets to battle against, Leoric, because you'd be the only other Trainer in this tournament who knows what it can do!" he added fiercely, prompting a grunt from his opponent.

"Still about a step away from cheating…" he whispered to Apache, who turned around and bared his vicious fangs at Porygon-Z. "Well, we're not gonna get anywhere by complaining, so we might as well take it down and move on to his last Pokémon, am I right?!" he said assertively, smacking a hand on his Pokémon's flank as it bounded forwards to the centre of his side of the stadium floor.

"Porygon-Z, execute Hyper Beam!" Noland yelled, pointing across the field.

"_Ppzzzz…! bzzzzt…! Sssshhhht…!_" buzzed the Virtual Pokémon, its fragile-looking body suddenly seizing up as it spasmed, and there was a bright flash of light as a pale-blue jet of energy was blasted across the field.

"Hyper Beam my ass, Noland!" Leoric roared harshly. "Cancel that Ice Beam out with Flamethrower, Apache!" he commanded, and the Dragon-type Pokémon spewed a blazing geyser of flames from its mouth, cannoning into Porygon-Z's attack. The two beams met in mid-air, wrestling with each other for a brief moment before a loud hiss erupted from between them, and they evaporated into each other as a trickle of water landed on the earthy field.

_I'll have to recalibrate Porygon-Z's audio receptors after the battle…_ Noland told himself, cricking his neck as a cloud of steam rose high into the sky.

"Fly high!" shouted Leoric, throwing his arm forwards, and Apache craned its long neck before spiralling high into the air, its blue-and-grey underbelly blending into the clouds and making it seem like there were just two red wings floating disembodied in the sky.

"Nice try," murmured Noland, smirking. "Porygon-Z, execute Lock-On!" The Normal-type gave a high-pitched humming noise as its head spun around in a circle, and a bright red crosshair flew out from its eye and blinked rhythmically, hitting the base of Apache's left wing and shimmering once against the hard leathery skin before fading away.

"Shit!" Leoric cursed, knowing what would come next. "Fly as high as you can, Apache! Don't stop, just climb!" he thundered, and his Dragon Pokémon hissed obediently as it took off, its vast body shooting straight up like a rocket as a powerful gust of wind tore throughout the arena.

"Execute Hyper Beam!" roared Noland, pointing up at the soaring Pokémon.

"_Bzzz—gonnn-gonn-gon—pzpzzpzzz!_" juddered Porygon-Z, blasting a second Ice Beam across the field, and the blue bolt of energy curved sharply upwards as it homed in on Apache, the latter barely visible as a dot of red high in the sky. The Salamence cast its eyes down for a fraction of a second, screeching in disbelief as it saw the attack spiralling up at frightening speed towards it, and with a powerful flap of its magnificent wings it gained speed, trying to outrace its pursuer as it climbed into the atmosphere.

_That Salamence has to be close to a kilometre high by now…!_ Noland calculated, a twitch of his mouth the only show of acknowledgement he gave to the fact, but he was nonetheless impressed as he watched his Pokémon's Ice Beam closing in on its target and inevitable victim. All eyes were cast upwards and squinting as both attack and Pokémon disappeared into the brightly-lit sky, waiting with baited breath for any sign of a hit or a spectacular dodge.

"_Giyah…!_" came a faint echo from afar, and there was a whooshing noise as a glittering shape appeared amongst the blue, steadily becoming brighter and larger. As the object fell farther towards the ground, there was a shout of triumph from Noland as everyone saw what it was; Porygon-Z's Ice Beam had hit its mark, and Leoric's Salamence was freefalling in a prism of ice, the crystal spreading from wingtip to wingtip and trapping it as it plummeted.

_Nice try, Noland…_ Leoric thought smugly, as Apache was sucked down even faster by the inexorable pull of gravity, _but you can't take me down just with a simple Ice Beam…!_ "Use the friction from the fall to melt that ice and break free!" he ordered, the command echoing inside his Pokémon's mind with a dull clatter from behind the layers of ice. Noland's eyes narrowed as they tracked Apache's descent, a miniscule tick in one as the edges of the ice began to waver and disappear, leaving strong red wings visible to all.

_Three…_ he said to himself, as he saw a twitch in the Pokémon's wingtips, even though the Dragon-type had only fallen halfway. _Two—_ another twitch, stronger as Apache's eyes glinted from behind its frozen prison. _And… one—!_ with a growling bellow, every last shred of ice was torn away from the Salamence's body, its wings shooting wide to their full span as the Pokémon curved through the air and dove down towards Porygon-Z, who was ducking and weaving about just above the field as though already avoiding attacks.

"Execute Lock-On, again!" he shouted, his eyes swivelling down to his own Pokémon, whose head shook wildly before snapping to the side, the now-familiar red circle shooting out from its yellow eye and flying into the face of the falling Dragon Pokémon.

"Dragon Rush, let's go, Apache!" Leoric yelled, just as the crosshair landed on the former's forehead and shone once before fading into the hard blue hide. Apache's eyes shot briefly to the spot where the Lock-On had hit, going cross-eyed for a moment before tensing its body and covering itself with a pulsing blue curtain of light, wheeling even higher into the air before speeding down towards its foe.

_If a Hyper Beam command results in an Ice Beam…_ Noland thought with a nonchalant shrug, _then…_ "Execute Ice Beam!"

"_Po-popopopopo!_" beeped the Virtual Pokémon, both parts of its body flipping about and orbiting around each other as though it had no control of itself."_Gon… Zzzzsshh—!_" There was a bright flash as the Normal-type seemed to freeze in mid-flip, its blue beak pointing arrow-straight at Apache. With the sound of cannon-fire, a gargantuan beam of orange energy appeared out of nowhere and instantly blasted itself through the air, the recoil behind the Hyper Beam shredding the ground all around Porygon-Z.

_BOOM!_

A huge explosion rocked the arena to its foundations as the two unstoppable attacks splintered into each other, resulting in a colossal cloud of black smoke and a gale that ripped about at both Trainers' bodies. As Leoric threw an arm in front of his face, he saw a dark puff at the bottom of the cloud as Apache fell through and smacked into the ground with a loud thud, to a round of gasps from the stands as they recovered from the intense exchange between it and Noland's Pokémon.

"Porygon-Z, execute Zap Cannon, now!" Noland barked, throwing his arm forwards as the Dragon Pokémon on the other side of the field slowly stumbled to its feet. Without any stumbling about or strange sounds emanating from its hovering body, Porygon-Z volleyed a crackling green-and-yellow ball of energy that whizzed across the stadium floor, and Leoric barely had time to open his mouth for a defensive manoeuvre before it cannoned into Apache.

The force of the blast sent the Flying-type toppling onto its back, its body going limp as its head slid onto the ground, and as Leoric clutched at his head with his hands and shook them crazily, his opponent thumped the air with a victorious fist. The stands erupted with cheers and groans alike as the referee fumbled with her flags, before finally waving the green flag at Noland and his Porygon-Z, signalling the win beyond any doubt.

"Salamence is unable to battle!"

_Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!_ Leoric thought in frustration, tearing his hands away to his sides as he unclipped Apache's PokéBall. "Return… you did a good job, Apache…" he whispered, tapping the ball against his mouth before putting it back in place. A nerve twitched in his jaw as he eyed off Noland; his brother, his final challenge before making the Top Sixteen, now at a huge advantage with a barely-scratched Porygon-Z and any of four Pokémon left in reserve to use, even in the event that his own last roll of the dice could pull out a win.

"Hurry up, would you, Lil' El?" taunted Noland, a wry smirk playing on his face as Leoric aimed a rude hand gesture at him before choosing his final Pokémon. "Let's finish this up quickly, now!" he added.

"I'll finish you, alright," Leoric muttered under his breath, lobbing the PokéBall towards the centre of the battlefield. "Tyrael, prepare to charge!" he shouted, revealing the huge, green, intimidating shape of his Tyranitar as it appeared on the arena amidst a flash of bright white light. The Armor Pokémon gave a fearsome roar as it stomped the ground with its sturdy legs, its barb-like tail crashing into the ground and sending tiny tremors as it focused its eyes on the Normal-type it would be squaring off against.

"Execute Hyper Beam…!" Noland ordered, suppressing a yawn as he pointed at the Rock-type.

"Take it on the fist, Tyrael!" yelled Leoric, smirking as he heard a wave of confusion coming from the stands at his choice of tactic. With a shudder and a beep, Porygon-Z sent a jagged stream of pale blue light spiking over the ground, shearing into Tyrael's outstretched arm and solidifying around its clenched fist, freezing it in an instant. Once the attack faded away, the Tyranitar roared and drove his frost-covered claw into the ground, shattering the ice and cracking the battlefield itself as its eyes gleamed red.

"Charge that Porygon-Z down with Mega Punch!" Leoric roared at once, his Pokémon swinging back the same fist that had been frozen seconds ago as it stampeded towards its foe, every thundering step shaking the ground as it closed down the distance between itself and the Normal-type.

"Execute Lock-On—!" commanded Noland, uncrossing his arms and standing firm, "before executing Ice Beam!"

The Virtual Pokémon beeped and began its strange, dance-like spin, its yellow eye once again taking perfect aim as it launched its Lock-On, the red marker speeding through the air and hitting Tyrael dead centre on its armoured chest. As the latter advanced, its cocked fist started to glow with a fierce white light, and a moment later Porygon-Z launched its Hyper Beam, the wide orange geyser of energy rocketing towards the Armor Pokémon with cold precision.

"Send it back!" Leoric barked stubbornly.

"_Gaooooraaahhh!_" howled Tyrael, pushing its Mega Punch right into the incoming assault. With the crunching sound of an axe on stone, the Hyper Beam seemed to bulge outwards and stop in mid-air, being held back by the raw power of the Rock-type's strike, and the bulge in the attack speared back in on itself, carrying right through to its creator and imploding on impact like a backfiring weapon. There was a deafening bang as Porygon-Z was hit with its own blast, crashing back into the boundary wall with astonishing speed and nearly embedding itself in the hard blue metal.

"Porygon-Z!" Noland exclaimed, his eyes shooting wide as he spun around to look at his stricken Pokémon. The Normal-type spluttered and fizzed as it levitated itself back onto the field, the occasional spark flying out of its scratched and dented body. "Recover your Hit Points by executing Zap Cannon!" shouted the Frontier Brain.

"Dark Pulse, Tyrael!" Leoric countered, and his Tyranitar cupped its hands as it blasted a torrent of spinning purple-and-black rings into the air, the whirlpool of dark energy arcing over the broken battlefield. Porygon-Z's battered body glimmered with a pale yellow sheen, and as the glow began to pulsate and intensify, the Pokémon spun its torso around its head in a wide circle, looking like a household fan, absorbing the power of the Electric-type attack back into its system.

The Dark Pulse slammed straight into the Virtual Pokémon, but somehow none of the shimmering rings seemed to actually make contact, every last one winding itself around the Normal-type's head with barely a millimetre of space to spare before shooting past and exploding on the boundary wall behind. Leoric swore with anger and shock, barely able to believe that such a move had missed so completely, and Tyrael took matters into its own hands as its temper peaked, charging over the rough ground with a hollow roar.

"Hyper-Beam-Hyper-Beam-_Hyper_-_Beam_!" shouted Noland, quickly and nervously, a sheepish look on his face as the powerful Dark-type drew back a white-glowing fist. "Aim at the ground between you and that Tyranitar!"

"_Vriiiii… gohhnn-gon-gon-gongongongon!_" bleeped Porygon-Z, spasms rocking its body this way and that before it launched its Ice Beam, the cold blue bolt striking the torn-up ground in front of itself. There was a rough, shattering, crackling noise as close to half the arena froze over, a seamless sheet of ice now standing between the two Pokémon, even as the green one of the pair lumbered closer with its Mega Punch prepared for a pummelling blow.

"_Gaaaroooaaaahhh!_" shrieked the Armor Pokémon as it continued its stampeding run. The crowd gasped with wonder, however, as Tyrael's stubby legs smacked into the dry ground together and leapt high into the air, the Pokémon looking like a green missile as it jumped its frozen obstacle. The Tyranitar's beady eyes narrowed maliciously, tensing its arm as it waited for the perfect moment to hook into Porygon-Z's already-detached head.

* * *

_WARNIGN! WARNINGiNGInGINg!_

_!!!_

_Hostile…_

_reBOOTing…!_

—_ile detectED!_

_Execuet—! Ex-ex-ex-ex-ex…!_

_InitiaTe counterrrr—exeggcute—Ad…_

_!!!_

—_aptabiLity!_

_Eta-Beta! Eta-bEta ONefiVezERo!_

_T—_

_T—_

_T—_

_T—_

_Target lock!_

* * *

"_Gon-gon-gon bzzzzssschhhh!_" buzzed Porygon-Z, an intense blast of orange energy erupting from its blue bill and careening into its foe's chest. Tyrael was powerless to stop itself from being sent hurtling backwards through the air by the sheer power of the Hyper Beam, and it landed in a sprawled heap only a few feet in front of Leoric, a cloud of dust showering down upon the latter.

"Nice hustle, Porygon-Z!" cheered Noland, as an even louder round of encouragement blared down from the stands.

"Come on, Tyrael, get up!" Leoric barked, as the dust parted enough for him to have a clear view of the battlefield again. The Armor Pokémon bared its sharp fangs and smashed its fists into the ground, quickly getting to its feet and swiping at the air with razor-like claws as it glared at its foe, who was motionless in the air as it recharged from its attack. "Now's our chance! Fry that computer with Thunder Wave, while it can't hit back!"

"Damnit!" muttered Noland, clenching a fist as the blue, diamond-shaped patch of armour on Tyrael's stomach crackled with yellow arcs of lightning. The Rock-type growled, and with a bright golden flash a thin beam of electricity shot across the arena, linking the two Pokémon for a fraction of a second before the whole attack converged on Porygon-Z. There was a hideous sizzling noise as sparks erupted all over the Virtual Pokémon, its body shaking and juddering uncontrollably as the electricity overloaded its circuitry, and with a dull clunk it fell onto the icy ground below, its head rolling a few inches away from its torso.

The referee on the sidelines waited calmly for any sign of the Normal-type being able to go on, but after ten seconds she made up her mind and, with an enthusiastic wave of her red flag, shouted, "Porygon-Z is unable to battle!"

"Boo-yah!" shouted Leoric, throwing both arms into the air at the announcement, as his Tyranitar beat its iron-hard chest with its fists. "Nicely done, Tyrael!" he cheered, and his Dark-type Pokémon stomped over towards him to celebrate the victory with a savage grin.

_Can't see why you didn't just use a Thunder Wave in the first place, if it was so effective,_ Noland thought, a little brusquely, but he shrugged it off as he held up the Cyber Ball and recalled his unconscious Pokémon to its depths. _Oh well… I'm guaranteed to win this exchange anyways, so I might as well make it interesting,_ he added with a knowing smile, pocketing Porygon-Z's ball and scooping up a regular PokéBall from another of his coat pockets.

"I think you need to improve Porygon-Z's stats, Noll!" Leoric taunted from the Trainer's box on the other end of the arena, poking his tongue out and wagging his finger mockingly. "Care to send another our way? Because Tyrael will gladly make mincemeat out of it!" he chuckled, the Tyranitar beside him giving a thunderous growl of agreement.

"Good luck making _any_ kind of meat out of _my_ last Pokémon…!" Noland smirked, rolling the PokéBall around in his palm. "Hey, Leo! You remember when I came to Fallarbor Town to visit every once in a while?! We'd always end up throwing stuff at each other. Snowballs made of volcanic ash… Lotad… _rocks_…" he added silkily, now spinning his final Pokémon's ball on one finger as his opponent and brother looked back at him in confusion.

"Uh, which part was the part where you sent out your Pokémon?!" he yelled.

"This part right here!" Noland fired back hotly. "Because you know how we're gonna decide which of the two of us is gonna be battling on tomorrow?! With a good ol'-fashioned rock fight, that's how!" he shouted, dropping the PokéBall and kicking it into the air. "Let's _wreck_ 'n' roll, Rhyperior!"

"Oh, you _suck_!" Leoric groaned, as the ball burst open with a huge flash of white light, which spilled out and faded into the intimidating shape of the colossal Drill Pokémon. "That's like my Tyrael taking on a clone that's been fed steroids!"

"Well then it should be an interesting challenge for you," Noland jeered. "Besides, I've got no intention of breaking my winning streak against you, especially in front of this many people on such a fine, sunny day," he added with a chuckle, lazily gesturing towards the tens upon tens of thousands of people lining the stands around them.

"Dark Pulse, come on!" Leoric shouted, taking on the offensive as soon as he could; he knew he had to do everything he could to gain the advantage.

"Dragon Pulse!" countered Noland smoothly. Both Rock-type Pokémon roared at each other, trying to bully its foe into submission as each charged a spinning ball of energy in its hands, Tyranitar's spiky ball of black rings in contrast to the blue-green orb of twinkling light that formed in one of Rhyperior's hand-holes. The two combatants launched their attacks with ferocious power, crashing into each other in the centre of the arena and exploding with a red-hot flash, a wisp of smoke passing in front of each Pokémon's vision before fading to a view of its unharmed, unfazed, glaring foe.

"_Rhhaaaaiii!_" bellowed Rhyperior, slinging its arm into the field and reducing the ground beneath it to powder.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Noland sneered, tweaking the brim of his cap. "Move in and knock that green twig back into the earth with Hammer Arm!" he ordered, and the Ground-type snarling as it pounced forwards, cutting across the battlefield far quicker than its bulk would lead one to believe, and its tomahawk-like arms were raised high as they shone with a dull white light.

"So you wanna get physical?!" roared Leoric. "Tyrael, let's meet them square-on with Mega Punch!"

As its foe surged over the ice-laden battlefield, each stomp of its clawed feet splintering the crystal below it, Tyrael ran to meet Rhyperior in the middle, a heavy fist drawn back and glowing with the same white brilliance that was on the Drill Pokémon's arms.

"Pivot!" barked Noland suddenly, and as the two Rock-types came within a foot of each other, his Rhyperior dug one of its enormous arms straight through the ground and spun along the length of it. Tyranitar's eyes flew wide open as it tried to skid to a stop, but out of nowhere, Rhyperior's beach-ball-sized tail curved around and clubbed it across the face, pulverising even through the Dark-type's thick armour and hurling it across the arena.

The crowd rose with a chorused roar as Tyrael crashed into the icy surface of the field, the spines along its shoulders grinding up showers of twinkling dust as it slid slowly to rest, but it quickly regained its feet with fire in its black eyes. Rhyperior, its arm still wedged underground, fidgeted and squirmed as it tried to tear it out of the field, but Noland shook his head, and the Pokémon dutifully left its appendage in place as it turned its craggy head towards its opponent.

_What the heck is he planning…?_ Leoric thought, tilting his head to the side, before he clicked his fingers and sighed in understanding. _Of course…_ "Hold firm!" he shouted to his Tyranitar, who slashed its tail across the ice in reply, obeying the order despite wanting to thrash Noland's Rhyperior into submission.

"Time for a throwdown!" smirked Noland, thumping the air. "Rhyperior, use Rock Wrecker!"

"_Rrrrhhyyy…_" rumbled Rhyperior, and a powerful tremor began shaking the field. A blood-red glow began to seep out from the space between the Ground-type's clawed fingers, and a pulsating, sucking noise filled the air as the Drill Pokémon prepared its ultimate attack, but Leoric instantly swung into action.

"Ability time, Tyrael!" he roared, grabbing the collar of his coat and throwing it over his face. "Hide with Sand Stream!"

"_Gaaaoohh…!_" growled Tyrael, its spines vibrating powerfully as a howling wind kicked up from the ground. A thick torrent of dust, dirt and powdered ice swirled around the Armor Pokémon in a protective veil, hiding it from the view of the field even as Rhyperior snarled and ripped its arm out from underground, a red-glowing boulder clutched in its sturdy grasp as it focused on the Sandstorm obscuring its foe.

"Just wait, Rhyperior…" Noland warned. "When Tyranitar comes at you, you flatten it!"

_Bad move, telling your strategy…!_ smiled Leoric. "Tyrael, let down that Sandstorm! We don't need it anymore!" he ordered, drawing out a multitude of confused whispers from the stands, and even from the Factory Head across the field, as the vicious tornado whipping around Leoric's Pokémon began to slow and dissolve into the air.

"What was the point of that—?!" Noland laughed.

"_Thunder Wave_!"

"WHAT?!"

Just as the Sandstorm came crumbling down, a spray of dirt and ice rushing over the field in a dull cloud, there was a crackle and a blinding flash of yellow as a bolt of lightning speared over the arena and launched itself into Rhyperior's eye. The Drill Pokémon bellowed in agony as it screwed its useless eye shut, and there was a triumphant roar from the centre of the dying storm in the middle of the field as Tyrael thumped a fist against its chest, thundering forwards of its own accord as it held a Mega Punch high.

"_Rhaaaaiii!_" hissed Rhyperior, swinging its arm around and blasting its glowing boulder towards the Tyranitar, but the attack sailed well wide, barely troubling the Armor Pokémon as it leapt high into the air. With a savage snarl, Tyrael brought its fist crashing down, sending the Ground-type's head snapping backwards as it clobbered the latter across the chin, and Rhyperior was sent flying with the overwhelming power of the punch.

"Rhyperior?!" shouted Noland, jogging to the edge of his green box as his Pokémon hit the ground in a spread-eagled heap, gritting his teeth as the referee on the sidelines began her sudden-death countdown.

"One!"

"Get up, Rhyperior! Don't let that pipsqueak get the better of you!"

"Two!"

"_Rhyperior_, come on! I know you keep going, so you'd better not be thinking any differently!"

"Three!"

"_Per… Rhy… Rhaaii… RHHAAAIII!_"

Rhyperior pounded its club of a tail against the ground, breaking the earth and splintering massive cracks in the face of the arena as it slowly struggled to its feet, blasting air from the holes in its palms as it pushed its huge frame upright. Cheers erupted from the stands, bolstering Rhyperior's defiance as it gingerly opened its injured eye and turned to face its foe, but the latter was nowhere to be seen.

"_Gaaoorahhh!_" screeched a gurgling roar from the sky, and with a bellowing command from its Trainer, the Drill Pokémon swivelled its vision upwards to see Tyrael bearing down from above with a glowing white fist and rage in its face.

"Defend, quick!" barked Noland, fear in his face and his voice for the first time in the battle. With a desperate flurry of movement, Rhyperior somehow managed to grab at the Armor Pokémon's arm with its clawed hand, instinctively clasping it in place by pulling it towards the hole between its fingers. Tyrael screeched in disbelief as its feet hit the ground, shifting its weight and trying to break free, but Rhyperior's grip was unbreakable, holding fast no matter how hard the Dark-type tried to escape.

"A Hammer Arm is gonna be out of the question, so… just club that Tyranitar unconscious!" Noland roared, pointing at the two Pokémon locked together.

"Latch on, Tyrael! Fight back!" Leoric shouted hurriedly, unable to look away as Rhyperior's spear of an arm rose up and arced around, but a moment later he shouted with exhilaration as Tyrael met the assault with an arm of its own, expertly blocking it by taking the brunt of the blow across its forearm.

Screams deafened both Trainers as the crowd shot to their feet, seventy thousand heads craning to look over the one in front as the two combatants struggled against each other. Rhyperior hissed with exertion, its arms trying to pin its foe down against the ground as the latter valiantly held firm, fangs bared as its dark eyes bored into the Drill Pokémon, neither one budging an inch even under the incredible power of the other.

The two Pokémon held their stalemate for what seemed to be an eternity, wrestling against an immovable foe as each tried not to expose any crack in their impenetrable armour. Both Trainers stood just as firmly as their Pokémon, tensely waiting for one to throw the other off with a violent burst of strength, but at the same time knowing that neither would give in without one of them giving an order. So they waited, a strained silence in the stadium only punctuated by the rough growls from Rhyperior and Tyrael as each tried to gain the upper hand.

"Flamethrower on Tyranitar's head!" Noland thundered, breaking the eerie quiet. Rhyperior grunted as it planted a thick foot behind the rest of body, anchoring itself in place as it opened its gaping maw, and it blasted a thick stream of flames at its foe that curled around the Armor Pokémon's head. Tyrael winced in pain and shut its eyes as the searing fire scorched its sharp-featured face, but it dug down and braced itself against the onslaught, forcing the Drill Pokémon back inch by inch.

"_Rhaaiii!_" hissed Rhyperior, shutting its jaws as its foot slowly carved out a trench in the ground. It slammed its other foot to join the first, tightening its grip on Tyrael's trapped arm, and it hit the Dark-type with a second Flamethrower as it fought back and took a step forwards, edging the Tyranitar towards its Trainer.

"Hit Rhyperior with a Thunder Wave!" blurted Leoric, watching as his Pokémon was forced in his direction. The blue diamond on Tyrael's stomach sparked yellow, and with a deep growl the Armor Pokémon blasted Rhyperior in the face with the attack, only for the electricity to be drawn to the horn before sizzling away, leaving the Ground-type unharmed as it reopened its eyes from the light.

"Damnit!" Leoric roared, throwing his head to the side.

"Why the heck would you aim for the horn?!" Noland shouted with a sneer. "That's absolutely ridiculous! You can't hurt a Pokémon like my Rhyperior with that!"

"Well maybe I'll hurt it with _this_!" countered his younger brother. "Thunder Wave again, Tyrael, and go for the horn again!" he yelled viciously.

_Knock yourself out…_ thought Noland, folding his arms. For the second time in a matter of seconds, Tyrael blasted a bolt of lightning at its foe's face, and the Drill Pokémon shut its eyes as the attack was drawn to its horn, wincing as it remembered the pain from the blast striking its eye. The Dark-type Pokémon narrowed its eyes as it felt the grip on its arm relax for the briefest of moments, and it ripped its arms away before punching Rhyperior in the face with a savage uppercut.

"Seismic Toss!" Leoric bellowed, throwing his arm forwards despite the outraged exclamations from his brother, and the gasps of wonder from the stands. As Rhyperior staggered backwards, Tyrael pounced after it and grabbed one of its huge arms with both of its own, its tail drilling into the ground as the Pokémon itself lifted its foe into the air. Tyranitar gritted its teeth as it struggled against the full weight of the Ground-type, but it swung the latter around its head with terrifying power, its tail acting as the anchor as both Pokémon sped into a brown-and-green blur.

"Rhyperior, bust out of it!" Noland urged, his voice lilting as his Pokémon was hurled around in the vicious circle.

"Finish it!" thundered Leoric.

"_Gaaaaaoooohh!_" roared Tyrael, bringing Rhyperior up over its head and slamming it straight down into the field with a colossal thud that made the stadium quake and shudder. A cloud of dust kicked up around the two Pokémon as the Drill Pokémon's bulk crushed the ground beneath it, but as the view became clear, all in the stadium saw an image that made them break with emotion; Tyrael roaring at the sky with a proud foot planted on Rhyperior's chest, the latter's eyes unseeing and filled with swirls.

"Rhyperior is unable to battle! Tyranitar is the winner, and Leoric Reiger advances to the Top Sixteen!" shrieked the referee, with a final thrust of her red flag in the air.

"Tyrael, we did it! We made it! We won!" Leoric cried, punching the air and running over the torn-up battlefield towards his Pokémon. "Yes, yes, _yes_!" he grinned, jumping in the air and giving Tyrael a joyous high-five. On the other side of the field, Noland hung his head in disappointment, but shrugged his shoulders and returned Rhyperior to its PokéBall with a calm face and his head held high.

"You did good, Rocky…" he whispered, dropping the ball into a coat pocket as he traversed his ice-ridden half of the arena. "Leoric!" he called out, folding his arms as he stood on his side of the centre circle. Leoric looked over at his brother and, after another grin and a high-five from Tyrael, returned his triumphant Pokémon to its own PokéBall and joined him at the middle of the stadium floor.

"Yeah?"

"You—you did good," smiled the Frontier Brain, a cocky smile playing on his mouth despite the loss, and he extended a humble hand. "I'm proud of the way you handled yourself, even against me. I'm glad I lost to you, even if it's because I didn't lose to anyone else."

"Well, when you put it like that…" Leoric said, with a smirk that spread into an infectious grin, "I'm glad you pushed me so hard to make the Top Sixteen. It's a reward in itself to finally chalk up a win against you… big brother," he added, clasping Noland's hand firmly with his own.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***The behaviour of Noland's Porygon-Z was inspired by Blakeface's Porygon-Z, from the fanfic, "Evolved".**

***Tyrael's Thunder Wave attempt, during the stalemate, references Ash's infamous Gym Battle at the Cinnabar Island volcano, against Blaine's Rhydon.**

**Quiz:**

***What is the only other fully evolved, non-legendary Pokémon to have seven double weaknesses, along with Exeggutor?**

* * *

**Another colossal battle come and gone...**

**And this one is now the new biggest non-special chapter ever! Hurrah!**

**Leoric moves through to the Top Sixteen, and Ash and Ari have a bit of a fight. C'est la vie.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!**

**Not much else to say here at this point, because I'm sure there are a few questions burning away in you at the moment.**

**Chapter 90 (Disrupting The Balance) will be posted on the site very soon. I'm hoping within a week, but probably not. It'll have Ash and Anabel in it, along with a familiar face...**

**Don't forget to review!!! Please!!!**


	90. Disrupting The Balance

**CHAPTER 90 – DISRUPTING THE BALANCE**

"Nurse Joy!" Ash shouted, panting for breath and clutching his side as he passed through the sliding double doors of the Pokémon Center. Pikachu sprinted along in his wake, and the pair of them reached the counter in seconds, hanging their heads and sucking in deep gasps of air as the pink-haired nurse finished typing something on the computer, before swinging around in her chair to face them with her trademark smile.

"Hi, and welcome to the Pokémon Cen—!" she said brightly, but she cut off when she recognised his face. "You're friends with that Brock man, aren't you? The one who asked me on a date, right?" she asked, a tiny tinge of pink on her cheeks as the boy in front of her looked up, incredulous.

"Yeah—we go way back—" he huffed, his hands on his knees. "That's—not why I'm here—though—!"

"Oh, of course!" Joy exclaimed, reaching for a tray underneath the desk. "You just had your qualifying battle for the Top Sixteen! Just put your Pokémon here and I'll heal them good as new!" she instructed, the smile back on her lips. Ash did a double-take, completely forgetting about his own Pokémon because of his worry for Anabel's Espeon, but he covered it up by unclipping Corphish's and Grotle's PokéBalls and dropping them on Joy's tray.

"Thank you, your Pokémon will be healed in no time!" she chimed, picking up the tray and heading towards a door behind the counter.

"Wait, Nurse Joy!" Ash exclaimed, reaching out with a hand to stop her, and she turned around in confusion. "Did… did a girl by the name of Anabel Silver come here? In the last ten, fifteen minutes…?"

"Silver?" Joy repeated, holding Ash's PokéBalls in one hand and striding back to her bench to check a sheet of paper. "Silver, Silver… ah, here she is! Anabel Silver, checked in an Alakazam, a Claydol, and an Espeon. The poor Pokémon, too, it was in a bit of a bad way from what I could see…" she lamented, not noticing Ash hang his head slightly and turn red with shame. "Why did you want to know?" she asked politely, an eyebrow raised.

"Well, you see… I—I, uh… we—" he stammered, wringing his hands and staring guiltily at the ground.

"That's right! The Prince and the Psychic!" Joy said suddenly, another smile lighting up on her face. "You're her boyfriend, aren't you? You two were all over the television a couple of days ago… the tournament's '_power couple_' or something," she added warmly, shaking her head. "Don't tell me; you want to give her some T.L.C after she lost her battle, right? Well, she's waiting just inside the emergency room, until her Espeon's fully healed and free to be discharged."

"Oh… uh… yeah, pretty much…" he mumbled, avoiding her eye as he played along. "That easy to tell, huh?" he said, with a false laugh and a forced smile.

"Ah, to be young and in love," she said, starting to drift off into her memories. "The emergency room is just back here, and I was heading that way to fix up your Pokémon, so you might as well walk with me," she offered, swinging open the door to the counter, and he humbly stepped through, Pikachu hopping up onto the desk and then his Trainer's shoulder.

Nurse Joy pushed open the door to the infirmary section of the Pokémon Center and led Ash and Pikachu past a corridor of rooms, each one housing several tables with a Pokémon sleeping on them, electrodes placed here and there to monitor each one's condition. He could see a Skarmory, a Nidoking, at least two Jolteon, but he couldn't see that shock of purple hair, or those lilac eyes, that he was looking for.

"Do you want your Corphish and Grotle in the same room as her Pokémon?" Joy asked, as they turned left and headed to a door at the end of the hallway, an icon of a hypodermic needle illuminated in red above the doorframe. "Espeon is in that room, and the viewing room is just to the right, where her other Pokémon are."

"Umm… thanks."

"Anytime!" she said merrily, opening the door of the viewing room and heading inside, connecting Ash's PokéBalls to two machines on the far wall.

Ash stood just beyond the door, trying to clear his mind and taking deep breaths; he knew he was in the wrong on this one, and he needed to tell Anabel how sorry he was, but he wanted her to know that he was being sincere, and not apologising for the sake of it. Pikachu jumped onto the floor, giving him a solemn look before darting through the doorway into the room, and Ash paused as he heard a muttered conversation between Joy and, of course, Anabel.

_Okay, just go in there, and explain yourself…_ he told himself, gulping down a knot in his throat, and he stepped into the room. There were six tables in the room, with Alakazam, Claydol, Corphish and Grotle occupying four of them, and for a moment he couldn't see where Pikachu had gone too. But as he took another tentative step forwards, he saw Anabel; she was standing in front of the window into the emergency room, her hand pressed up against the glass in worry as she looked at her Sun Pokémon, who was covered in wires and hooked up to various machines.

"I'll leave you two to it," Joy whispered to Ash, having crossed the floor back to the door. She gave him a brief nod which he returned, and walked back into the hallway, quietly shutting the door behind her.

"Anabel…?" he murmured, moving between the tables holding his two injured Pokémon, and he stopped only a pace behind her, looking at the back of her head as he tried to work up the courage to stand next to her. She stayed silent, not moving at all, but her hand tensed against the hardened glass between herself and her Pokémon, and he noticed the movement and sighed in defeat.

"Anabel, look… I—I'm… I'm sorry…" he croaked, turning his vision past her to focus on her Espeon, lying motionless on the stretcher-like table in the centre of the emergency room. "I won't make excuses; not even if they'd have been good ones… I wanted to win so badly, and look where it got—" he cleared his throat and continued, "where it got Espeon. I—I truly am sorry…"

"Ash…" she said softly, her back still to him. "You don't have anything to be sorry for…"

"I… I don't?" he stammered, completely surprised. "B-b-but—but Charizard—! And the Dragon Claw, and Espeon already being knocked out—! Hitting her head on the ground like that—! That was _my _fault! Espeon's like that because of what I did!"

"Maybe," she shrugged, "but you couldn't have known. I mean… I _did_ trick you into thinking that Corphish was knocked out… I should be the one saying sorry to you for that," she added, slowly turning around to face him, but staring intently at his shoes. "Sorry…"

"You can't apologise!" Ash interjected, his eyes snapping back to her. "You only did that because I had to open my big trap and tell the whole world about—wait… what _did _I tell them about us that made you so angry, anyways…?"

"You—!" she hissed, before stopping short and raising her head to look at him. "You—I don't know either! I got upset because you said something about my expression, and the crowd took it the wrong way…!" she groaned, her eyes widening before she swung around and put her hand on the glass. "Oh, Espeon, I started all this…!"

"Hey, you're not to blame for this!" Ash shouted, rushing forwards and pulling her hand away.

"Yes I am!"

"We both are, how about that?!" he grunted. "You're partly to blame for riling me up, and I'm partly to blame for having Charizard knock Espeon out like he did. That better?" he sighed, and Anabel pursed her lips as she kept stubbornly silent, but after a few moments she slumped her shoulders and cast her eyes to the side with a resigned nod of the head. "But me more than you," he added cheekily, a grin on his face for the first time since their battle.

"Nah-uh!" she smirked, playfully jabbing him in the chest with a finger. She turned around to look at Espeon again, still unconscious on the table, and Ash stood next to her and watched as well, Pikachu hopping onto Corphish's table to catch a quick nap as the two Trainers stood in silence for a few long minutes.

"I gotta tell you, though…" Ash finally said, digging his hands into his pockets, but there was a loud knock on the door as Nurse Joy re-entered the room, holding two more PokéBalls that she fed into the machine at the far side.

"Oh, don't mind me," she smiled, pressing buttons here and there, and there was a dull flash of light as a Lairon and a Honchkrow appeared on the two empty tables. "With all the battles still going on, my work is never done," she added conversationally, placing electrodes seemingly at random on the two Pokémon, before humming a quiet tune to herself as she walked back out and swung the door shut with a soft click.

"You were saying?" Anabel muttered, a gentle smile on her lips as she slid her gaze to Ash.

"Um… oh, right," he said, nodding as he finally remembered. "I was gonna say that it wasn't easy for me to come here and try to make things right. I was remorseful enough when I left the stadium, but I ran into Ari and got into the totally wrong mindset for an apology," he explained casually, shrugging his shoulders as he heard the Honchkrow behind them give a quiet squawk and a ruffle of its feathers.

"Really? What happened?" she wondered aloud, her eyes moving from her Pokémon to him, as he took off his cap and lifted his unruly black hair away from his forehead. He pointed at a spot high on the corner, and she followed the line of his finger to a nasty red mark that was imprinted there, her mouth falling open in shock. "You got into a fight?!" she gasped.

"Not… exactly…" he grimaced, jamming his cap back over his head. "We got into an _argument_ over the end of my battle with you, and well… his Gallade got defensive and did a number with his Brick Break. I'm fine, though," he added, a little resentfully as Anabel's expression hardened.

"Why would you get in a fight with him over Espeon…?" she muttered, and Ash took an involuntary step backwards as he saw her hand forming a fist; he hadn't seen her angry before, and he wondered if he'd overstepped some kind of boundary.

"Can't you just feel the love?!" shouted a raucous voice from the door, and Ash whirled around to see Leoric sneering from the hallway and strolling towards them, and before either he or Anabel could object, he threw an arm around each of them. "It's times like these that make me glad I'm single," he added with a laugh, rubbing their shoulders even as they glared at him.

"What do _you_ want…?" Anabel hissed, ducking her head out from under him, and Ash choked as Leoric stumbled to the side, dragging the former's neck along next to his elbow.

"I just wanted to see which one of you will be joining Wynter and myself in the Top Sixteen!" he said cheerily, quickly regaining his composure as he looked between his two friends. "But… I'm guessing that—" he closed his eyes and spun himself around on the spot, randomly pointing a finger and opening his eyes to see Anabel standing in front of him with her jaw clenched and her arms folded, "you… lost," he muttered, the smile dropping from his own jaw.

"Yeah, I lost," she snapped.

"So that means you won, Ash!" Leoric said sheepishly, swinging around and giving him a thumbs-up. "That's great news!"

"That depends on if you were actually _at_ the battle…" Ash muttered, casting his eyes towards Espeon, but Leoric was oblivious to it as he waved a dismissive hand and put his arm back around Ash's shoulder.

"Big deal! Maybe it wasn't a clean win, maybe you two got a bit of dirt thrown in between trading blows, but that's not a bad thing! It's good to get a good sledge in here and there," he said, beaming as he jabbed Ash in the arm with his fist.

"Leoric, are you high?" Anabel asked suspiciously, taking a cautionary step backwards as he bounced up and down on the soles of his feet.

"On life, Anabel…" he grinned, trying and failing to speak in a wise tone of voice. "On life. I don't know why… maybe it was because I just beat Noland, broke a hoodoo and made it to the finals of the greatest Pokémon battling tournament in the world – all at once! – but I just wanna do something exciting, right now!" he added, his grin slowly rubbing off on Ash, who nodded his head and turned to his friend with a fist raised.

"In that case, how about the two of us have a battle?" he suggested, the typical glint of competition in his dark eyes. "One on one! We've got the rest of the day off, so we can get a battle in right now, yeah?!"

"That sounds like a plan to me!" Leoric smirked, stamping a foot against the tiled floor, and both Pikachu and the unknown Trainer's Honchkrow whined at the loud thump he made. "Sorry—" he whispered, before speaking at his regular volume again, "so I'll meet you up out the front of the hot spring in an hour… unless you're a big Blaziken, that is…" he muttered cheekily, tucking his hands into his armpits and flapping his arms about with a cocky strut.

"You're on!" Ash challenged. "I'll see you there, one hour. We can bring the whole gang along and make it an afternoon!" he added excitedly, and Leoric grinned before giving both his friends a vigorous nod and darting back into the hallway of the Center. "You think he had a coffee this morning?" he laughed, chuckling as he looked at the open door.

"Coffee? From what I've heard, you'd need more than just _caffeine_ to get him jumpy like that," Anabel giggled, resting her head on the glass pane. "Why are you battling him today, anyways? You might as well save it for the _proper _battlefield," she wondered aloud, making him stare at her incredulously. "What? I'm just saying, is all…"

"Leoric's the only one of the gang that I haven't actually battled yet," he shrugged, glancing over at Pikachu, who had curled up next to Corphish and was snoozing contentedly. "I've battled all my friends, I had a quick match with Ari's Magmortar before the tournament, and I battled you this morning, so he's the only one I've still got to beat! It's kind of a male pride thing, I guess," he added, with another unhelpful shrug.

"Just remember that pride comes before the fall," she smiled, her eyes flickering back to her injured Pokémon in the emergency room. "Well, I suppose Nurse Joy will let me know when Espeon's recovered, so there's not much point in me staying here much longer."

"Great, so you can watch me win against Leoric!" Ash said happily, reaching for her hand, but she shook her head and tucked both hands behind her back.

"No, I'm going to give it a miss…" she muttered, refusing to meet his eye despite his confused stare. "I think I'll go and see Ari."

"Why are you gonna see him?!" he exclaimed, throwing his arm up in frustration as he turned away from her, trying to hide his anger as best he could. There was a quiet tap behind him as she stepped forward, and the next moment he howled in pain as Anabel dug the tip of her finger into the bruise on his temple, making him jump around and clutch at the mark.

"_That's_ why I'm seeing him," she said stubbornly, her lips pursed. "I'm setting him straight over this whole thing between the two of you. It's not healthy for friends to fight over something that won't even matter in the long term. You boys and your _pride_, honestly…" she added with a whisper, rolling her eyes, but Ash caught the tiny smirk at the edge of her lips as she said the words.

"There wouldn't be much point in me trying to change your mind, would there?" he asked, in a mock-sombre tone of voice as he put an arm around her shoulders and drew her in close. "Well hey, I won't stop you. But see if you can't catch the last stages of the battle… just so you can watch me win," he murmured cockily in her ear, wincing slightly as she rolled her eyes again and dug the point of her elbow into his side.

"At the very worst, I'll see you this evening at the selection ceremony for the Top Sixteen," she told him, shifting her body around and embracing him warmly. "Okay?" she smiled, giving him a short kiss on the cheek before slipping out of his grasp and heading for the door, waving sweetly at him and blowing a second kiss his way as she rounded out of sight.

_Selection ceremony?_ Ash repeated silently, putting his hands on his head and taking a deep breath as he thought about the last few minutes. _Well, that could have been worse—a lot worse—than it actually was… I guess I should count myself lucky, even when Leoric barged in when he did…_ "Well, no point me hanging around here; I've got a match to get to!" he said quietly, pumping a fist as he made for the door as well. _Pikachu can take a nap… I won't be using him, anyways…_ he told himself as an after-thought, noiselessly shutting the door behind him and striding back to the lobby.

"_I wanna be the very best, like no-one ever was~_" he hummed, keeping a steady pace as he pushed the doors into the spacious tiled room, but he stopped short when he saw the familiar brooding figure of Paul leaning against one of the support pillars dotting the inside of the lobby. Paul's dark eyes shot around to meet his, the first time they had seen each other since that night at the empty warehouse shed, and memories of the event flashed in front of Ash's eyes in a fiery stream…

_A Magnezone ripping the door off its hinges with its magnets… Leoric leaping over a fallen Dusknoir with his fist clenched and cocked backwards… Ari and Paul covered in Aura as a strange golden chain flickered between them…_

"I'm surprised you haven't been locked up by now," Ash hissed venomously, a scowl on his face as Paul pushed himself off the pillar and folded his arms.

"Locked up for what? I can't be arrested for something that hasn't been proven," he scoffed arrogantly, cracking his neck threateningly. "Although… if being a weakling was a crime, you'd have been given life in prison without a second thought," he added tauntingly.

"In case you hadn't noticed, _Paul_, I'm in the Top Sixteen!" Ash retorted, throwing his arm forwards as though challenging the boy. "The last time I checked, _you_ weren't in the Sixteen!" he added viciously, and he sneered when he saw a frown creep onto Paul's otherwise dour expression, but a moment later it was gone, replaced by a cold smirk that took Ash off-guard.

"Making the finals means nothing, because I'll personally make sure you wish you stayed at home," he muttered, walking forwards so that he was standing just a foot or two in front of his rival. "But you're a weakling in _so_ many other ways, it's almost funny…! That girl of yours, for one…" he added silkily, his eyes narrowing maliciously as Ash struggled to keep himself from launching a fist into him.

"You don't say a word about Anabel!" he seethed through gritted teeth, silently quaking as Paul gave a contemptuous grunt, turned on his heel, and stalked away into the street.

* * *

"Finally…" Shane muttered, calmly dismounting from his seat on his Tentacruel's head as he landed on the rocky shore of Fire Island for the second time in two nights. "Good work, Tentacruel. Return," he said to his Pokémon, recalling it to the depths of its PokéBall before turning himself towards the enormous expanse of the volcano in the island's centre. _Finally, I can steal these damned treasures! No more festivals, no more stories, no more distractions!_ he thought firmly, nodding his head before he trekked towards the winding stone steps that lead to the mountain's peak.

* * *

Ten minutes later, he reached the peak of the mountainous slope, crouching at the edge of the volcano's rim as he fought to draw breath. Despite having scaled the steps again, he was no more used to it than he had been the first time, and he grabbed a fistful of snow from the ground next to him and slapped it against his face, trying to snap himself out of it. Gasping as the flakes seared cold against his skin, he shook himself down and jumped to his feet, once again spying the twinkling red ball of light in the centre of the crater.

"Now that's what I'm talking about…" grinned the Galactic, rubbing his hands together and marching forwards, as a few sparse snowflakes settled in his thick green hair and on his shoulders. "Come to papa," he grunted, stopping in front of the shrine and inching his fingers towards the sphere. He paused, the flicker of a slight frown as he turned his head, making sure that no-one could possibly interrupt him this time, but apart from the gentle drift of snowflakes, everything was eerily still and empty.

_And that—_ he closed his hand around the ball, prising it out of its resting place and feeling the heat pushing into his rough palm, _is—!_

"_Kohhhhh!"_

"What in the—?!" Shane shouted, instantly tucking the Fire treasure inside his jacket as his free hand raced towards the PokéBalls on his belt. There was a bass-deep growl from within the depths of the island, and he cried in pain as a searing flash of white blinded him, staggering backwards with one hand clutching at his face as his vision slowly returned to him. He gingerly lowered his hand from in front of his eyes, but his mouth fell away as he saw the majestic creature in front of him.

For a moment, it seemed as though a giant fireball had materialised out of thin air and had engorged itself on the air, splitting into the spiked shape of a bird's footprint. But as he began to make it out more clearly, he managed to see a pair of flaming wings that sent showers of embers scattering through the air with every flap, sizzling into the covering of snow on the cold stone as wisps of steam rose into the frigid air. A sharp vermillion beak snapped open and gave another piercing shriek from underneath a scowling pair of eyes, the shrill grating noise tearing at Shane's eardrums as he tried to comprehend the Pokémon before him.

It was Moltres, the legendary Titan of Fire.

And it looked angry.

"Oh, _shit_…!" Shane grimaced, freezing just like the snow dropping onto his hair, and his eyes were drawn to the fiery globes of the Legendary Pokémon as it hovered in the air above the tiny shrine in front of him. Even though it couldn't speak, Moltres' eyes said more than enough.

_Leave with the treasure, or leave with your life._

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Ash hums the lyrics from the original English opening theme.**

***The events pertaining to my other story involving Shamouti Island – Ocean Music – are in no way related to this story.**

**Quiz:**

***Which Flying-type Pokémon named in this chapter cannot learn Sky Attack?**

* * *

**Okay, that's another milestone come and gone... 90 down, 110 to go!**

**Ash and Paul see each other for the first time in 30 or so chapters. And who says the time doesn't fly by?**

**And Shane's getting the Fire treasure from a pissed-off Moltres. How will that one turn out, I wonder...?**

**I just realised, at this point, both my stories have been left at the point where Moltres has just appeared at Fire Island. Weird, huh?**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!**

**Right, here's the sticky wicket... as lazy as my updating has been over the last month or two, it's about to get a lot worse, because I've got a period of intense studying and exams coming up. Odds are I won't be able to update - at all - before mid-November. My deepest apologies for any inconvenience.**

**Chapter 91 (Glancing Blows) will be focusing a bit more on Shane and Paul more than anyone else, and it's a good chance for me to get some more solid writing back into my stride. So expect a good one, because I'll have had a lot of time, obviously, haha!**

**Don't forget to review!!! Please!!!**


	91. Glancing Blows

**CHAPTER 91 – GLANCING BLOWS**

Shane's brain kicked into gear with a wave of flaming air that sheared past his face, the smell of singed hair choking his nostrils and settling in his throat, as the Titan of Fire in the air above him opened its beak wide. A deep orange glow shone from within Moltres, and the Galactic Commander's feet were suddenly flying, crashing over the snow-laden stone as he bounded towards the steps, just as a sizzling jet of flames poured over the ground in a deadly stream behind him.

"Tentacruel—!" Shane gasped, hearing the ominous whoosh of wing-beats from somewhere behind him, as he ripped a PokéBall from his belt, "cover with Bubblebeam until I can find a way out of here!" He recklessly hurled both himself and the PokéBall to the side – himself to the left, and his Pokémon to the right – and his Jellyfish Pokémon emerged from its ball as Moltres unleashed another Flamethrower down the path of the stone steps leading down the mountainside.

For a few silent moments, the Legendary Pokémon scanned the slope for a sign of the unworthy, evil-hearted Trainer that had dared to remove its sacred treasure. There was a rustle in some tall ferns to its right, and it quickly responded with a gush of fire, incinerating the green leaves into black powder, but in their place was Shane's Tentacruel.

"_Tennnn…!_" buzzed the Poison-type, sending a bright volley of shimmering, beach-ball-sized bubbles flying through the air with a flick of its head.

"_Kohhh! Koohhhh!_" screeched Moltres, effortlessly soaring over the top and scorching the insolent Pokémon's hide with its Flamethrower. The Tentacruel hissed and wailed in pain, but it quickly succumbed to its injuries and fell to the ground unconscious, overwhelmed by the power of the Fire-type as its body wrinkled up, and steam flew from its body in faint wisps.

"Shit…!" Shane whispered under his breath, hiding behind a pillar-shaped rock that stood ten paces away from the steps. He was holding Tentacruel's PokéBall in his left hand, and his right hand was clutching a PokéBall on his waist, but the hopelessness of his situation suddenly hit him like Moltres' attack had hit Tentacruel; even if he could – by some miracle – recall his fainted Pokémon and make his way down the mountainside, all without the Legendary Pokémon noticing, how could they possibly get away? No-one knew he was here, and his only viable transport off of Fire Island had just been torched out of commission.

_Come on, remember the way to do this!_ he told himself, using an old trick he'd been taught in his training for the Galactic Special Forces; by telling himself to remember the solution, he eliminated the need to invent one, and meant that the solution already existed. He just needed to _remember_ what that solution was, and his eyes desperately searched the landscape for anything he could use to his advantage, the adrenaline pumping through his veins sharpening his vision and increasing the blood flow to his brain.

A smooth patch of ground that led towards the bottom of the mountain. An uprooted palm tree lying on its side. Some loose gravel lying next to his feet in the shadow of the pillar. A smile formed on Shane's lips as he suddenly thought of an idea, and he took two PokéBalls into his right hand as he ran the plan through in his mind.

_It's a good thing I changed my Pokémon at the Shamouti Pokémon Center before I came here today,_ he thought with a smirk, seeing Moltres hovering on the other side of the pillar in his mind's eye. _But I'll have to time this perfectly, or I'm gonna be a black mark on some hot ground…_

He took three deep breaths, steadying himself as he put himself through his plan one more time, tucking his Tentacruel's PokéBall into the cuff of his right sleeve as he knelt down and scooped up a handful of gravel into his left hand. _One… two… three—!_

"Yaahhh!" he shouted, throwing himself to the side and rolling smoothly onto one knee as he lobbed his two other PokéBalls into the air, aimed straight at the Titan of Fire. As the two red-and-white balls spun through the sky, he threw his left arm around and released the gravel, a shower of sharp grey pebbles that sliced towards Moltres just as the PokéBalls in front of it split open with bright light.

Moltres squawked as the light from the two balls blinded it, squinting its eyes to cut out the worst of the glare, and Shane took the chance to slip his third PokéBall into his palm, quickly recalling Tentacruel to its depths as the first two PokéBalls dutifully fell back to him from above. He heard an agonised screech from above his head, and he nodded as he realised that his shot of gravel had reached its mark; the Legendary Pokémon had been hit in the eye – possibly both eyes – with another barrage, and he could hear it again in the ungainly crashing and swooping noises from its wings.

The two Pokémon that had fallen from Shane's PokéBalls stood confused on the wind-buffeted slope, looking from the distressed bird Pokémon to their Trainer. The first, his Abomasnow, quickly stomped towards its Commander, growling menacingly at its fellow, and the latter clumsily trotted in its wake. This Pokémon was a hideous-looking creature, covered in holes and tubes that jutted out from its body in all places, including seven on its head, and two long, tail-like tubes from its rear. The strangest thing about the Pokémon, though, was its cavernous mouth, that was almost the size of the Pokémon itself.

"Exploud, I want you to hit Moltres with a Hyper Voice!" Shane ordered quietly, whilst Abomasnow formed two balls of slushy snow and jammed them over its Trainer's ears, before doing the same with its own. Exploud nodded its enormous head, opening its gaping mouth to full size and sucking in air from all around, pulling it in through the numerous openings on its body as it swelled up.

Moltres shook its head and squinted its eyes as its vision returned, and Shane motioned towards the fallen palm tree, making ripping motions with his hands as he directed his Abomasnow. The Flame Pokémon suddenly spotted the Exploud on the ground, and both Pokémon's eyes narrowed at each other as Moltres puffed its cheeks and threw its head back to blast another Flamethrower. Exploud did the same, shutting off all of its openings and snapping its jaws shut as it readied its Hyper Voice attack.

Unfortunately for the Legendary Pokémon, Exploud was the one to open its mouth first.

* * *

_Pierre—_

_I really enjoyed dinner last night. It's always fascinating to hear about your experiences overseas! _

_Could we possibly do it again tonight? It's alright if you're busy with something else._

—_Dee_

Pierre Benoit smiled to himself as he read the message on his cell phone, leaning on a lamppost just outside his favourite building on the whole island, the Green Goldeen pub. He'd enjoyed last night's dinner as well, particularly seeing the company he'd had at the time; a young brunette woman that he'd met yesterday at the very same place he was standing now. _Well,_ he thought with a chuckle, _younger than I am, in any case._ He ran a callused hand over his face, which had seen the better part of forty years, but he shrugged his shoulders as he pushed himself off the post and strode into the pub.

He grinned again as he took his customary seat, closest to the door, drinking in the atmosphere of the place. The Green Goldeen was always cheerful, full of people who were relaxed enough to enjoy a drink, but sensible enough to have it in moderation, and so the pub had never had a brawl in its long history on the island. Not that it really mattered; Pierre knew how to defend himself.

"Excusez-moi," he said, catching the attention of a waitress. "One water, s'il vous plaît."

"Sure thing," she replied sweetly, hurrying over to the bar to fetch his drink.

Pierre drummed his fingers over the table as he waited, his black eyes probing over the room; apart from being a social place, this pub was a great place to pick up on any stray intelligence about the happenings on the island, and it was his job to pick up on anything that might be relevant to his mission. A pair of businessmen across the room were discussing something about a joint venture overseas, from what he could gather by reading their lips, and the New Zealand native he'd met yesterday was recounting a tale to the bartender, about a cavern he'd apparently discovered underneath a place called Lake Taupo.

_Not exactly informative,_ he thought sadly.

"Is this seat taken, sugar?" said a female voice to his left, and his head jerked around to see who was asking. It was a young woman in her early twenties, with a long ponytail of sleek black hair that fell towards her waist, and almond-shaped eyes that matched it in colour, hidden underneath a wispy fringe.

"Not at all. Please," he said calmly, gesturing towards the chair opposite him. He had already turned his attention back to the clusters of people across the floor by the time he heard the scrape of chair legs on the floorboards, scanning for someone who might look out of place. As he searched, he saw a happy couple sharing a meal, three young men clinking full glasses of beer together, and, at the very far corner of the building, an attractive young blonde sitting alone and talking into a wireless headset.

_How odd…_ Pierre thought. _Surely a beauty like that wouldn't be here on her own._ His curiosity piqued, he trained his eyes on her, watching her mouth as she spoke into the mouthpiece, and he started in surprise as he registered a word in amongst the drabble; a word that no-one would use unless it had something to do with his mission.

"Imuto…" he repeated in a whisper, rising from his seat.

"Where do you think _you _are going?" muttered the woman sitting next to him, and a split second later Pierre felt her feet snap shut around his ankle, pulling him back down into his seat with surprising force. She shifted a foot up underneath the rim of his pant leg, and he jolted in his seat as he felt the touch of hard plastic against his bare skin, and his eyes narrowed as the mysterious woman held a finger up to her lips.

"Make one wrong move, and this stun gun—" she dug the plastic in harder, "will put enough electricity in you to run a Magnet Train," she said in a sickly sweet voice, tauntingly batting her eyelids at him.

"What is it that you want?" he asked her quietly, meeting her unflinching stare. Today, it seemed, was going to be a lot different than what he had imagined it would be.

"What do _I_ want?" she repeated, with a shrill laugh. "Well, someone has already taken care of that with their wallet, so right now, what I want is what _they _want. For you to stop snooping around like a hungry Mightyena…"

"Snooping for _what_, exactly?" Pierre challenged, gritting his teeth as the tip of the stun gun bit against his leg. The woman laughed again and leaned forwards, her eyes glinting in the daylight with malicious intent, but he held her gaze without any show of intimidation at all.

"Information on those three little boys," she told him with a triumphant smirk, which widened as his jaw dropped open in blank shock. "Oh yes, I know about you and your activities here on Ayers Island… it turns out that my client is _quite_ interested in you and those young men."

"How could you possibly know of this?!" he bellowed, jumping to his feet and backing away, just as he heard a sharp crackling noise from under the table and realised that he'd barely evaded her concealed stun gun. "Who are you?!" he demanded, and she slowly got to her feet with a dark scowl flashing over her face. Without a word, she swept around and marched out of the pub, leaving a shocked and awkward silence in her wake, before chatter quickly returned amongst the other patrons.

_Who was that woman?!_ he asked himself, feeling a little shaken as he collapsed back into his chair and ran a hand through his short hair. "C'est des conneries!" he said under his breath. _Only my commander and I know about my mission… so how the hell does she know about it?! She said she had a client who knew… but that's imposs—!_

"You know, you handled yourself quite well there," said another female voice, and this time Pierre jumped visibly at the sound of an unfamiliar voice next to him. "Relax, I'm friend, not foe," she added.

"Well, that is—" he sighed, but as he turned around he stopped in shock; it was the young blonde woman he'd seen talking on the wireless headset in the corner of the pub, just before that mystery woman had threatened him. "You!" he whispered fiercely, as she smiled and sat down in the free seat at the table. "Y-You—!"

"_Tulip_," she corrected him, twirling a finger through one of the huge curls of hair framing the sides of her face.

"Tulip…" repeated Pierre slowly, his uneasiness increasing by the second. "How do I know that you are not of my enemy?"

"Judging by your accent, you're not from around these parts, are you…?" Tulip smirked, spreading her fingers on the wooden tabletop. "That woman is no friend of mine. I saw the stun gun she had pinned on your leg—" she nodded as she saw Pierre's eyes widen, "so she's clearly no friend of yours. And my ancient proverbs have taught me that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. So—" she shrugged her shoulders, "here we are, Mr.…?"

"Benoit," he said formally, extending a hand. "Pierre Benoit."

"Pierre…" Tulip smiled, shaking his hand firmly. "I have a feeling we'll be seeing much more of each other," she added, with an almost devilish expression, as the faintest echo of a roar sounded from outside.

* * *

Shane clung on grimly to the rough bark of the palm tree stuck between his legs, feeling a sickening jolt run through him head-to-toe as it collided with the steep slope of Fire Island, careening down the mountainside at breakneck speed as he heard a screeching roar from somewhere behind his head. He knew that Moltres would be coming after him with a swift vengeance soon; he just hoped that he'd be in the ocean by then, as he ran through his plan so far in his mind.

As the Flame Pokémon had charged up a Flamethrower, his Exploud had launched its Hyper Voice attack, creating an enormous shockwave of sound energy that had both deafened and knocked the Titan of Fire out of the sky. He'd hastily recalled his Normal-type, and jumped onto the fallen tree, with his Abomasnow sitting just behind him. With a powerful Wood Hammer attack, the Ice-type Pokémon had pushed them off, sliding down the uneven ground as their speed slowly picked up. After a second or two, he'd ordered Abomasnow to use an Ice Beam on the smooth patch of ground he'd seen earlier, and they'd used it as a launch pad to go even faster and further.

Now, he was at the mercy of the terrain, only able to use his and Abomasnow's combined weight to try and steer it a fraction to the left or right. Somehow, through all this chaos, he had to survive until they reached the shore, and after that, he still had to get away with his life intact, which was, amazingly, looking more likely with every passing moment.

"_Kohhh!_" shrieked Moltres, and the Galactic Commander could hear pounding sound of wing-beats as the Legendary Pokémon closed in on him.

"Alright, Abomasnow, get ready to fire some Ice Beams to use as berms!" he roared to his Pokémon, who gave a reassuring grunt from behind him, and he felt a shift in the direction of his makeshift toboggan as Abomasnow prepared its attack. "Now, to the right!" he bellowed, pointing at a tree coming up on the slope.

"_Bommaaaa!_" growled the Grass-type, blasting a jagged beam of icy blue light at the ground around the base of the tree, which instantly turned into a smooth, slick sheet of ice that curved away to the left. Shane braced himself as his ride smacked into the curve at a rough angle, feeling the impact make his teeth bump against each other, but he allowed himself to breathe when he felt the tree follow the line of the ice.

_That was close…_ he thought, wiping his brow, but he heard the searing sizzle of fire bearing down, and he whipped his head around to see a column of flames turning Abomasnow's Ice Beam into a cloud of steam, reducing the tree inside to a mound of powdered ash. _Shit!_

"Abomasnow, get us out of here!" he roared to his Frost Tree Pokémon. "_Avalanche_!"

"_Bom…!_" boomed Abomasnow, raising its snowy arms towards the sunlit sky. There was a loud crash from the peak of Fire Island, and all three sets of eyes were drawn towards it as a white haze exploded outwards from the rim, spilling down over the mountainside and consuming everything in its path. Moltres gave a startled squawk as it flipped around in mid-air, only to see a wave of snow tumbling down the slope towards it, and it hastily flapped its flaming wings to stay clear.

"Come on, _come on_,_ COME ON_!" Shane yelled, throwing himself flat over the bouncing, shaking palm tree. He could hear the thunderous rumble of the avalanche as it drew closer, and he screwed his eyes shut and flattened the side of his face against the rough bark, feeling it scrape and tear at his cheek. The roaring in his ears grew louder and louder, and he didn't even bother to try and sneak a glance; he knew that all he'd be able to see would be the half of his Abomasnow's body, and a wall of white rubble.

Whispering a quick few words to himself, he braced himself for the impact.

_BAM!_

The avalanche collided with the palm tree, throwing both Trainer and Pokémon off as all three were swept away in the snowy tide. Shane's world spun as he was swallowed whole by the overwhelming white, but as soon as it happened, everything went black.

* * *

The sun was at its highest, and glaring down on the concrete pavements of Ayers Island as Paul stood on the street corner with his arms folded, listening intently as his Honchkrow squawked and flapped its wings about as it stood on the ground in front of him. After close to a minute, he finally raised a hand, and the Big Boss Pokémon fell silent immediately and bowed its head, unmoving as its Trainer pulled out a PokéBall and recalled it to its depths.

"Interesting…" he said to himself as he pocketed the ball, turning his gaze skyward as the sun disappeared behind a grey cloud. His cold eyes watched as a few Pidgey flew overhead before disappearing behind the roof of the building next to him, which was Stadium Eight, the venue for his qualifying battle against Gary Oak. He shifted his shoulders and cracked a bone in his jaw, more out of habit than anything else, before he strode towards the tall entrance gate of the stadium, only to stop as he felt something vibrating in his pocket.

With a frustrated grunt, he reluctantly slipped the phone out of his pocket and flipped open the display, looking straight at the caller ID that was flashing green. _I'd have expected Father to call, but not you…_ he thought, his brow furrowed in confusion as he slowly connected the call and held the phone to his ear.

"What is it, Reggie?" he said bluntly, looking at his surroundings as if suspecting someone to be eavesdropping on his conversation, and he hurriedly marched through the gate and into the main lobby of the stadium.

"Hey, Paul," came the cheerful voice of his older brother on the other end of the line. "I just called to wish you good luck on your battle today," he added, making Paul roll his eyes as he turned a corner and headed down a blank stretch of hallway.

"And you called for this battle, as opposed to all the other battles beforehand, for what reason, exactly?" he muttered icily.

"Because the guy you're going up against – the Oak guy – he's a lot better than you give him credit for," retorted Reggie, a hint of fire in his tone. "Even by _your_ standards of respecting your opponents…"

"Whatever," Paul scoffed, as he rounded another corner, this time leading to a flight of stairs leading down into a dark tunnel. "He's still an idiot; a weakling, just like all the other idiots I've had to beat on my way here."

"You know, brother…" sighed Reggie, as if defeated to the task of wishing him well, "one of these days, that attitude – or, should I say, attitude _problem_ – of yours… that, more than anything else, is gonna end up being your downfall at that tournament."

"Well, I happen to be in the position of actually _knowing_ where things stand—!" Paul countered, venom inching its way up his throat, "because _I'm_ the one that's actually _here_ on this island!"

"It'd do you well to remember that I was invited to the Championships, too, y'know…"

"You were here for so short a time, I'm surprised that even _you_ remember…!" Paul sneered, now surrounded by a gloomy half-light that came from the stairs now at his back. He was in the Trainer's tunnel that connected to the battlefield, but at the moment, the tunnel was closed, and the only lights that were on were at the far end of the narrow corridor, beyond the mesh gate that would keep fans out during the intermission. _Not that I have many fans,_ he thought uncaringly, discarding the thought as he heard Reggie talking again.

"—Don't get to gloat just because you're a win away from the Top Sixteen," he was saying resentfully.

"Whereas you fell out in the second round," Paul added swiftly, walking towards the end of the tunnel. "It just goes to show which brother is the stronger Trainer, now, doesn't it?" he muttered with a hint of arrogance that his brother apparently registered, because there was a long pause on the line before he spoke again.

"You know, Paul…" he said sternly, and Paul bit back a retort as he caught on to the use of his name, "I've been following your progress in the tournament, as hard to believe as it might be—" he paused again before he dropped the sarcasm in his comment, "and, as convincing as your wins have been… something about the way you're going about the whole thing seems… a little—I don't know—_different_."

"Maybe that's because I've been training and improving my battle technique since the last time I was in Veilstone City!" snapped Paul, curling his free hand into a fist as he neared the gate.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it," Reggie said darkly, and Paul narrowed his eyes at the phone next to his ear. "You're battling as though you're trying to personally humiliate every person on the other side of that battlefield. It's like your life is depending on every attack!" he shouted, and Paul cast his eyes towards the concrete at his feet as he closed his mouth, leaning on the door of the gate. "Paul, what the heck's going on with you…?" asked Reggie. "This whole thing isn't something to do with—?"

"I don't really have time for this right now, Reggie, so just drop it, would you?!" Paul hissed, just as there was a buzzing ring from the far end of the stadium. Without a sound, the steel wall at the end of the tunnel slid open, revealing the bright colours of the stadium beyond, and his senses were flooded with noises and smells as the crowd chanted for he and Gary to step out into the arena. "My battle's starting, so I have to go."

"Paul, don't turn your Championships campaign into a personal vendetta!" Reggie yelled, his voice becoming crackly through the speaker. "If you do end up battling him, your emotions for him are going to hamper your judgment, and, as much as I hate to say this as your brother, he's gonna wipe the floor with you and leave you out to dry in front of the entire world!"

"Spare me!" Paul roared, holding the receiver over his mouth as his anger bubbled and boiled. "I'm not losing to _anyone_ in this tournament! No-one! Not him, not his friends, not now, never! So get it through that thick, complacent skull of yours, and stop lecturing me!" he shouted, snapping the phone shut and jamming it deep into his pocket.

He stood silently for a moment, his face contorted in anger, and he lashed out with the palm of his hand, striking the mesh wire covering the gate next to him. He grimaced as he felt the pain shoot up his arm, but he drove it out of his mind as he straightened up and marched towards the square of light in front of him, his opponent and a fifty-thousand-strong crowd awaiting his arrival.

* * *

Shane's sodden head broke the surface of the stinging, salty sea, gasping as air stabbed into his lungs like white swords, and he clumsily struck out in the water with his arms as he grabbed the palm tree that had just bobbed up next to him. He could see the flaming shape of Moltres circling high in the sky above him, and for the first time in a long time he blessed his untidy, coiled green hair; from the air, he'd look like little more than a pile of seaweed caught on a floating log swept along in the ocean current.

_Now if only Tentacruel hadn't been wiped out by that Flamethrower attack…_ he thought to himself, looking across the vast, rippling waves to a snowy slab of rock halfway towards the horizon.

Ice Island. And the second Titan's Sphere.

He blew out a deep breath as he floated there in the water, feeling himself slowly pushed up and pulled down in the ebb and flow of the current. Securing his hold on the log with one hand, he slipped the other underwater and into his jacket, breathing a sigh of relief as he felt a warm, round something within the fabric of the pocket. _At least I didn't lose it on the way down…_ he smiled, dropping his water-laden head onto his arm. _And I don't have to go back and look for it either…_ he added.

The Galactic Commander shook his shoulders and took a deep breath before he kicked out with his feet, moving his body around so that his stomach was lying level with the ocean, and he kicked out again, using the thick length of tree in his arms as a board to keep himself from sinking. It was slow, it was arduous, but it was getting him, foot by foot, closer to the next step of his mission, and he never let the island out of his sight as he made the long swim across the sea to Ice Island.

* * *

Reggie's mouth curved into a solemn frown as he lowered the phone from his face, clipping it shut and stuffing it down the top pocket of his apron. _Geez, he can be thick-headed sometimes,_ he said to himself, shaking his head as he climbed to his feet and laid a hand on the post at the corner of his house's veranda. _It's not like I'm not supporting him… he just needs to pull his head in and not let his little quest for revenge blind him, like F—_ he stopped short in his chain of thought, his mind flicking back to the phone in his pocket.

"Hmm…"

He pondered over his thoughts for a moment or two, but with a nonplussed shrug, he took the phone out and flipped it back open, scrolling through a list of names that had been recorded in the phone's memory. About halfway down the list, he came across a name that made him smile, but he flicked past it just as quickly as he'd seen it. _Maybe another day,_ he thought, as he passed through the N's and O's.

_I wonder what kind of battle he's officiating over today,_ he chuckled, seeing the name of Olivier, who was an old Pokémon League friend of his from his days as a Trainer. _I'll have to catch up with him sometime soon… here we are—!_ he reached the R's, and found the name he was looking for, pressing a button to bring up the call screen, and pressing a second button to connect the call.

"What is it, Reggie?" said a voice laced with tiredness, and Reggie instantly tensed up. "You've caught me at a bad time—_yes, I know that there are patrols in the area, but I gave you orders and I expect them to be followed!_—" he roared, apparently chastising someone present with him on the other end of the line. Reggie wasn't surprised; rather, he'd slowly become accustomed to it, so he waited patiently while the man finished yelling at the nameless person.

"I'm sorry, I'm very busy at the moment," he finally said, sincerely apologetic.

"Father, I'm… I'm worried about my brother," Reggie muttered, looking left and right before moving a little closer to his front door.

"Who, Paul?" asked Giovanni, surprised by the statement.

"Well who else would I be talking about?!" Reggie hissed.

His father remained silent for a long while, before saying, "Point taken. Go—_I said get out of my office, you bumbling nitwits!—_go ahead, why are you worried about him?" he inquired, and Reggie took a slow breath as he tried to collect and focus his thoughts into a proper sentence.

"Well—I'm not really, uh… he's been acting really strangely lately, I guess," he stammered, scratching the back of his head. "Stranger than usual… um, and I know that you're _probably_ not the best person to ask this from, but—I was wondering if you could have someone, I dunno… keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid?" he ventured, already regretting the request.

"I already am, Reggie," Giovanni told him, making him start in surprise. "One of my more trusted agents is stationed on Ayers Island for the duration of the World Pokémon Championships. She's been monitoring his actions closely, ever since that… rather nasty unproven incident with that blue-haired girl."

"They didn't say much about it in the news though…" Reggie said quietly, more to himself than to Giovanni. "Mostly just speculation about a warehouse and some people from Team Galact—" he broke off, his eyes hardening for a brief second.

"…Is that all you called about, son?" Giovanni asked.

"I—yeah, that's all, father," Reggie said hurriedly. "I'll talk to you sometime soon…" he added, snapping the phone shut. "Hopefully…" he muttered, staring forlornly at the screen.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Olivier is the referee who officiates over Ash and Paul's full battle during DP131 and DP 132.**

**Quiz:**

***In which generation of games do all sprites of Moltres show it with wings fully engulfed in flames?**

* * *

**Well, it's been a long time coming, but I'm finally back from my exams, and I've officially finished with high school! So that means, hopefully, more updates. Because I'm itching to keep writing this!**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, way back at the end of September! Wow, six weeks since I last updated... I'm pretty embarrassed.**

**The trivia and quiz question that always appear at the end of the chapter are going to be disappearing after this story reaches 100 chapters, just so you know.**

**Chapter 92 (Ground For The Count) will be published as soon as possible, most likely next Friday to fall back into my regular schedule. It features Paul and Gary vying off for that much-treasured place in the Top Sixteen, so expect another big battle!**

**As always, don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of the chapter! Along with any questions you might have about what you've read, haha.**

**Keep up the good work!**


	92. Ground For The Count

**CHAPTER 92 – GROUND FOR THE COUNT**

"Coming at you live from Ayers Island on this _b-e-a-u-tiful_ day at Stadium Eight, it's the World Pokémon Championships! I'm your host and commentator, Derek Cohen, bringing you exclusive coverage of this Top Sixteen qualifying match between two of our home favourites!" shouted the commentator, way up high in the stands as he watched more and more spectators filling the already capacity stadium; people were now being forced to stand in the aisles to get a glimpse of the upcoming match.

"That's right, folks, on one side we have a Pallet Town native, the grandson of the world-famous Pokémon researcher Samuel Oak, and an established researcher in his own right! He hasn't lost his battling edge by any stretch of the imagination, though, and he's out here today to bash his way into the finals, so give it up for… Gary Oak!" Derek roared, leaning back in his seat as the stadium shattered the air with ecstatic screams and cheers, fans applauding until their hands were sore as Gary walked out onto the battlefield and waved a jubilant hand above his head.

"Squaring off against him is yet another local competitor, fresh from the Sinnoh region not too far northeast of where we are now!" he continued, once the crowd had quietened down enough for his voice to reach above them. "He's a Trainer who takes no prisoners with his posse of powerhouse Pokémon, crushing every opponent who's come his way, and he's thoroughly earned his tournament title as the Veilstone Vigilante! So please, a lot of noise for… Paul Mortiego!"

Paul entered the stadium to a second overwhelming blast of cheering and clapping, although this time he could hear a ripple of boos that snaked its way around the crowd, no doubt from Gary's more vocal supporters. He hid a smirk as he slipped his hands into his pockets and marched out onto the arena's centre circle to meet his opponent, who hid a smirk of his own as the two stood opposite each other.

"So _you're_ the piece of work I've heard about from Ash, eh?" Gary taunted, brushing a hand through his brown hair as he looked at Paul. "You don't look so tough to me."

"That's the kind of attitude I'd expect from a friend of his," fired Paul, throwing a nasty look at his opponent, who shrugged his shoulders and merely glanced away. "You should've stayed at home reading your books instead of trying to come back to Pokémon battling," he added, his lip curling into a sneer.

"Why? Because you'll miss out on a place in the finals because of it?" Gary chuckled. "I may not be cocky like I was when I started being a Trainer, but my time as a researcher has taught me things about Pokémon that you could only imagine, and that's what gives me confidence in having the edge over someone like you," he explained, putting a hand out towards Paul. "But, may the better Trainer win," he said cordially, but Paul only glared at him before turning and stalking towards the red Trainer's box at the edge of the battlefield.

_I plan to,_ he thought fiercely, ignoring the multitude of boos, insults and curses lobbed his way for his lack of sportsmanship. When both he and Gary had assumed their positions at either end of the field, the referee – a young man with short, forest-green hair – stepped forwards with the two trademark flags in his hands.

"This battle will be a three-on-three battle!" he shouted authoritatively, his eyes sweeping from Gary to Paul and back. "Substitutions will not be permitted, and any Pokémon withdrawn from battle after being summoned from its PokéBall will be immediately disqualified! There will be no intermission, and the Trainer with the last Pokémon standing will be determined the winner, advancing to the finals! Do both Trainers understand?!" he asked, getting a curt nod from Paul in reply before turning to Gary. "And you?"

"What do you say we make things interesting, eh, Paul?" Gary yelled to his opponent. "How about we have some _field_ to go with this _battle_?!" he offered, raising his hands towards the crowd, who responded with a raucous round of supportive cheering.

"Do whatever you want, it's not going to change the result!" Paul countered, folding his arms as the crowd began to chant together for a field change before the start of the battle.

"Go on, Olivier, give the crowd what they want!" Derek laughed from the commentator's box. After a minute or two of resisting the crowd, the green-haired referee finally shrugged his shoulders in defeat and pressed a button on a remote strapped to his belt, turning around to watch the giant scoreboard mounted on the stadium's side as it randomly selected a field. Once the arrow landed on its resting place, he turned around and raised his flags with a cry, "This match shall be contested on the Mountain field!"

"Mountains, huh?" Gary repeated, watching patiently as the battlefield disappeared out of sight, only to be replaced seconds later by the rocky expanse and two high peaks at either side of the arena. "Let's just see what you're going to send out first, Paul…" he muttered to himself, studying the Trainer standing across the field.

"Gary, please send out your first Pokémon!" shouted Olivier, catching the Pallet native off-guard as the starting siren blared out from the corners of the stadium.

"Me? Oh, alright then," he grumbled under his breath, taking a PokéBall from his pants pocket and tossing it at the nearest stone ledge. "Golem, let's go!" he yelled, the PokéBall splitting open with a white flash to summon his Pokémon, which looked like a sphere made of boulders, with four holes for its arms and legs, and one slightly larger hole to accommodate its snakelike head. The Megaton Pokémon stamped a heavy foot against the ground and gave a hearty roar, making the ground quake ever so slightly under its weight, but Paul didn't seem to be intimidated in the least.

_If you're trying to use the terrain to your advantage, you've made a poor choice,_ he thought smugly. _And if you're trying to con me into opening this battle with my Torterra because of a type advantage, that's another poor choice._ "Crawdaunt, stand by for battle!" he roared, lobbing his own PokéBall into the fray. His large, ruby-coloured crustacean Pokémon came crashing out of the ball with a flash, its smaller frontal legs scratching against the ground as it clacked its huge pincers.

"So it looks like we'll be kicking off this battle with Crawdaunt versus Golem!" Derek shouted with an eager grin. "As a Water-type, Paul's Crawdaunt is going to have a big advantage against Gary's Pokémon, which is both a Rock- and Ground-type! But let's see if Gary's encyclopaedic knowledge of a Pokémon's abilities can bring about an upset!" he added, banging his hammer against the starting bell.

"Why don't we just let Paul make the first move, Golem?" Gary ordered, folding his arms as his Rock-type flexed the muscles in its thick arms.

_If you want to play that way…_ Paul thought smartly, _that's fine by me._ "Dark Pulse!" he snapped, and Crawdaunt pushed a claw out towards its foe, forming a spinning ball filled with dark rings.

"Defense Curl!" countered Gary smoothly, barely batting an eyelid as the Rogue Pokémon blasted a thick torrent of deep-purple energy through the air, buzzing like a hive of angry bees. Golem quickly tucked its limbs and head into its sturdy shell, not even resisting the attack as it smashed clean into its body, but most of the pulses simply bounced harmlessly off, and those that did only managed to send the Megaton Pokémon rolling gently backwards across the field.

"Excellent, now use the momentum for Rollout!" Gary continued, punching the air as the crowd rose a few inches higher in their seats. There was an obedient, muffled grunt from within the confines of the rocky shell, before Golem suddenly sped up and tore across the field, carving out a wide arc around the outside of the arena as it wove between mounds of dirt with blinding speed and agility.

"And Gary is using a tried and tested move combination here, folks!" Derek shouted excitedly. "By using Defense Curl, he had Golem use the power from Crawdaunt's own Dark Pulse to get itself moving, which instantly doubled the destructive power of Rollout! Looks like all that time studying is paying dividends right from the get-go!"

"Dark Pulse, again!" Paul ordered, his eyes tracking Golem's every movement as it rolled through the small valley in the centre of the field. Crawdaunt gave a rattling cry and sent another beam of dark, razor-sharp discs towards its foe, but the assault was even less successful than the first; the Rock-type's overwhelming speed pushed past the Dark Pulse and sent the rings flying off in every direction, burying themselves into the ground and exploding against boulders.

"Strike one, Paul!" Gary shouted tauntingly, swinging his fist back and forth over his head. "Golem, we've got the perfect field, so let's use it to our advantage! Hit a mound and launch yourself into the air for your special _Megaton_ Mega Punch!" he yelled, his eyes glimmering mischievously as Golem banked towards one of the larger mounds close to Paul's Pokémon, still, amazingly, picking up speed with every passing second.

"_Goh-goh-goh-goh-goh!_" grunted Golem, hitting the dirt pile and shooting into the air with a plume of dust trailing behind it. As the stands exploded with gasps and cheers, the Pokémon's limbs and head snaked out of the holes in its shell, and with a thunderous roar it drew back a fist covered in swirling orange light, its entire body glinting with a soft red light as it bore down on its foe.

"Iron Defense!" Paul fired hotly, baring his teeth savagely. Despite the threat of the Ground-type Pokémon speeding towards it, Crawdaunt tilted its head towards the sky and remained perfectly still, a ray of sunlight shining dull grey on the Pokémon's scales.

Golem gave another deep roar as it swung its glowing fist into Crawdaunt's head with a colossal bang, making the stands shrink back and cringe, but Gary exclaimed in horror as the Water-type was only pushed back by a matter of inches. Golem, too, had its jaw drop open in shock, its fist still connected to the side of its foe's face, and Crawdaunt's two dot-like eyes swivelled down to stare emptily at the Pokémon.

"I don't believe it!" screamed Derek, one hand clutching at the microphone and the other knotted in his slick hair. "With the combined power of a full-strength Rollout and a Mega Punch, Gary's Golem doesn't even make a _scratch_ on Paul's Crawdaunt! I was expecting that crab to get splattered and served up for dinner, but its Iron Defense is top notch! I guess that's '_strike one_' for Gary as well, now!" he added with a chuckle.

"Crabhammer!" Paul barked, and Crawdaunt's tiny eyes became fierce slits as it ducked away from Golem's still-motionless fist, its claw glowing a fearsome blue. With speed that made it look almost invisible, the Rogue Pokémon brought its Crabhammer around with crushing force, bashing into Golem's side and sending the heavyweight Pokémon rocketing across the field like a baseball.

Gary almost swore with disbelief as he watched his Pokémon being sent flying back his way, only to be cut mercilessly short one of the two mountains in the battlefield's middle. A cloud of dust blew out from the side of the mountain and covered the field, and both Trainers watched the space intently, looking for any sign of Golem's condition, be it good or bad, as Derek continued to commentate from his spot in the skybox.

_Come on, Golem…_ Gary thought, clenching his fist so tightly that his fingernails were starting to dig into his palm, and he allowed himself to relax just a little when he saw the hulking form of his Pokémon stumbling out from the large hole in the mountain that it had created. "Alright, good work!" he cheered, as the crowd cheered along with him, and the Ground-type gave its Trainer a reassuring grin as it stamped a foot into the ground.

"Superpower!" Paul ordered, pointing at Golem, and Crawdaunt clacked its claws as it scurried forwards, its body outlined in blue.

"Dodge it, Golem!" Gary shouted in reply, watching on with baited breath as Paul's Pokémon raised both claws over its head and leapt through the air towards its foe. With a hurried shuffle of its feet, Golem hurled itself to one side and tucked its body in, rolling safely across the field and leaving Crawdaunt to crash into empty air.

The Dark-type carried on regardless, seemingly unaware that the Rock-type had dodged the attack, and slammed its claws into the mountain in front of it, cracking the stone straight through the middle. The Superpower attack shattered the mountain in an instant, sending a shower of rubble cascading down onto the field, and Crawdaunt gave a horrifying shriek as it turned around to face its opponent, who was nowhere to be seen.

"Knock that Crawdaunt off its high horse, Golem!" Gary roared, as the crowd rang with excitement and whoops of delight. "Use Focus Blast!"

"Behind you!" Paul snapped, but it was too late; by the time Crawdaunt managed to swing around to face its foe, Golem had already lobbed a sphere of bluish energy towards it. Before the Rogue Pokémon had time to cry out or blink, the attack slammed into its stomach, blasting it across the field and into the one mountain that had still been standing after its Superpower. The mountain buckled under the force of the impact and collapsed, trapping the Water-type underneath a huge pile of rubble, and the stands fell quiet as the fans waited.

"Get up!" snarled Paul impatiently, and there was a loud crunch from underneath the rubble as Crawdaunt broke free, sending boulders flying through the air as it scuttled back onto a level section of the arena.

"And Paul's Crawdaunt just _won't_ lie down! It's amazing how that Pokémon can take such a beating from Golem and still be standing tough and tall!" Derek laughed, scratching his head. "I wonder how much more it has in the tank, if I may be blunt for a moment, folks… Gary is looking to be in a great position at this point in the battle!"

"You heard the man!" Gary grinned, shrugging his shoulders as if to say '_why fight it?_'. "Put the power on with a Rollout, presto!" he yelled, and Golem grunted obediently, tucking itself in and rolling towards Crawdaunt at high speed.

"Sludge Bomb, on the ground!" Paul shouted, pointing at the incoming Pokémon. Crawdaunt opened its mouth and spat out a volley of dark brown blobs that hit the ground between itself and Golem, sizzling ominously as they spread together and formed a rancid puddle on the battlefield. The stands erupted with foul cries as the equally foul smell hit them in a wave, and even Gary wrinkled his nose as the fumes reached him, but Golem seemed completely unaffected as it reached the edge of the sludge and tore over it.

"_Gorogorogoro—_!" chanted the Megaton Pokémon as it rolled over the puddle, but within seconds it completely lost control of itself, the sludge sticking to its shell and sending it into a fierce fishtail. As it cleared the Sludge Bomb at last, the shadow of a smirk crossed Paul's lips as he saw that his gambit had paid off; Golem was rolling as powerfully as ever, but it had lost its sense of direction, and it was now heading on a path straight past Crawdaunt's shoulder.

"Superpower, again!" he ordered, seizing his chance. Crawdaunt's eyes gleamed viciously as it leapt towards its foe, slamming both claws into Golem's side as it rolled along, the impact sending a blast of air shaking through the stadium. Golem was sent flying with the immense power of the attack, knocked clean off the ground as it shot through the air and cannoned into the boundary wall near the referee, who was forced to jump out of the way to avoid being hit.

"Golem!" cried Gary, taking a step forwards in concern, as his Pokémon fell out of the large dent that its body had made in the wall, hitting the ground with a loud, dull thump. "Stay on alert, Golem!" he shouted, looking back to Paul's side of the battlefield, but Crawdaunt was nowhere to be seen. "Where'd it g—?!"

"Crabhammer!"

"_Kruuduu_!" rattled the Rogue Pokémon, dropping out of the sky with a claw filled with blue-white light. Golem barely had time to look up and gasp in shock before Crawdaunt cracked its claw straight over the Rock-type's head, knocking it out cold even before its legs buckled and its body pitched forwards. The sound of the Megaton Pokémon thudding onto the ground brought a deafening cheer from the crowd, growing into a raucous chant as Crawdaunt put a triumphant leg on its foe's shell and raised a pincer to the sky.

"Golem is unable to battle!" Olivier shouted, his red flag in hand and pointed at Paul.

"_Unbelievable_!" Derek boomed, on his feet as his voice struggled to rise above the crowd. "Gary looked like he was in complete control after enduring a Crabhammer and landing that Focus Blast, but no! Paul manages to completely blindside Gary by cutting down Golem's speed with a Sludge Bomb and pouncing with Superpower! And if that wasn't enough for you, folks, he follows up with an absolutely _punishing_ Crabhammer to pull out the win!"

"_Crawdaunt_! _Crawdaunt_! _Crawdaunt_!" chanted the fans, punching the air and stamping their feet.

"So, with that incredible turn of events, Paul has snatched the upper hand after the first round of this battle!" he continued. "I wonder what Pokémon Gary is going to call on here to try and level the scores… well, whatever it is, it'll have to be a top-notch battler to be able to take out that Crawdaunt and catch up to Paul!"

"Mr. Oak, please recall your Golem and send out a new Pokémon," Olivier said abruptly, and Gary, still in a state of slight shock, slowly nodded as he took Golem's PokéBall and held it at arm's length.

"Good work, Golem. Come back," he muttered with a slight frown; not a frown at his Pokémon, but at himself. _I shouldn't have underestimated the power of Paul's Pokémon,_ he chastised, shaking his head to rid himself of the negative thoughts as his Pokémon was sucked back inside its ball with a flash of red light. "Well, let's crank it up a notch, shall we, Paul?!" he shouted fiercely, clipping the PokéBall back on its clasp as he took another one into his hand.

_Just send out your Pokémon so I can finish this battle quickly,_ Paul thought, his eyes narrowed at his opponent as Crawdaunt scuttled back to stand a few paces in front of him.

"Let's drive, Electivire!" Gary called, throwing his PokéBall high into the air. The ball burst open, and the shaggy, yellow shape of his Thunderbolt Pokémon crashed down from the sky and slammed a black fist into the ground, sending tremors throughout the arena as it slowly got to its feet. Electivire roared, its cordlike tails whipping around behind it as the crowd rippled with excitement, but Crawdaunt stood firmly on its side of the field and clacked its claws tauntingly, daring its foe.

"Dark Pulse!" Paul ordered, beginning this new battle with the same attack as the previous one.

"Hah, nice try," Gary smirked, wagging his finger patronisingly as Crawdaunt extended a claw and sent a wave of purple rings whizzing across the field. "Stop that Dark Pulse dead in the air with a Light Screen!" he barked to Electivire, who clapped its vast hands, creating a loud shockwave of energy that seemed to bend the air around the Electric-type. The distortion solidified into a brightly lit shield of yellow which took the brunt of Crawdaunt's Dark Pulse, the discs of dark energy smashing themselves into the barrier before exploding, and as the smoke cleared, it showed Electivire to be in perfect health and growling fearsomely.

"Crabhammer!" snarled Paul. Even before its foe let down its Light Screen, the Rogue Pokémon was scuttling forwards at full speed, claws at the ready and glowing brightly.

"Thunderbolt, Electivire!" countered Gary, his smirk growing wider as Crawdaunt charged closer. Electivire sneered as the rounded nodes on top of its head crackled dangerously, and it tensed its body as it loosed an intense blast of electricity through the air, striking the Water-type right on its star-like crown. Crawdaunt shivered and shrieked in pain as the high-voltage shock wreaked havoc on its body, its muscles beginning to seize.

"Iron Defense!" Paul yelled, his teeth bared like fangs. "Front legs in the ground!"

"_Kruu…!_" hissed Crawdaunt, screwing its beady eyes shut as it froze, the pain from the Thunderbolt doubling instantly as its body became hardened like steel plates. The crowd whispered amongst themselves, confused by Paul's seemingly suicidal command, but Paul simply crossed his arms as his Pokémon jabbed downwards with the small, feeler-like claws hanging from the front of its carapace. The stream of electricity buckled, flowing straight down the smaller claws and down into the ground, the Iron Defense acting like an earthing cable, and Crawdaunt broke the attack with a powerful sideways thrust, scuttling away across the field.

"Now _there's_ something you don't see every day!" said Derek. "Crawdaunt, a Water-type that was already suffering from a Thunderbolt attack, used a _Steel_-type move in Iron Defense! A very high-risk, high-return play by Paul, since the electric power of Electivire's attack would have really been pumped up from it, but Crawdaunt managed to ground the attack, something it wouldn't have been able to do without the Iron Defense! Looks like Gary's not the only one who's done his research!"

"Cut it down with Low Kick!" shouted Gary, throwing his arm forwards as his Pokémon pounced after the Dark-type. Electivire lunged with its outstretched foot, smacking it into Crawdaunt's lower torso, and the Rogue Pokémon doubled over as the force of the blow pierced a sweet spot, the force of the blow echoing around its entire body.

"Sludge Bomb!" Paul growled, incensed. Crawdaunt wheezed in pain as it tried to suck in deep gulps of air, and as Electivire tried to sidestep it, it belched up a large wad of brown goo that hit its target right between the eyes, sizzling as it spread over the Thunderbolt Pokémon's face. Electivire screeched, a hideous noise that made the hairs on the back of the spectators' necks quiver on end, as it staggered backwards and desperately clutched at its face, its blunt fingers madly scrabbling over its eyes as it tried to scrape away some of the toxic sludge, and Paul smirked as he took the advantage.

"Superpower, at the leg!" he commanded.

"Electivire, on the defence!" Gary shouted, his eyes widening with fear as Crawdaunt's eyes glimmered maliciously. "If you're gonna go through this blind, you might as well not care! Use Thunderbolt with all the juice you've got, and let it fly everywhere!" he roared, subtly crossing his fingers at his side as he gave the order.

"_Ee—eel… Eeeeeelectiviiiire!_" howled the Electric-type, its hands still grabbing its face as its head-nodes crackled. Crawdaunt leapt high into the sky and held its claws aloft as it started to fall down, ready to smash its foe into the dirt, but Electivire blasted the space around it with bolts of lightning so dense that it seemed like an electric cloud has just discharged itself from the Pokémon.

The helpless Water-type was caught right in the middle, thrown backwards by the power of the blast, and it hit the ground near its Trainer's feet, its tough shell charred and smoking as its limbs twitched every now and then. Paul scowled at Crawdaunt as it shakily turned around to face Electivire, sparks of electricity occasionally arcing off its body into the ground, and he yelped as a stray one stretched out and zapped him on the finger.

"Iron Defense, ground it!" he seethed, shaking his hand to lessen the pain as the crowd laughed at the spectacle. Crawdaunt tensed its body and stuck its claws into the ground, a rattling sigh sounding from its mouth as the electricity left its muscles and coursed into the ground. Across the field, Electivire was taking advantage of its foe's distractions by clearing its face of the Sludge Bomb, managing to get enough of the gunk away to give it clear eyesight in its left eye.

"Crabhammer!" Paul commanded, not wanting to waste any more time. The Water-type scuttled forwards at once, growling coarsely as it raised its sharp pincer high above its head, but Electivire saw the attack coming. As Crawdaunt lunged at its foe, furiously swiping its claw around, the Electric-type ducked down and sidestepped the attack, leaving the Rogue Pokémon to grunt in surprise as its Crabhammer met with thin air.

"Time for a whip-around!" Gary shouted. Like a blur, Electivire's black tails reared up out of nowhere and fastened themselves around the claw that Crawdaunt had tried to bludgeon it with, latching on with a grip of tempered steel. Crawdaunt's eyes widened in shock and anger as the tendrils clamped down, but, try as it might to free itself, they held fast, and with a snarl Electivire brought its arms around and held its foe in a crushing bear hug.

"Thunderbolt!"

"_Eelek!_" hissed Electivire, grinning savagely as the small bulbs on top of its head lit up with yellow light. The Thunderbolt exploded outwards from its shaggy body, enveloping Crawdaunt's body, and its two tails bit down even harder on the Water-type's claw as the attack continued, sizzling and crackling as the crowd roared with excitement and awe.

"Earth it!" roared Paul, clenching his fists as his Pokémon cried out in pain. Electivire's red eyes narrowed as it heard the command, and it tightened its grip on the Rogue Pokémon, bellowing with exertion as it slowly lifted its foe into the air. Gary cheered, and Paul stared on in disgust, as Crawdaunt's tiny frontal legs scrabbled aimlessly at Electivire's mid-section, the Thunderbolt continuing to char its shell, but the Electric-type was merciless as it kept the attack going. Only when it felt its foe go limp did the Thunderbolt Pokémon relax, and it finished by hurling it across the field with its tails, Crawdaunt crashing into the ground in front of its Trainer with its eyes unseeing.

"Crawdaunt is unable to battle!" announced Olivier, flourishing a green flag at Gary, who pumped the air with a fist as Electivire snorted contentedly. Paul wordlessly recalled his fallen Crawdaunt to its PokéBall, jamming it back onto its clip on his belt as he angrily pondered his next Pokémon.

"What an enthralling passage of play there by Gary's Electivire!" Derek said with a smile, thumping his desk with an open hand as the crowd shot to their feet and screamed with delight. "It looked like trouble when Crawdaunt managed to – quite literally – _blindside_ it with that Sludge Bomb to the face, but some quick thinking on Gary's part allowed him to get out of a bad situation! And if that wasn't enough for you, folks, Electivire's clever use of its tails, combined with the overwhelming power of its Thunderbolt attack, have sent Crawdaunt packing!"

As Electivire beat its chest with its enormous fists and marched back to stand in front of its Trainer, Paul glowered, taking a PokéBall at the end of his belt into his hand and rolling it around in his palm. _Should I finish things now, or just toy with him?_ he thought malevolently, his brow furrowed as he considered the options.

"With the scores tied at one apiece, it's still either Trainer's battle to win – or lose – so they're going to have to keep up this frenetic pace if they want that position in the Top Sixteen!" Derek continued. "I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see what these two fierce competitors are going to pull out, and what tricks they have hidden up their sleeves, as this battle continues!"

"Mr. Mortiego, please send out your next Pokémon," Olivier said politely to Paul, who nodded and tossed a PokéBall across the arena.

"Stand by for battle… Torterra!" he yelled, the ball snapping open with a burst of light. The massive, haphazard form of his Continent Pokémon formed on the ground, snapping its hooked beak as its eyes locked onto its foe, and Electivire met the stare just as fiercely, cracking its knuckles threateningly as it assumed a karate stance on Gary's side of the field.

"Solarbeam!" Paul barked, and Torterra's eyes narrowed as the tree on its broad back pulsated with a strong yellow glow, a stream of light particles slowly being sucked towards it. A pinprick of golden light appeared in front of its jaws, now gaping wide open, and it twinkled as the tree's glow became bright and brighter.

"Let's get that Light Screen back online!" countered Gary. Electivire nodded and clapped its hands together, the sound echoing around the battlefield just as its foe sent a thick beam of white-yellow light rocketing over the field, kicking up trails of dust on either side as it shot through the air. Just in time, the protective cube of golden light managed to form around the Electric-type's body, and the Solarbeam exploded against the side of it with a deep, eerie, gonging sound, and the crowd shivered at the force of the impact.

"Ooh, and a tough break for Torterra at the start!" sighed Derek dramatically. "With that Light Screen up, Torterra's special attacks are going to be all but useless, which means Paul is gonna have to get physical if he wants to take the advantage leading into the dying stages!"

_I'll give _you 'physical'_ in a moment,_ Paul thought ferociously, a twitch in his eye as his opponent's Light Screen quickly faded away, but he knew that it would reappear in an instant should he try another Solarbeam or the like. So, he folded his arms and waited patiently.

"Electivire, charge in for an Ice Punch!" Gary shouted, pointing across the field. The Thunderbolt Pokémon nodded obediently and ran towards its foe at full pace, a fist cocked backwards as a soft blue light surrounded its fingers and shimmered with delicate frost.

"Stone Edge!" ordered Paul, uncrossing his arms and moving to the edge of his Trainer's box. "Make sure to hit!" he added, as Electivire steamrolled its way across the stadium floor.

"_Toorrrrr…_" rumbled the Ground-type, its eyes glimmering with a pale-blue aura as three rings of light, the same colour as Electivire's fist, wound their way around its body, whirring as they spun. In the blink of an eye, the rings had disappeared, instead replaced by circles of sharp stones that hovered dangerously next to Torterra's body as it held them in place, tracking its foe's charge.

"_Eeelekkk…_" growled Electivire, putting on an extra burst of speed as it readied itself, and Torterra released the volley of rocks with a fearsome roar. The Stone Edge flew towards its target with the deadly accuracy of a spread of bullets, and Electivire was forced to roll to the side to avoid being struck by it, quickly regathering its footing and running towards the Grass-type again.

The blue glow in Torterra's eyes deepened, and its attack changed course in mid-air, flipping around and whizzing back towards Electivire, now aimed squarely at its back. Gary's Pokémon didn't even have time to hear the stones whistling through the air before they smashed themselves into the small of its back, pushing the Thunderbolt Pokémon face-first into the rough ground.

"Hyper Beam!" Paul shouted callously, just as Electivire planted its palms on the ground to try and pick itself up. Torterra stamped a heavy foot against the ground as it opened its maw again, a shimmering ball of blinding orange light appearing from nothing and burgeoning outwards as its creator focused its energy. The light suddenly twinkled before racing forwards as a deadly orange pillar, striking Electivire's Light Screen with the sound of breaking glass as the barrier formed to protect the Electric-type.

Electivire's shield buckled inwards as it struggled against the brutal power of Torterra's Hyper Beam, the attack fanning outwards and scorching a deep line in the ground as it tried to push through to its target. The Thunderbolt Pokémon thrust its hands forward, its face contorted in concentration as it used its energy to bolster the Light Screen, but after a few moments caught in a tense stalemate, it decided to cut its losses. Electivire tensed its legs and leapt to the side, its frail barrier disintegrating just as it sailed clear, and the Hyper Beam smashed into the ground with a bang, ripping up the field as a cloud of smoke followed behind the destruction.

"Oh, it's just like in the movies!" Derek shouted breathlessly, jumping to his feet as the enormous crowd did the same. "The irresistible force of Torterra's Hyper Beam clashing against the immovable object, and the irresistible force won, but _no_! Electivire manages to escape with milliseconds to spare, the Hyper Beam leaving a trail of debris and ruin in its wake! I tell you, this beats any movie you're likely to see in your life, folks! We're not even down to the crunch, and—" he stopped to suck down a gasp of air.

"—And _I need a_ _drink_!" he laughed, snatching up a bottle and taking a deep swig. "This battle is just that hot! But you'd better not leave your seats – as much as you're on the edge of them, like I am! – to go and fetch yourselves a water, because the action isn't gonna just freeze for you!"

_Freeze…_ Gary repeated in his mind, his eyes swivelling over to Torterra, the Continent Pokémon's body heaving as it recharged from its ferocious attack. _Freeze… that's it!_ "Electivire, you still good to go?" he asked, and Electivire replied with a lazy smile and a thumbs-up. "Good! Use Quick Attack to speed around Torterra, and chop down its legs with Low Kick!" he commanded, drawing out a whispered curse from Paul as he heard his opponent's order.

"_Eelek!_" grunted Electivire, flexing its muscles before taking off across the field at frightening speed, a sheet of white light in its slipstream as it reached its foe in no time at all. The Electric-type lashed out with a vicious foot, striking Torterra cleanly on the front right leg, and Torterra groaned in pain as the limb fell out from underneath its huge weight, its knee digging into the ground as Electivire darted away. Another pain, and this time the back right leg gave way. Then another. And another.

"Good work, now lock those legs in place with Ice Punch!" Gary followed up, eagerly punching the air with his fist as Torterra vainly tried to get back on its feet; its bulk was just too much to try and lift. So, the Continent Pokémon was easy pickings for Electivire, who gladly slammed a frost-covered fist into each of its foe's legs, snarling savagely as each one was encased in impenetrable ice that spilled out over the ground, cementing the Pokémon in place as the Electric-type finished its work.

"_Toorrr! Toorterrrrraaa!_" bellowed Torterra, straining against its prison.

"You—!" Paul seethed before hurling abuse at Gary, who stood there with a triumphant grin on his face as the crowd gasped in outrage at the language coming out of the boy's mouth. They rose to their feet and booed him as one, hurling insults at him that were just as derogatory as the ones Paul was shouting to his opponent.

_Looks like somebody's losing their grip on the battle,_ Gary thought smartly. _Well, that'll just make it all the easier to get past his Torterra…_ "Electivire, approach Torterra from behind with your Quick Attack! Jump on its head and let rip with Ice Punch!" he yelled, taking advantage of the distraction that the fans in the stands were providing. _Paul won't be able to get Electivire at all if I go around it…_ he told himself, as his Pokémon gave him a quick salute before darting around the edge of the stadium, a white line running parallel to the boundary wall.

"Oh, no you don't!" Paul roared, turning his attention back to the battlefield just as Electivire came into the area of ground between he and the Continent Pokémon. "Leaf Storm, point blank!" he ordered, his teeth bared viciously as the Thunderbolt Pokémon jumped onto his Grass-type's back, an icy fist hovering ominously over the space between Torterra's eyes. Just as it had with its earlier Solarbeam attack, the tree on Torterra's back flashed with light, only this time the leaves lit up green instead of yellow.

"Get out of there!" screamed Gary, fear sweeping over his face as Torterra's dull eyes turned upwards to stare at its foe, and with the sound of a muffled gunshot, a cloud of sickle-sharp leaves expelled themselves from its back. A split second later, they speared into Electivire's torso and buried into its back, the power behind them knocking the Electric-type clean off Torterra's body and sending it crashing into the ground in a heap.

The impact of Electivire's landing sent a low rumble across the field, and there was a tiny splintering noise around the Continent Pokémon as a small crack wound its way through each of the four clumps of ice anchoring its legs on the ground. Sensing the sudden weakness in its vice, Torterra roared as, its body straining with extreme effort, it tore its legs free and regained its feet, crushing the ice underfoot into powder as its foe slowly got onto one knee and panted.

"Hyper Beam!" Paul snarled.

"_Toorrr…_" growled Torterra, the claws on its feet digging into the ground as it charged a ball of fierce light in front of its open mouth.

"Light Screen, on the double!" Gary ordered, his Electric-type hastily banging its hands together in reply, and a thin sheet of dull golden light formed itself between the Pokémon and its foe. Torterra stamped a weighty foot against the ground and fired its Hyper Beam, the orange beam of destruction tearing through Electivire's Light Screen as though it were tissue paper, and it carried through to slam into its target's shoulder.

Electivire was sent hurtling backwards through the air as though it had been thrown by a Machamp, the Grass-type Pokémon's attack pushing it across the arena with deadly force. Only the blue steel of the boundary wall seemed to stop the Thunderbolt Pokémon from being sent on its path forever, and it crashed into it with a loud bang that made the crowd shrink back, wincing sympathetically as a cloud of smoke shrouded the Electric-type from view.

"_Electivire_!" Gary roared, running as far as he could towards his Pokémon without stepping outside his green rectangle. As the smoke dissipated, he hung his head and slumped his shoulders as he saw that Electivire was sprawled over the ground, lying motionless underneath an Electivire-shaped dent in the wall. The stands exploded with deafening screams of jubilation, disappointment and disdain at the sight, but Gary calmly raised a PokéBall towards the fainted Pokémon, wordlessly recalling it to its depths.

"Electivire is unable to battle!" shouted Olivier, signalling the decision as he thrust his red flag at Paul, but no-one could hear a word of his declaration over the cheering of the fans.

_You did good, Electivire,_ Gary said silently to his Pokémon, tapping the ball against his chin before stowing it on his belt.

"So much for your knowledge of Pokémon," Paul sneered from across the field, looking at Gary from behind his Torterra as it proudly held its head high for its triumph. "I'm not surprised. You Pallet Town Trainers claim so much… but you fall so far short," he added nastily, folding his arms.

"Well, it looks like the battle's not the only thing heating up right now, with some heated words being exchanged down on the battlefield!" Derek observed. "And why wouldn't they be, after the raw power we just bore witness to?! Gary had an innovative strategy in having Electivire bring Torterra out of its comfort zone with a series of Low Kick and Ice Punch attacks, but I don't think it went quite as well at he'd anticipated. That, or Paul just outsmarted him by ordering a point-blank Leaf Storm to bring Electivire down to earth—!"

"Mr. Oak, please send out your next Pokémon," advised Olivier, nodding at Gary, who nodded back as he took his third – and final – PokéBall from his waist.

"—this means that Paul has the advantage going into the down-and-dirty end of this finals qualifying match!" continued Derek, completely unaware of proceedings as he indulged the crowd's excitement. "The only question that Gary needs to answer now is: his final Pokémon, his ace in the hole, his last roll of the dice… will it be enough? Can it get him past Torterra and the last of Paul's Pokémon, or will Paul be the one with the last laugh?! Let's not waste any more time talking about it! Back to the action!"

"It's not like your Pokémon is going to give much resistance anyways," Paul commented smugly, going mercifully unheard as the crowd waited hungrily for Gary's final Pokémon.

"Let's make our last stand… Blastoise!" yelled Gary, tossing his PokéBall onto the field with a look of pure concentration on his face.

The ball split open with a bright flash of white, and from the light came a startling figure; it was an enormous blue turtle of a Pokémon, most of its broad bulk encased in a thick shell, which was dull brown on the back and a light cream on the belly. Blastoise's lower jaw matched the front of its shell in colour, and a pair of small yellow eyes looked out from over its large snout as it flexed the three claws at the end of each of its limbs. Perhaps the most intimidating features of the Shellfish Pokémon were the two heavy-duty cannons mounted on its shell, positioned just behind the shoulders.

"_Blas…_" grunted Blastoise, straightening up as its cannons twitched ever so slightly upon seeing Torterra, and Gary smiled as he saw the action.

"Alright then, Blastoise!" he shouted, punching the air. "Start out with Hydro Pump!"

"_Blaaastooooise_!" boomed the Water-type, tucking in its arms and dipping its head as its cannons pointed straight at its foe's head. With a loud bang, two thick jets of water burst out of them and tore towards Torterra, but the Ground-type stayed motionless as the attack zoomed closer.

"Sandstorm!" barked Paul. The Continent Pokémon rhythmically stomped the ground, seemingly oblivious to the incoming blast of water, but several large geysers of dirt exploded out of the arena between itself and its foe. The Hydro Pump was torn apart as one of the pillars of sand ripped straight through the centre of it, and the whole jet splashed onto the ground, where it was swept into the air by the winds of the Sandstorm.

Gary bit his lip and jabbed the toe of his shoe into the ground in annoyance, watching on as the wind intensified into a gale of brown that blanketed most of the arena and completely shrouded Paul and his Pokémon from view. _It looks like I'm going to have to be a bit more creative…_ he thought, an involuntary tick in the corner of his mouth.

"Move in close to Torterra and _bash_ it!" he ordered, and Blastoise unquestioningly ran forwards, every step denting the ground and sending tiny quakes through the stadium. Within moments, the Shellfish Pokémon disappeared inside the cloud of dirt and dust, and a hush fell across the stands as the crowd waited for any sign of either combatant.

"Stay on guard!" hissed Paul, his eyes scanning left and right as he tried to find any sign of either his own Pokémon or his opponent's, as all eyes stared into the rust-coloured abyss that covered the main battlefield.

A loud thud. A pained growl.

Seconds later, the Sandstorm parted violently as the huge, shelled figures of Blastoise and Torterra shot out of the side, a silver glow surrounding the Water-type as it pushed its foe through the air with its head. Torterra screwed its eyes shut as the force behind Blastoise's Skull Bash began to drive it towards the boundary wall, and the Continent Pokémon countered the advance by digging the legs furthest from its foe into the ground. Unfortunately for the heavy Grass-type, Gary's Pokémon dug down and pushed underneath the line of its shell, and the crowd roared with excitement as Torterra slowly began to tip towards the side.

"_Toorrrr!_" hissed the Pokémon, narrowing its eyes as it shifted its weight, bringing the full force of it down on the head of its foe. Blastoise cried out in pain as it felt its neck starting to bend under the enormous load, and it snatched at the side of Torterra's body with both hands, quickly stepping backwards to stop itself from being crushed. Both Pokémon hit the ground with a thump, Blastoise landing on its rear and quickly scrambling back to its feet, and Torterra slowly shuffling around to face its foe.

"_Wow_! Would you look at that _power_, folks?!" Derek screamed, the fans echoing him with similar shouts of amazement. "I think there's a reason why Gary saved his Blastoise for last, after seeing that Skull Bash attack! Not only does it have the daring to stand firm against a raging Sandstorm, but it also has the guts to knock Torterra out of its home advantage and almost send it crashing onto its back! I think if the ploy had worked, it would have been lights out for Paul, but we're still just going strong in this fierce contest between two titans!"

"Cancel the Sandstorm," said Paul firmly, watching as the Shellfish Pokémon began edging towards the huge cloud of dust. The Ground-type hesitated for a fraction of a second, casting its eyes back towards its stalwart Trainer, before roaring ferociously, and the storm seemed to quiver at the sound, the swirling vortex of sand falling limp in an instant and settling on the ground like a massive earth-coloured sheet.

"Let's mix things up a bit, Blastoise!" Gary shouted, excitedly stamping a foot. "Blast out a Hydro Pump, but _aim low_! Drive it straight into that turtle-wannabe's head!"

"Leaf Storm!" commanded Paul, tilting his head downwards and glaring at Gary from underneath his brow as Blastoise did likewise to his Torterra. The Continent Pokémon growled deeply and sent a volley of sickle-sharp leaves whistling through the air from its back-tree, and Blastoise narrowed its eyes as it blasted its twin pillars of blue, the two jets combining to form a massive spiral of water that pounded through the air.

The Leaf Storm tore into the Water-type's attack, only seeming to slow the Hydro Pump down in the air, but it was enough, because the water jet slammed into the ground inches in front of Torterra, the force of it punching a hole in the ground. The water pooled in the space underneath the Grass-type's mouth, and it cautiously took a step backwards as it felt the ground buckle by the tiniest fraction.

"Damnit!" Gary shouted, kicking the ground and baring his teeth. "Keep it up, Blastoise, but aim further across!" he roared, and his Pokémon grunted obediently as the spray of water intensified from its cannons, even as Paul cocked his head to the side and smirked from across the battlefield.

_What kind of stupid move are you trying to pull…?_ he thought icily, a tiny grunt of amusement sounding from his mouth. _No matter…_ "Solarbeam!" he ordered, pointing at Blastoise's head, and Torterra's tree light up with bright golden light as its maw snapped wide open, a white pinprick forming between its jaws.

_Keep steady…!_ Gary willed to his Water-type, just as the light ball in front of Torterra exploded into a colossal beam of blinding white. The less intelligent members of the crowd, staring intently at the pinprick of light just moments ago, shouted out and smacked their hands over their eyes as the harsh light seared, and the Solarbeam seared away Blastoise's Hydro Pump as well, blasting the water into oblivion as it careened towards its target.

"Now—!" roared Gary, bracing himself despite the attack closing in on his Pokémon, not him, but his words were lost in the noise of the crowd as the attack slammed into Blastoise's shell with pinpoint accuracy. The Shellfish Pokémon was catapulted across the arena, crashing into the boundary wall with so much force that some of the metal actually broke off, a useless rectangle of steel tipping onto the arena with a loud clang.

Torterra called off its Solarbeam, leaving Blastoise with nothing but to follow the broken wall piece and tip onto the ground, where it lay motionless.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Every matchup in this chapter involves a type advantage; Water-Ground, Water-Electric, Electric-Ground, Water-Grass. **

****Incidentally, the first three create a continuity like Fire-Water-Grass.**

**Quiz:**

***Of the evolutionary lines of both the turtle-based Pokémon in this chapter, which member of either line is not currently owned by a major character in the anime?**

* * *

**Hooray! I actually kept my promise and updated in a week! Ah, it's good to be back to some sort of schedule. Gives you something to work for.**

**Thank you to everyone who read last week's update. On the day, I got the most hits for WPC that I'd ever gotten. You guys rule.**

**BIG thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Any and all reviews are greatly appreciate, as always, so keep them coming.**

**I'm keeping these notes short and sweet from now on, so you can ponder more over the contents above and not be distracted by my little ramblings.**

**Chapter 93 (The Snowball Effect) will be stuck here along with the rest on November 27th, a.k.a this time next week. You can expect the conclusion of the Paul/Gary battle, along with some action around Shamouti Island, and Anabel's showdown with Ari. Some excitement bound!**

**Keep up the good work, and, as always...**

**Don't forget to review!**


	93. The Snowball Effect

**CHAPTER 93 – THE SNOWBALL EFFECT**

Shane struck out in the ocean with his powerful arms, cutting cleanly through the water that his body had become accustomed to since regaining consciousness near Fire Island. As his head broke above the surface of the water to take another deep breath, he spied his destination looming ever closer; a natural, U-shaped coastline lying dead centre on Ice Island. Coming to a stop, he trod water and took in the sight of the island; it was a towering hunk of rock that rose sharply into the clouds, surrounded on all sides by a lush forest that reached all the way to the shore.

_That looks about as friendly as an Ursaring…_ he thought ruefully, his eyes following the line of the mountainside until it disappeared behind a veil of white. _If this one is anything like the last one, the treasure is going to be at the peak. Stupid ancient civilisations! Why can't they ever put their sacred crap somewhere that's easy to reach?!_ he sighed, getting back into his rhythm as he paddled towards the more shallow water.

_But—_ he looked around at the scenery, taking a shallow breath as he saw enormous palms with trunks as wide as cars, lush ferns swaying gently in a breeze that seemed to come from all directions, and a myriad of other trees and shrubs that were all beautifully cupped underneath the bright blue sky. _That's not to say they don't know how to decorate the place,_ he finished with a chuckle, ducking underneath the water and continuing on.

As he reached the shallows, he decided to go on foot and clambered towards the sandy shore, panting heavily as he finally reached the beach and fell onto it with his arms spread wide and welcoming. The sand greeted him warmly, and his eyes stared blankly at the sky as he allowed his body a few precious moments to recover from the shock and strain of having to swim all the way from Fire Island.

After a few minutes of deep breathing and stretching his tired muscles, Shane slowly stood up and turned to face the mammoth mountain looming over him with its forbidding shadow. Lowering his gaze, he smiled in relief as he saw an arrow-straight path between the trees he'd seen from the water, leading straight up a hill and seeming to go all the way to the base of the mountain itself.

"And luck shines upon me yet again," he chuckled, shaking his clothes free of as much sand as was possible, and running a hand through his sodden green hair. "Why waste it?" he added, unzipping his jacket and taking out a PokéBall. "Steelix, take me to the end of the path," he said, opening the ball with a flash, and his Iron Snake Pokémon reared up on its tail with a hearty roar. "Hey! Keep it down!" he shushed, and Steelix, cut off in mid-roar, bowed its head apologetically as its Trainer climbed aboard and held onto one of its spikes.

"_Steuuu…_" growled the Ground-type, slithering up the hillside, and Shane felt himself becoming sleepy from the slow rocking motion that his Pokémon made. His eyes drooped and closed, and when he opened them again, he jerked up in surprise when he saw that they were at the top of the slope, standing in front of a small stone arch flanked with tiny clusters of rocks and palm trees.

_I wasn't asleep, was I?_ he thought, lightly smacking his cheek with the back of his hand as he hopped off Steelix and returned it to its PokéBall. With his Pokémon out of the way, he could now see where he had to go next; embedded in the side of the mountain, supported by a rustic system of braces and buttresses, was a tunnel about the size of three grown men standing side-by-side.

"And somewhere at the end of that tunnel is the Ice treasure…" he noted, throwing up his arms in silent protest as the sun slowly dried his clothes and his body. "Well, I guess there's nothing for it," he admitted reluctantly, clenching his fists as he marched towards the tunnel and disappeared into the inky blackness inside it.

* * *

A thick beam of orange light cannoned into Blastoise and smashed it into the ground with a huge bang, throwing up a shower of dirt and debris as its body carved out a long trench in the battlefield's surface. As the Water-type came to a grinding stop, lying unmoving and unconscious in its trough, Gary fell to his knees, despondent, as Paul's Torterra gave a resounding, triumphant roar from its side of the arena.

"Blastoise is unable to battle!" shouted Olivier, signalling his final decision with a powerful wave of the red flag. The crowd rose to their feet at once, a shockwave of cheers and applause bearing down on the field with overwhelming power, and for close to a minute nothing could be heard apart from the avid screams and contrasting jeers echoing from all around. Paul remained silent, however, as he calmly raised Torterra's PokéBall and recalled his victorious Pokémon to its depths.

"Well done, Torterra," he whispered to it at last, holding it in front of his mouth before stowing it away on his belt. Despite the growing chants of his name that were coming from the stands, he turned on his heel and strode towards the edge of the stadium floor without a word or glance of recognition to his fans. Within moments he had vanished behind the boundary wall, swallowed up by the tunnel leading back to the stadium's lobby.

"A thrilling finish to a thrilling battle by anyone's standards!" Derek was shouting enthusiastically from the skybox, even as the more die-hard of Gary's fans hung their heads in disappointment and began to head for the exits. "Gary's reflexes had given him a lucky escape when Torterra had launched that Solarbeam, ordering Blastoise into its shell with a Withdraw! And the order to counter with a Rapid Spin—sheer tactical brilliance! But was it enough?!"

"No—!" he excitedly slammed a fist onto his desk, "because a moment later, Paul had Torterra send a Hyper Beam straight at Blastoise, and—well, you can see what happened there!" he added, looking down at the battlefield; Blastoise was still half-buried in the ground, lying placidly on its back, and Gary simply stood where he was, blank shock written all over his face.

_How did I let that one slip away from me? _he asked himself, his eyes rooted to the spot where his Shellfish Pokémon lay. _Maybe I _am_ a bit rusty…_ he thought, scratching the back of his head. _But still, it doesn't help to lose when I only beat one of his Pokémon… and especially not when I lost to a—well, a jerk—like Paul._ "That's just salt in the wound," he sighed, resigned to the outcome as he unclipped Blastoise's ball.

"Come on Blastoise, back you go…" he said, the sadness evident in his voice as the Water-type was sucked inside the PokéBall with a red flash of light. He raised a hand towards the crowd in acknowledgement, smiling at the soothing and supportive comments that his fans shouted back to him, but he trudged through his tunnel with a hung head.

He kept his head bowed all the way through the dark hallway, not looking up until he reached the bright lights and murmurs of the main lobby, and he shuffled off towards the videophones at the corner of the room. He dialled up a number and held the receiver up against his ear with his shoulder, quietly tapping his foot as he heard the rhythmic clicks on the line. A few seconds later, the call cut out, and he frowned as he smacked the phone onto its hook.

_Must not be home…_ he thought, his brow furrowed. _The airship landed in Celadon City this morning, so he would've been able to catch a chopper back to Pallet Town in no time at all. I wonder where they are…_

* * *

"What do you mean '_booked out_'?!"

"L-look, I'm sorry, Professor!" said a terrified official, the bottlebrush moustache above his lips trembling as his eyes darted anywhere but to the furious man in front of him. "All the helicopters have been either reserved for VIPs, or restricted from flying the direct line from here to Pallet Town! Gringey City's power plant is on the fritz, and the safety inspectors are worried about an explosion…!"

"Look, it's no problem, really!" piped a young man with dark green hair – held up by a rose-pink headband – who was standing next to the professor. "We'll just find another way. Thanks, anyways," he said politely, leading his senior away, and the moustached man gave a deep sigh of relief.

"I don't believe this…" muttered the professor, scratching his chin. "_No _helicopters able to go over Gringey City. Surely they'd be able to just fly around the city's airspace—!" he threw an arm out to the side in frustration, his face contorted with concentration, and his companion put a hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Relax, Professor Oak!" he said with a smile. "Connery's responsible enough to take care of things at the lab. We'll just take a train to Vermilion City and catch a ferry, right?"

"You may be right, Tracey…" Oak shrugged, "but there's something off about that man… I don't trust him to take care of all the Pokémon at the corral, all at once. It's really something I don't trust to anyone else except for, perhaps, you—"

"Well, why don't we just take Dragonite?" Tracey suggested, pointing to Oak's coat pocket, and the professor's mouth hung open in mid-sentence as he glanced downwards.

"Oh, of course!" he exclaimed, smacking himself in the forehead with his palm. Tracey rolled his eyes and folded his arms, leaning on his leg as he watched Oak rummage around in his numerous coat pockets, finally taking a PokéBall out of an inside pocket. "Come out, Dragonite!" he shouted, pressing the centre button and opening the ball with a bright flash.

A large, orange-skinned Pokémon appeared from the ball, straightening up on its two legs and standing several feet above Professor Oak. A pair of white antennae waggled about from either side of a small, stubby spike on top of its head, and a pair of large, amber-coloured eyes drank in the sunlight. Dragonite's wide snout twitched into a joyous grin as it stretched the small wings on its back, their green webbing sparkling, and it scratched lazily with a three-clawed hand at its belly, which was striped beige from its neck to the tip of its long tail.

"_Drrryuuu…!_" hummed the Dragon Pokémon, playfully yapping at its Trainer as he and Tracey climbed onto its back.

"Dragonite, take to the sky!" Oak instructed, holding on firmly to his Pokémon's tough, scaly back as it powerfully beat its small wings and jumped. Like a rocket, Dragonite took off into the air, the official from before already a speck on the ground as he ran over to futilely try and stop them. "Good work, my boy!" he congratulated, proudly patting the Flying-type on the back of the neck, as they soared over a lush green forest. "Now, take us home."

"_Deyu!_" Dragonite nodded and banked to the right, almost throwing off an unprepared Tracey as it changed its course.

"Next time, how about…" panted the young Pokémon Watcher, feeling his heart trying to tear itself out of his ribcage, "how about a little warning?!" _I think I just made an Apricorn shake in my pants…_

* * *

"Alright, Steelix, you can come back to your PokéBall now," Shane muttered, smacking a hand against the diamond-hard hide of his Pokémon before it was sucked back into its PokéBall by a beam of red light. He was still standing inside the gloomy, musty dankness of the tunnel that wove its way through the mountain, but he'd had to pass over a frightening bridge of ice about halfway up the slope in order to be where he was standing right now.

_It was a nice view, though,_ he admitted, shrugging his shoulders as he marched ever upwards, and after a minute or so, his breath quickened with his heartbeat as he saw a jagged circle of bright light streaming through from around the bend. He ran the last thirty or so paces towards the light, and with a loud gasp of fresh, sweet-smelling air, he walked out into the open, before shielding his eyes as the light became a blinding flood.

"What the hell?!" he roared, squinting so much that his eyelashes were touching, and his vision slowly adjusted to show him that he was standing on a crystalline stage of ice that reflected every particle of light straight towards him. The Galactic commander could already feel himself heating up the longer he stood there, and he wondered how the ice hadn't melted, but he tossed the thoughts out of his mind.

He gingerly walked across the ground, almost fearful that any heavy steps might suddenly cause the ice to snap and send him to an untimely death in some horrifying cavern deep below the island. But the ground stayed firm, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he reached the foot of a small ice-covered staircase, hurrying up the steps and skidding underneath the tiny shelter towards the rear of the room.

"There's my little beauty…" he whispered, seeing the stone carving hidden safely under the shelter. It was a crude depiction of the Titan of Ice, Articuno, and jammed between its beak was a glittering sphere of dull blue glass, seeming to wink at Shane as he leant down and reached out with his hand. "Wait—" he pulled his hand away and straightened up, "Moltres tried to waste me when I touched the Fire treasure… and it doesn't take a genius to figure out what Articuno will do once I grab this one…" he reasoned, furrowing his brow.

_This is great… there it is, the mission objective staring me straight in the face, completely defenceless,_ he thought angrily, cracking a bone in his neck, _and yet I can't just snatch it, because I'm going to get chased down!_ "There has to be _something_ to get me out of this quickly…" he growled, surveying his surroundings, and his eyes lit up when he saw something off towards the side of the room.

His feet flew across the ice as he ran towards the edge of the icy platform, and he stopped in front of a rough, seemingly naturally-made flight of stairs – made entirely out of crystal – that twisted up the wall and over the side. Making his way up the uneven steps, he saw nothing but clouds above, and as his vision swivelled downwards, he almost lost his balance when he realised he was at the very top of Ice Island; below him was the same fluffy whiteness that was above him.

"This is insane…!" he hissed, turning back to the shrine room. He spotted a hunk of grey lying at the foot of the staircase he was standing on, and he warily slid down to the ground, wondering what it could be. As he drew closer, his shoulders slumped in confusion when he saw the mangled wreck of a hovercraft and a helicopter's rotor blades, half-buried in the ice.

Slowly walking around the debris, he pieced together what happened.

_Whoever left these must have been the last people to piss Articuno off…_ he thought with a grim laugh, running a coarse hand over his jaw. "But how am I gonna avoid ending up like this mess of crap?" he wondered aloud, slapping his hands against his sides. His eyes meticulously ran over the misshapen assortment of metal and plastic in front of him, and his mouth curved into a cunning smirk.

"Piece of cake…" he murmured, striding forwards.

* * *

"How long until we're back in Pallet Town, Professor?!" shouted Tracey, sitting behind Professor Oak as they continued to streak through the sky on Dragonite's back. As he looked down, he could see that the green scenery of the trees and fields had slowly changed into the dull grey setting of human settlement, the ground below covered by huge power plants and factories that sent enormous plumes of smoke billowing into the air.

"About an hour!" Oak yelled back over his shoulder. "Maybe a bit less if we fly a little lower!"

"Then why don't we '_fly a little lower_'?!" Tracey asked, strands of green hair furiously whipping his forehead, and he half-shut his eyes to keep them safe. Up in front, Oak made a non-committal shrug and slapped the sides of Dragonite's neck, the Dragon-type seeming to understand the gesture, because it ducked its head down and dipped lower towards the ground. "And _why won't you tell me when you're going to do that_?!" he wailed.

"Sorry, Tracey, but you brought up a good idea!" laughed Oak, only holding onto his steed with one hand as he ran the other through his short, sandy hair. "Ah, it's been a while since I've had a nice flight like th—!"

"_Skaaarrr!_" shrieked a chorus of sharp voices in the air around them. Oak, startled by the sudden burst of noise, dug his knees into the space just wide of Dragonite's wing joints, and the Dragon Pokémon braked in mid-air, coming to a juddering stop as its passengers blindly looked around for the source of the commotion. Tracey was the first to react, his keen reflexes and hearing picking up the location of the noise, but a moment later he silently cursed his natural talents, because as he turned his head, he was met with a sight that struck him with fear.

"Tracey?" said Oak, confused by his apprentice's strange silence. "Tracey, do you know where that Pokémon cry came from?" he asked, but yet again, he was met with only silence. "Tracey—!" he turned around in his spot, and he froze as he saw what had caused Tracey to seize up.

Streaking out low across the line of the horizon, a formation of glimmering silver bullets in the ample sunlight, was a pack of Skarmory, at least twenty in number, and every yellow eye was trained on the party of three hovering helplessly in front of them.

"P-Professor, let's get out of here!" Tracey stammered, shakily turning to his mentor. "Those Skarmory look _really_ pis—!"

"Something's not right…" Oak muttered, more to himself than to Tracey, as his eyes narrowed and scanned the row of Steel-type birds. "Skarmory are solitary birds. They _never_ travel in groups, albeit ones of this size…! And this isn't even their natural habitat; there aren't any wild bramble plantations on this side of Mt. Silver!"

"Well, I can add one more thing to that list of things not being right!" Tracey said with an almost maniacal laugh. "Us being in the path of twenty Skarmory that are clearly not happy with their living arrangements!"

"There are more important things than worrying about where we are…!" Oak snapped. "Dragonite, head to the ground!" he ordered to his Pokémon, who nodded fiercely and balled up its fists, swinging around in the air to face the furious flock before dropping through the sky, and Tracey blew a deep breath of thanks.

"That's a relief…" he sighed. "I was worried we were about to be turned into chick feed…"

"Don't relax _just_ yet," whispered the Pokémon Professor, still intently watching the Skarmory as Dragonite landed on a stretch of concrete alongside a harbour tinged with purple sludge. "This place is truly disgusting," he snarled, crinkling his noise at the overwhelming stench.

"Where is this place, exactly?" inquired Tracey.

"Gringey City—" Oak answered, but he broke off and span around on the spot. He looked incredulously at Tracey, who unhelpfully shrugged at him, and his eyes darted between the landscape and the Pokémon zooming closer in the sky. "Maybe _that's_ why we couldn't get a helicopter to Pallet Town!" he said, clapping his hands together with realisation. "This flock of Skarmory must have claimed the air over the city as their own, and fought off anyone who ventured through."

"It's so simple when you say it, Professor!" Tracey said unashamedly, before doing a double-take. "But wait… _we_ just ventured through the air over this city."

"Well, yes, but—yikes!" exclaimed Oak, tensing up as his Dragonite turned its head skywards. "Tracey, you might want to call out one or two of your Pokémon," he said warningly, taking two more PokéBalls out of his lab coat and enlarging them.

"Right," nodded Tracey, his face set with determination.

"They went down in this area!" barked a voice to their left, and once again the group of three whipped around to see four men clad in black charging towards them. "There they are! Take 'em down!" shouted the one at the front, which they could now distinguish as a woman, as she stopped in her tracks and pointed them out to the other three.

"This isn't good…! _Run_!" Tracey roared, and he, Oak and Dragonite fled as quickly as their legs could take them, disappearing around the bend as their pursuers advanced.

* * *

Shane was falling, faster than he could think and figure out how fast it really was. His mind was a whirl, his eyes only seeing the narrow corridor directly in front of him, stuck in a tunnel vision obscured by the clouds he was rushing through. He was screaming, but he couldn't hear the sound, torn away and hidden in the wisps of white and grey that smothered his face before disappearing.

And he was loving every moment of it.

"_Ohhhhh yeah!_" he bellowed, throwing his head back and shouting his joy at the heavens even as he descended through them, coming out the other side as he returned to the world beneath the clouds. One of his hands smacked him in the cheek, but he barely noticed it as he sped down the side of Ice Island's mountain, one of the helicopter's blades tied to his legs like a snowboard with loops of wire that he'd ripped out of the hovercraft's engine.

_And genius strikes once again_… he thought smugly, feeling himself being slowly pulled towards the left by a gust of wind. He yanked down with his right hand, a tangle of frayed fibre cords clutched firmly between his fingers, and those cords led into the main fabric that had been the seat of the hovercraft, which he'd reshaped into a parachute that he could control simply by pulling on it with his hands.

_I am parasailing down a mountain after looting it of its biggest treasure,_ he told himself, grinning from ear to ear as he rocketed over the smooth, worn rock. _It's like something out of a spy movie!_

"_I AM THE GREATEST MAN ALIVE_!" he screamed, laughing all the way towards the shoreline, the tiny blue sphere that was the Ice treasure tucked safely within his pocket, and jangling with every jolt.

* * *

Anabel took a deep, calming breath as she stood in the deserted hotel hallway, holding her arms out to the sides to centre herself before she raised a hand and rapped on the door in front of her. She had been running through the best possible ways to confront the person on the other side, but somehow, the words had escaped her mind as she stepped out of the elevator and strode across the soft carpet.

And now, there she was, with not a clue how to handle her simmering anger, that ebbed and swelled inside her as she thought more and more about the situation.

Turning her thoughts back to the panel of polished wood in front of her, she knocked again and waited for a reply from inside the hotel room. Still not getting an answer, she slammed the face of her palm into the door over and over again, feeling her frustration mounting, and she even resorted to kicking, but her foot went off-course and crunched against the frame.

"_Ow_!" she yelped, jumping up and down on the spot as the pain shot up her leg. "Ari! _Ari, open up_!" she shouted, banging on the door with her fists and silently thanking the fact that there were no onlookers.

"Hang on, hang on, I'm coming!" yelled an exasperated voice from inside. Anabel heard the soft thumping of footsteps, followed by a click as the doorknob turned, and a moment later Ari appeared in the doorway, smiling politely and, for some reason, holding a pair of socks and a green singlet. "Oh, hey there, Anabel!" he said brightly, his grin widening. "See, I didn't forget about our little arrangement!" he added, flapping the singlet about in front of his stomach.

"_Arrangement_?" she repeated crossly, folding her arms and staring daggers at him, and his smile faltered. "Would that _arrangement_ involve having your Gallade whack Ash over the head…?!"

"So you're _not_ here about the arrangement," he muttered grimly, his face remaining as passive as could be as he gestured inside. "Alright, come on in…" he sighed, and he took a light step backwards as Anabel stormed past him, so close to knocking him over that he could feel the tips of her hair grazing across the point of his nose. "So, what'd Ash tell you?" he asked, tossing his clothes onto the table next to the door and waving lazily towards the lounge room.

"Well," she started, seating herself stiffly on the sofa, and he came over to sit next to her, "he told me that you got into an argument after my battle, and that Galadriel got defensive and hit him with a Brick Break. That sound about right?" she asked, her tone laced with danger, and Ari hung his head in defeat.

"Yeah, sounds spot on, actually," he murmured, taking off his hat and wringing it between his hands. "Look, Anabel…"

"Don't '_look_' me!" she snapped, getting to her feet and whirling around to stand over him with her hands planted on her hips. "What the hell could Ash possibly have done to aggravate something like that?!" she demanded. Ari opened his mouth, a retort at the ready, but he wilted under Anabel's furious stare and chose silence, trying to look anywhere but at her. "_Hey_! Answer me!" she pushed.

"He didn't do anything, alright?!" he roared, and now he was on his feet as well.

"Then why did Galadriel attack Ash?!" screeched Anabel, her lilac eyes wild with anger.

"Because he was about to attack _me_!"

"_WHAT_?!" she shouted, her jaw dropping in shock, and her eyes wide as saucers as Ari's words sunk in. "No. No! Ash wouldn't try something like that, he wouldn't!" she rebuked, shaking her head, and crossing her arms defensively.

"Well, he did," Ari said seriously. "But—" he slowly walked over and put a hand on her shoulder, making her jump slightly, "in his defence, I was trying to tick him off to see how he'd react, so I probably deserve a bruise on the head more than he does…"

"Why were you trying to get him riled up in the first place?!" she hissed, ripping her shoulder away from him.

"Because I wanted to see how he'd react! Weren't you listening?" he answered, raising his voice a little in frustration, but he moved back as Anabel swung around with her hands balled into fists. "Sorry—!" he threw up his hands in surrender. "I—I said what I said to Ash because—well, I wanted to know how sorry he _really_ was about what happened to your Espeon," he muttered with a tiny shrug.

"How sorry do you _think_ he was, Ari?!" she shouted, reaching forwards with her hand and jabbing a finger into the middle of his forehead. "If it weren't for you getting in the way and clobbering him in the head, he'd have apologised to me a lot quicker, and I wouldn't be so angry at you!"

"Look, I'm sorry for upsetting you, okay?!" he yelled, his hands shooting out to arm's length. "I was trying to see how much value he put on you, and what he would've done after making you upset! You don't want me doing that in the future, that's fine! I'll just stay quiet and keep out of the way—!"

"Wait a second…" Anabel muttered, holding up a hand to stop him. Ari broke off mid-sentence, his mouth hanging stupidly open for the second time in the space of a few minutes, and he took a heaving breath to try and calm himself down as she looked curiously at him. "You got into an argument with Ash over me… because you thought he'd do what… approach me the wrong way?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Those wouldn't be my _exact_ words," he grunted, "but, essentially, yes. I did that because I was worried about you," he told her.

"Why, though?"

"I didn't want Ash charging towards you and apologising for something that wasn't what he was meant to be sorry for," he explained simply, dropping back onto the sofa. "Or, if he didn't apologise at all! I didn't want you to get even more upset, that's all. And, if I had to do things over, I'd still handle things the way I did earlier," he added firmly. "Just looking out for you, Ana," he smiled weakly.

Anabel stood where she was as she continued to glare at him, her mouth occasionally twitching in irritation as he looked placidly back, but after less than a minute her resistance and hostility faded away, and she slumped down onto the seat next to him. Ari chuckled and got back to his feet, striding over to the table next to the door and snatching up his underclothes, and she stared incredulously at him as he tossed them onto the ground behind one of the armchairs.

"What…?" he asked innocently, looking at her as though she was mentally ill.

"That's it? I get mad, you get mad, you apologise and laugh, and that's the end of it?" she said, waving her hands about to get her point across.

"Well, are you still upset?" he wondered aloud, and she gave a begrudging grunt as she shook her head.

"No… but I _am_ going to get my revenge on you for what you did to Ash," she warned, hopping up from the sofa and walking around to stand next to him. "So you'd better _watch—your—back—_!" she gave him a hard jab in the side as she emphasised each word, "because—"

"I might find a knife in there?" he laughed. "No offence, Ana, but you're not the violent type. You couldn't even stay mad at me just now," he reminded her with a cocky smile that made her roll her eyes and look away. As she cast her gaze downwards, she furrowed her brow when she saw a large black suitcase packed full of all of Ari's clothes, along with a row of custom-made PokéBalls that had been carefully nestled in bubble-wrap.

"Are you… going somewhere?" she asked, puzzled.

"Don't you remember _that_ either?" Ari teased, playfully nudging her in the arm, but he drew a blank gaze from her. "Our little _arrangement_? I move into your hotel room for the second week? Any of this ringing a bell for you?" he ventured, his grin returning as Anabel gave a great sigh of realisation.

"That's right, _now_ I remember!" she said happily, clapping her hands together. "See; I'm not _that_ bad at remembering things," she told him, a little darkly. "But hang on—" she turned around and bit her lip, "we don't have any spare rooms…"

"Don't you worry about that…" he muttered devilishly, throwing an arm over her shoulder and leaning on her. "Your buddy Ari has got an ace up his sleeve. So, here's what where gonna do…" he whispered into her ear, and as he told her of his plan, a mischievous grin lit up on Anabel's face.

* * *

"Now _this_—" Ash grinned, snatching up a cool glass of juice from the table, "is what it's all about…!"

As he drained his glass, he looked around at the small field that he was standing in; there was a huge rolling plain of grass running down the hillside to his right, leading all the way down to the main hub of the island, and, to his left, the tall, jagged peaks of the mountains that made up the northern coast. Misty, May and Dawn were merrily chatting between themselves as they sat at the large wooden table right next to him, and Brock was fussing over a nearby stone-set barbecue, donning what he called his '_full battle gear_': a frilly pink apron and a matching chef's hat.

"Hey, come on, Brock! We're starving!" Max whined, leaning over the grill as he stood alongside Brock, and almost foaming at the mouth as he took in the delicious smells rising up from it.

"What he said," Leoric chuckled, kicking up his heels on a fold-out deck chair underneath the shade of a large tree. "Look at poor widdle Max… he's so hungry he's shrunk down to the size of a little boy—oh, hang on, he _is_ a little boy!" he cackled, tossing his head back despite the deathly look that Max threw his way, but the gesture was short-lived, because a large acorn dropped out of the tree and landed perfectly in his mouth, lodging itself in the back of his throat.

"_Ghg—khelph—_!" he gasped, punching himself in the stomach as the others shot up from their seats and rushed over to help. "_Sum—baddy—gheh—dis—_!" he slammed both fists into his gut, and the acorn flew out of his mouth and landed on the ground, leaving Leoric to collapse onto the ground with a face as red as a Magikarp's scales.

"Serves you right for having such a huge cakehole," smirked Wynter, crouched on the lowest branch of the tree with a handful of acorns at the ready. Before Leoric could croak a word of protest, the American dumped the entire load onto his face and jumped down, zipping away towards the barbecue and laughing with glee as Max gave him a high-five.

"Hey, why don't we let our Pokémon enjoy the fresh air?" Ash said quickly, interrupting Leoric before the latter could build up any steam. Leoric nodded enthusiastically at the idea and took a pair of PokéBalls from his belt, tossing them lightly into the air, and they burst open in a flash to reveal his Salamence and Swampert, the pair of powerful Pokémon roaring happily as they basked in the outdoor light.

"Ooh…!" sighed Misty, racing towards Swampert at once. "A Swampert…" she smiled, scrutinising the Mud Fish Pokémon, who just looked at its Trainer. They both shrugged at each other, and Ash laughed as he heard the sound of more PokéBalls opening behind him.

"Uh, you guys don't mind if Triton and I do a bit of training, do you?" Leoric asked, just as Max gave a series of excited exclamations from the barbecue.

"Why would we mind?" Dawn asked curiously, her head tilted to one side.

"No reason," he replied nonchalantly, pointing to a spot a few feet away from him, and Swampert dutifully moved into position and held its arms in front of its body. "Let's practise our combat, Triton…!" he told his Pokémon, stripping off his shirt and hanging it over the tree that Wynter had been standing on.

"Is that really necessary?" Max muttered coolly, appearing to Ash's left and making him jump in surprise.

"'Course it is!" Leoric laughed, ignoring the stares of Misty and May, who were both peering out at him from between their fingers as they tried to hide the red flush creeping onto their faces.

_You weird monkey of a Trainer…_ Max thought, throwing up his hands in defeat and heading back to the barbecue, just as Leoric and Swampert charged at each other with a roar.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***The wreckage in the shrine room is from Team Rocket's hovercraft in the second movie, which was destroyed by Articuno's Ice Beam.**

***Shane's paragliding down the mountainside is based on a scene from the James Bond film "The World Is Not Enough".**

**Quiz:**

***Which dual-type Pokémon appearing in this chapter has the least amount of weaknesses?**

* * *

**And yet another chapter comes to a close! Hopefully it raises a few more questions, and provides an answer or two, for you.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! But, all reviews are massively appreciated, so keep them coming.**

**Feel free to ask any questions you want in your reviews, should you send them. If possible, I'll do my best to answer them!**

**Chapter 94 (Birds Of Prey) will come about next Friday around this time. It's going to feature the practice battle between Ash and Leoric, along with the sticky predicament that Tracey and the Prof. have found themselves in.**

**Keep up the good work, and, as always...**

**Don't forget to review!!!**


	94. Birds Of Prey

**CHAPTER 94 – BIRDS OF PREY**

Tracey's shoes thudded over the hardened concrete of the harbour-side walkway, ripping around a corner as he heard the soft smack of Professor Oak's loafers on the ground just a few steps behind him. They had no idea where they were going, sprinting aimlessly through a maze of steel and stone, running down corridors and alleyways between towering buildings made purely of corrugated iron, silently praying that they weren't met by the squad of black-clad people that were chasing them.

"Professor, look!" Tracey shouted, pointing to a lazily-stacked pile of enormous metal crates near the dull purple water that now ran alongside them in a ribbon. The twosome dived behind them, crouching down low just as they heard the pitter-patter of echoing footsteps charging over the ground.

"Where'd those two punks get to?!" shouted one of the men, and, although they couldn't see his face, they could tell he was livid.

"I think we might've given them the slip…" Tracey sighed, sliding down slowly onto the floor as he allowed himself to relax. He stretched his arms and legs, his eyes still keeping an eye out for any trouble, but they failed to see the metal bar right next to his shoe, and it fell onto the ground with a loud clang as his shoe connected with it.

"Did you hear that?!" asked the woman, the leader of the group. "They're over this way! You two, check behind those crates!"

"Yes, ma'am!" chorused two of the men, and the footsteps picked up speed and grew louder as they ran closer.

"And I think _we_ might've just slipped up for _them_…" muttered Oak, resigned to the outcome as he climbed to his feet and took out his Dragonite's PokéBall. "Dragonite, come out!" he snapped, hurling the ball into the middle of the pathway and running out to meet his Pokémon as it burst forth from the flash of white light. Tracey gave a reluctant groan as he joined the professor and the Dragon-type, and as he turned to face his pursuers, he stopped short in his tracks with a sharp breath.

"So…" sneered the woman at the front of the group, one hand on her hip and the other swaying arrogantly at her side. But it wasn't the sneer or her hand that had made Tracey hiss; it was the large scarlet 'R' printed on the front of her shirt, and the shirts of the three men behind her.

"Team Rocket!" growled both he and Oak, while Dragonite scowled and tensed its fists.

"That's right…" she said silkily. "You thought you could run away from us?" she tutted, wagging her finger condescendingly at them.

"What are Team Rocket doing in a place as destitute as this?!" Oak yelled, not showing any signs of weakness or intimidation as he stepped forwards.

"That's none of your business, old man!" countered one of the male grunts; the third one who hadn't spoken before now, and who was excessively bulky. "Our orders are simple! We keep out intruders, and make sure that the ones that _do_ intrude don't live to tell about it!"

"But this is all a misunderstanding!" cried Tracey, waving his arms about. "We were forced onto the ground by a flock of wild Skarmory! It was out of our hands!" he explained, his face falling when the Rocket grunts cackled evilly.

"Who do you think put those Skarmory in the air, kid?! The _tooth_ _fairy_?!" chuckled the man to the left, who was distinctly taller than his fellows, all laughing harder at the comment.

"Alright, enough chatter!" barked the woman, and the men fell silent at once. "Let's take them to the boss. He'll know _exactly_ what to do to… _uncomplicated_ this little misunderstanding of yours…"

"Sounds like a plan to me, ma'am!" smirked the muscly grunt. "Let's send out our Pokémon, men!"

"Aye, aye!" nodded the other two, the Rocket quartet all reaching for their PokéBalls, and Oak grabbed Tracey by the elbow. Tracey's head whipped around to meet the stern gaze of his mentor, his own eyes wide with confusion.

"I regret having to do this…" Oak muttered, quickly and quietly. "It's not very honourable, but it's to make sure you're safe, Tracey."

"Professor?" asked Tracey, before his eyes widened even further. "You're not…?!"

"Dragonite!" Oak roared, letting go of Tracey's arm and pointing towards the grunts. "Hit the ground below those crooks with Hyper Beam, and clear a path for Tracey!" he ordered, and Dragonite's mouth opened wide as a sparkling orange ball of energy roared into life.

Four sets of eyes swivelled towards the bright, glowing ball, and four black-clothed bodies threw themselves towards the side as the Hyper Beam sped their way, the attack smashing into the ground before they could safely get away. The grunts were sent flying, their limbs flopping about helplessly as they were tossed aside by the sheer destructive force of the blast, and they hit the ground with dull thuds, all of them groaning weakly and clutching at themselves in pain.

Tracey stood rooted to the spot, dumbstruck, as his eyes darted from one Rocket to the next. _I didn't know the Professor could be so calculated…_ he thought, and he almost tripped on his feet and fell when he felt a rough hand pushing into his back. He swung around and saw Oak motioning towards the newly-made gap in the pathway, his black eyes firmly focused on the Watcher's.

"Go, get out of here," he said. "I can take care of myself."

"I'm not going anywhere without you, Professor!" Tracey protested, snatching a pair of PokéBalls from his pockets.

"No! I'll be fine!" Oak insisted, pointing towards the clear space again. "You just make sure you get yourself out of here! That's an order!" he boomed, and Tracey nodded once, half-turned and cast an eye over his shoulder, and then ran at full speed towards the river. The Pokémon professor watched on grimly as the boy tossed one of his PokéBalls up into the air, the white light spearing into the water and out of sight, but he knew that it was Tracey's Marill, because Tracey jumped in right after it and began to swim towards the opposite bank.

"Godspeed, Tracey…" he murmured to himself, but he was quickly snapped out of his thought by indignant hollers and threatening gestures as the four Rocket grunts regained their bearings and stood shoulder-to-shoulder in front of he and Dragonite. "Get ready…" he told his Pokémon out of the corner of his mouth, and Dragonite tilted its head a fraction in understanding.

"Big mistake, gramps…" hissed the tall grunt, his eyes narrowed with fury as they advanced on Oak.

"I'd prefer a more insulting name, instead of the one my grandson uses," he retorted just as fiercely, meeting their stares unfalteringly. "If you don't mind."

"So you're a fool _and_ a wisecrack, eh?!" bit the woman. "Well, that's too bad for you; all the talking in the world isn't gonna save you from us, or our boss," she said maliciously, and her cohorts smirked knowingly.

"It's too bad for _you_ that you aren't going to be able to catch me," Oak said coolly, a smirk of his own appearing as those of the grunts slid off their faces.

* * *

"Hey, Leoric!" Ash called out, getting up from his seat at the table and walking over to the barbecue. "How about we get that battle in before we eat?" he offered, and Leoric whipped around in excitement, almost knocking over an inconveniently-placed salad bowl, but Max was able to dive and catch it before it hit the ground.

"Alright then—!" he grinned, oblivious to Max as the latter muttered under his breath and slammed the bowl back onto the bench, "and, just so it can be a surprise, we both pick Pokémon that the other one hasn't seen before, right? I won't pick Apache or Triton, and you don't pick—uh…" he trailed off, scratching his head as he realised that Pikachu hadn't come with Ash earlier.

"Sounds fair to me," Ash shrugged. "I was planning on doing something like that anyways. Brock, do you want to be the referee?" he asked, turning towards Brock, who was busying himself with rice balls and savoury pancakes.

"Sorry, Ash, but I'm a bit focused on the cooking at the moment," he replied, not looking around as he flipped a pancake and shifted around some meats at the same time. Ash pursed his lips and scratched at his sideburns as Leoric dashed off and retrieved his shirt from the tree, and he suddenly got an idea, racing over to the table where everyone else was seated.

"Wynter!" he said chirpily, getting the attention of the American, who had been fiddling about with his plait. "Could you referee my battle with Leoric?" he asked, looking expectedly at him, and Wynter sighed as he threw up his hands in defeat and stood up.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt," he said resignedly, but Ash didn't miss the cheeky grin at the corner of his mouth. "I mean, it's not that hard. Just stand there like an idiot, make sure no-one cheats, and raise your arm every once in a while," he joked. As they walked over towards Leoric, the latter quickly marked out a small battlefield and stood at the side furthest from the table – and the barbecue – leaving Ash to endure the delightful smells of food during the battle.

"You ready, Ash?" Leoric chuckled.

"Chicken…" muttered Ash dreamily, quickly slapping himself with the back of his hand to wake himself up. "Yeah, I'm good!" he yelled back, giving Wynter a thumbs-up to start the match.

"This match will be a one-on-one battle," he told both Trainers. "Whoever's Pokémon faints first will lose the battle… blah, blah, blah… send out your Pokémon!" he shouted dramatically, throwing his hands upwards like a drunkard.

"Noctowl, let's go!" Ash roared, throwing his PokéBall onto the grassy field. The PokéBall split open with a bright flash, and the small, proud form of his Noctowl swooped out with a shower of bright sparkles, hooting happily as it landed lightly on the ground.

"Cool, a shiny Noctowl," Wynter nodded, impressed. "Bit small, though," he added with a laugh, earning himself a scowl from both Trainer and Pokémon. "Come on, Leoric, send your Pokémon out!" he quickly shouted, turning everyone's attention to the fair-haired boy, who smirked and opened his own PokéBall with a flash of white.

"Garvas, prepare to charge!" he yelled.

_Garvas?_ Ash wondered, furrowing his brow as the light warped into a human-like shape on the other side of the arena, and the glow eventually faded, giving way to scarlet feathers, grey claws, and a hooked beak that grew into a sharp face mask in front of a sheath of straw-coloured hair. _A Blaziken?!_ His eyes shot wide open as Leoric's Blaze Pokémon gave a hearty roar and fired off a set of lightning-fast punches, flames spouting from its wrists as it spotted the Noctowl staring vacantly at it. _That sounds about right… I smell chicken and look what he sends out,_ he thought with a wry smile.

"Leoric has a Blaziken…?!" Max exclaimed, his glasses glinting in the sunlight as his face turned with a smirk. Brock swung around from his duties at the barbecue, and he, too, looked on in surprise as he saw the Fire-type.

"Well, this is going to be an interesting match…" he muttered, his head turning to and fro as he juggled food and fascination.

"How come?" piped Dawn, who had walked over to the barbecue with the other girls, the group of five now leaning on the bench as they eyed the two battlers.

"Well, Noctowl is an aerial Pokémon and part Flying-type, and Blaziken is part Fighting-type," Brock explained. "That alone gives Noctowl the advantage—"

"But Leoric _still_ sent out that Blaziken," May interrupted. "So he must have a trick or two up his sleeve," she reasoned, and her friends all shrugged their shoulders unhelpfully as Wynter signalled the beginning of the battle.

"Let's win this fight before it even gets started, Noctowl!" cheered Ash, throwing his arm forwards. "Use Hypnosis!"

"Quick Attack," Leoric ordered, not batting an eyelid. Garvas nodded its head once as Noctowl flapped its wings and hovered in the air, its eyes a purple shimmer as it stared at its foe, but the Fighting-type disappeared into thin air, leaving nothing more than a breath of wind to swirl about in its wake. A round of gasps sounded from the barbecue as they saw the Blaziken vanish, and even Ash's jaw fell open at the feat, his Pokémon chirping worriedly as it looked left and right for Garvas.

"Where'd it go?!" he shouted, fists clenched.

"That's fast!" Max squeaked.

"Blaziken's moving so fast that our eyes can't catch up with it," muttered an awestruck Brock.

"Blaze Kick now, Garvas!" roared Leoric, and Garvas seemed to materialise on the ground underneath Noctowl, skidding to a stop on the grass and jumping upwards with phenomenal speed, looking like a red blur as its foot was wreathed in fire. It moved so fast that Ash didn't even have time to think of a counterattack, let alone shout one to his Noctowl, before the Blaze Pokémon's foot crashed upwards into its foe's face, sizzling against Noctowl's beak as the Normal-type had all the breath driven out of its body.

_What kind of freakish speed is that?!_ Ash thought crazily, completely thrown out of his comfort zone by the frightening display; he'd never seen a Pokémon move like that, even with a technique like Quick Attack. "Try out your new Air Slash!" he shouted to Noctowl.

"Air Slash?" Dawn repeated to Brock curiously.

"It's a Flying-type attack that cuts down opponents with sharp slices of air," he told her. "It should be pretty effective against a Pokémon like Blaziken."

"_Nuuuc!_" trilled Noctowl, giving a powerful flap of its wings, and three silvery blades whizzed forwards, seeming to slice through the very air itself as they swung and homed in on Garvas.

"Dodge it," Leoric said simply, and his Pokémon sidestepped the assault just as lazily, leering threateningly at its opponent as the three slashes of silver dug deep into a tree behind it and sliced it into pieces. As the tree toppled over with a dull boom and a cloud of scattered leaves, Ash bared his teeth and looked from Noctowl, to Garvas, to Leoric, desperately trying to formulate some kind of plan to counter his foe's seemingly unbeatable speed.

"Move in with Quick Attack again!" barked Leoric, taking advantage of Ash's predicament. Garvas tilted its head forwards and sprinted forwards, making a beeline straight for Noctowl, who was erratically flapping its wings about, waiting impatiently for an order from its Trainer to stop itself from being pummelled by another flaming kick.

"Agh—! Try a Confusion!" Ash countered hastily, the order flying out of him before he even knew what he was saying. The horns on the Owl Pokémon's head lit up with an eerie blue shine, and a V-shaped jet of light speared across the field, smacking into Blaziken's chest and knocking the Fire-type back towards its Trainer. "Brilliant! Keep it up!" he cheered, pumping the air with a fist as Garvas was slowly pushed further and further away from Noctowl.

"Garvas, shrug that Confusion off with a Focus Blast!" Leoric yelled, and his Pokémon, ignoring the force of the blue beam pushing against its torso, cupped its hands above its head, a sky-coloured sphere bursting into life between them. Still struggling against the Confusion attack, Garvas threw its Focus Blast at a spot on the beam halfway between itself and its foe, the two lights combining into a bright flash of an explosion, sending a gust of air through the grassy slope.

_Darn…_ Ash grimaced, as the clouds of smoke parted to show Leoric's Pokémon relatively okay from Noctowl's Psychic-type attack. _I was hoping for a bit more damage…_

"If you thought you had trouble spotting Garvas before, Ash—!" Leoric chuckled, bringing Ash out of his thoughts and back to the battlefield, "you're underestimating us! Garvas, let's mess their eyes with a Sand-Attack!" he ordered, and his Blaziken dug a clawed foot deep into the ground, wrenching it out with a shower of grass and dirt that flew at the Flying-type and covered it in a thick haze of green-brown.

"No!" gasped Ash. "Blow it away, Noctowl!" he implored. Noctowl screwed its eyes shut and furiously flapped its wings, turning the Sand-Attack into a dirt-filled gale that it sent speeding across the field, back towards the Pokémon that had created it in the first place. "That's what I'm talking about!" he yelled encouragingly, grinning widely as Blaziken waved its arms about to try and keep the particles out of its face.

"Get out of there with a Quick Attack, on the double!" shouted Leoric, gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes as his Blaze Pokémon exploded out of the side of the sandy cloud, tearing over the soft grass yet again at blistering pace. "Good work; now follow up with Blaze Kick!" he commanded, and this time it was Ash's turn for his eyes to narrow, as the Fire-type's foot burned a fierce red, leaving scorching circles on the green ground.

_That must be his strategy!_ he realised, eyes glinting knowingly. _He has his Blaziken use Quick Attack to dodge any frontal attacks and build up speed, then rip through opponents with a super-speed Blaze Kick!_ "Noctowl," he barked, "smash up the ground all around you with a Confusion, then get down!"

"_Noooctowl!_" hooted the Owl Pokémon, pointing its head towards the field and blasting a thick stream of sparkling blue light from its horns, the light tearing through the surface and sending huge chunks of rock and dirt up onto the grass. Leoric opened his mouth to yell an order to Blaziken, but it was too late; as Noctowl grounded itself in the centre of its debris-ridden circle, the Fighting-type charged into the rock, its feet falling out from underneath it as the momentum of its run sent it flying.

"Somersault and use Focus Blast!" bellowed Leoric, his mouth twitching into a frown just as Ash gave a whoop of celebration at his counterattack. Garvas spun around in mid-air, swinging its arm around with one fluid, powerful motion, and launching a glowing ball of blue at its foe's back, just before it crashed into the ground and rolled into a tree behind Ash. The Focus Blast smashed into Noctowl with surprising accuracy, and it knocked the Normal-type into the ground face-first, but it quickly got back to its feet and spun around, now looking in its Trainer's direction.

"Keep Blaziken pinned down against that tree, Noctowl!" Ash cheered, turning halfway between the two Pokémon and pointing at Garvas. "Confusion!"

"Slip past it with Quick Attack!" fired Leoric, crossing his fingers inside his jacket pocket as his Fighting-type leapt to its feet, and as Noctowl's horns lit up with blue.

"_Blaaaze_…" growled Blaziken, bulleting forwards on its powerful legs, and it shot out to the right as Noctowl's Confusion was blasted its way, narrowly dodging the beam as it carried on and hit a tree, the flimsy wood reduced to a smouldering pile of toothpicks and woodchips. Undeterred, the Owl Pokémon volleyed another beam of psychic light at its foe, then another, and another, but Garvas dodged every last one with relentless agility, looking like an acrobat going through a strict routine as it zipped this way and that, leaping left and right.

"We've got 'em now!" Leoric encouraged, his face lighting up with a triumphant smirk as Noctowl fluttered back onto the ground. "Finish things with a Buster Kick!"

"_Buster Kick_?!" echoed Ash, his face blanched as Blaziken came to a stop in front of Leoric. "What's that?!"

"Garvas' secret weapon!" he shouted. Garvas pounded a foot against the ground, sending a deep crack across the field that headed straight for Noctowl, and a gigantic spire of rock burst out from underneath the Flying-type, bashing it up into the air before disappearing underground again. All eyes watched as Noctowl reached the peak of its climb and began to sink back down towards the earth, and Blaziken leapt towards the rock, its stare still focused on its falling foe.

Noctowl recovered its senses just before it fell onto the rock, frantically flapping its wings to avoid falling into the large gap that the rocky spear had left, and Ash exclaimed in relief as it managed to hover just above the ground. Unfortunately for he and Noctowl, Blaziken jumped towards it, swinging around and extending a foot that was encased in deep blue light, and the Fire-type smashed the Owl Pokémon in the side with its Buster Kick.

The force of the blow sent Noctowl spearing across the battlefield, with Garvas' foot pushing against it the whole time, and the two Pokémon crashed into the ground just in front of Leoric. Ash groaned and hung his head as his mind processed what had just happened, and Leoric's eyes glinted as his Pokémon stood up and turned around, its foe lying on the ground just alongside it with spirals for eyes.

"Noctowl is unable to battle—!" declared Wynter, raising an arm to Leoric's side of the field, "so Blaziken is the winner!" At his words, Leoric jumped with joy and jogged over to Garvas, giving his victorious Pokémon an enthusiastic high-five and a pat on the back, and Ash shrugged his shoulders as he walked over to congratulate him.

"Good work on the win, Leoric," he said happily, disappointed by the result, but not upset over it, either. Leoric smiled warmly and gave him a friendly handshake, and as their hands fell to their sides, Noctowl stirred on the ground and shook its head, flapping its wings and perching itself on Ash's shoulder as he gave it a gentle scratch on the back of the neck. "You did a good job, Noctowl," he grinned, and the Flying-type gave a small hoot in reply.

"You're not too bad yourself, Ash," Leoric chuckled, his Blaziken sniffing the air as it spotted the barbecue, and the others gathered around it.

"Thanks. Your Blaziken was too good, though," said Ash, gesturing towards the barbecue, and he, Leoric and their Pokémon walked towards it, followed lazily by Wynter, who rested his hands on his head.

"Well, I've had Garvas since my first trip through Hoenn," Leoric explained, as Garvas clicked its tongue in agreement. "So we've been friends longer than you and your Noctowl, or even you and your Pikachu, have been," he added with a laugh.

"That was an _awesome _battle, you guys!" shouted a delighted Max, running over towards them with the typical adoring glimmer in his eyes that always followed a battle. Ash and Leoric both chuckled and scratched the back of their heads, slightly embarrassed but nonetheless pleased by the praise, and the rest of Ash's friends joined them at the edge of the arena, Wynter slowly and silently sneaking towards the barbecue to get first choice of the food.

"I didn't know you had a Blaziken, Leoric," said Dawn.

"Well you haven't seen him before now, so I wouldn't have expected you to," he joked. "He's one of my best Pokémon, so I generally keep him rested until the later stages of my tournaments, like the finals coming up tomorrow."

"Hey, Mayley!" shouted Wynter, surreptitiously piling his plate high with food as the group turned to look at him. "Don't you h—?!"

"My name's _MAY_! Not Mayley; _May_!" shrieked May, a furious red flush on her cheeks as she heard the name. "Don't you ever call me M—!"

"Put the food back, Wynter!" Brock called out, pointing to the plate. "Wait until we're all ready!" he added sternly, and the American rolled his eyes before begrudgingly returning the foods to their places.

"As I was saying…!" he said loudly, in between de-plating, "don't you have a Blaziken, _May_?" he asked, over-emphasising the last word with a cheeky sneer.

"I do now, do I?!" frowned May, still angry at him for getting her name wrong, before she smacked herself in the forehead. "Of course I do, what am I talking about?" she sighed, rummaging in her pocket for a PokéBall. "Come on out, Blaziken!" she said cheerfully, and her own Blaze Pokémon appeared in a flash of white light, almost indistinguishable from Leoric's Garvas if not for the fact that Garvas was slightly taller and had the longer hair associated with male Blaziken.

"Well, go on!" she grinned, shooing the two Fire-types with her hands. "Get acquainted with each other!" she suggested, and her Blaziken's eyes slid over to Garvas before looking away and moving towards the trees, Leoric nodding at his own Blaziken as it sidled off after her. The two Trainers looked briefly at each other, then at their friends, before they all shrugged their shoulders and made their way towards the wooden table, but Dawn kept her eyes on the Fighting-types, raising an eyebrow as Garvas jumped in front of May's Blaziken.

'_Mayziken' _rolled her eyes as she saw Garvas staring at her, and she folded her arms and turned away, but her eyes widened in surprise when she saw him standing in front of her yet again, having used Quick Attack to run around before she had noticed. She turned back to face the way she had been before, but, yet again, Garvas stood in her way, and he kept it up even as she turned to face the other way again and again, Mayziken's frustration mounting with every time he did it.

Eventually, she became so annoyed with the childish antic that, after he blocked her way for the ninth time, she cut across his knee with her leg, making him grunt in pain before she blasted his face with a Flamethrower. She let down the attack after a few seconds, an icy stare ready for Garvas when the flames died, but she cracked into a grin when she saw the expression on his face, wide-eyed and open-jawed with his face covered in black soot.

"That's cute…" Dawn muttered to herself, laughing as Garvas shook himself off and scratched at the side of his head.

"What's so funny, Dawn?" Ash asked, oblivious, as he covertly eyed the steaming plates of food that Brock was organising over at the barbecue.

"Oh, nothing…" she lied, glancing over at the two Blaziken just as Mayziken torched Garvas with a Fire Spin, and she snorted with laughter again.

"Well, what was _that_ one, then?" wondered Misty, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. "People don't normally just start laughing for no reason, now do they?" she pointed out, and Dawn stifled yet another laugh as she pointed towards the Blaze Pokémon next to the trees. "What's so funny about that? They're just standing there…" she said, her face falling with disappointment.

"Yeah… if it's a joke, I don't get it, either…" muttered Leoric, but a moment later, Garvas hit the ground after being punched in the face by Mayziken. "Oh. _Now_ I get it!" he chuckled, before tugging nervously on his collar and swiftly recalling his Pokémon, followed quickly by May as she returned her Blaziken. "Funny… hehe…" he murmured, looking up at the sky.

"Get your fill, everyone! Lunch is ready!" announced Brock, setting down plates of steaming hot food on the table, and Wynter pounced forwards and snatched up the tongs. "Hey! I said _wait_!" he wailed.

* * *

Tracey took another short, sharp breath of air as he waded through the rancid water, one hand holding onto the ball-like tail of his Marill as it sprayed a Water Gun to keep the worst of the slime out of their path. They were moving slowly, barely a paddle, not wanting to risk being discovered by any more Team Rocket members because they were making too much noise.

_But the Professor…_ he thought sadly, looking over his shoulder, and he could still see intermittent flashes of orange light, hear a shouted order or a Pokémon's howl, smell a wisp of smoke through the foul sludge that surrounded him. He was feeling nauseous, and not just from the toxic vapours in the air. _I should've stayed to help… what if something happens to him because he gave me a chance to run?_ he asked himself, his eyes stinging as he turned back towards his Pokémon, still leading him on towards the opposite bank of the river.

"Tracey!" shouted a voice high in the air. Tracey's head snapped upwards so quickly that he cricked it, and he rubbed it with a hand as he squinted into the sunlight, making out the rough shape of a Dragonite hovering above him.

"Pr-Professor?!" he yelled in disbelief.

"Of course it's me!" chuckled the elderly man's voice, and he became visible as the Dragon Pokémon dipped lower over the water, the tip of its tail just breaking the surface next to Tracey's body. "What, are you waiting for a helicopter to pick you up?! Grab Dragonite's tail so we can get out of here!" he ordered. Tracey didn't need to be told twice, and he recalled his Marill to its PokéBall and grabbed hold of Dragonite's tree-trunk-like tail, breathing a deep sigh of relief as he was lifted clear of the stinking, purple-tinged water.

"I think I need a bath…" he muttered with a sheepish smile, as he climbed up onto Dragonite's back and sat behind Oak. "But, Professor… how did you get out of there?" he asked.

"I'll tell you once we're safely back in the lab," Oak answered, slapping the back of his Pokémon's neck. "And once you've cleaned yourself up," he added with a laugh, as they sped off towards Pallet Town once again.

Unbeknownst to them, a thin man saw the trio flying off to the south-west, watching from a window set high on an industrial shed, and a tiny smirk formed on his small mouth as he ran a hand down the front of his suit. Turning around, he noticed that a Rocket grunt was standing at the doorway to the room he was standing inside, so he beckoned for the man to come in. The petrified crony shuffled forwards, bearing a nasty-looking series of cuts and scrapes that had come about during a battle with Oak, and the suited man knew that it had been his incompetence that had led to their escape.

"A-A-A thousand apologies, sir!" stammered the grunt, bowing repeatedly before sinking to the floor and clasping his hands in front of him, as though praying for mercy. The thin man made a small noise of amusement, holding his hands behind his back as he strode towards the grunt, and he clicked his fingers once. The grunt shot to his feet straight away, as if the click had been some kind of electric shock, and he stood at attention, trying to keep his face as empty of terror as he could.

"I quite prefer this outcome, actually," said the thin man, with a voice full of sophistication that barely rose above a whisper, and the grunt's eyes widened even further, if possible, with surprise.

"But—but, s-sir—!"

"If it will stop you from blubbering like a Sealeo, I'll tell you why…" said the man icily, and the Rocket quailed and fell silent. "Do you know who that man was…?" he asked, in a dangerously low tone, and the grunt nodded shakily.

"Uh-huh…!"

"Pardon me?"

"Sir! Yes, sir!" shouted the grunt, snapping his arm to a salute. "That was Professor Oak!" he answered, and the thin man smirked.

"Yes, very good…" he said silkily. "That was Professor Samuel Oak—" he emphasised the professor's name with callous sarcasm, "one of the most renowned authorities on Pokémon and Pokémon-human interaction in our world. Now, let me pose this question to you, grunt…" he murmured, stepping forwards so that his face was the only thing the grunt could see, and the latter swallowed. "If he were to be… _absent_… from any of his regular duties… what do you think would happen?"

"P-People would—they'd start—they'd look for him—!"

"That's right. They would search for their professor…" nodded the man, turning his back and walking slowly to the window. "And, if anyone saw that professor's Dragonite flying from Celadon City to Pallet Town, a route in which the only major settlement of any kind is this one, then where do you think the people would focus their search…?"

"They would—uh—look here fir—oh…" said the grunt, his posture slumping as he realised the connection. "I—see your point, s-sir."

"It's about time you did," muttered the thin man, whirling around smoothly on the spot. "Now, tell your fellow employees that they are to continue the evacuation of Gringey City, and the detainment of its citizens. Spare the engineers of the Power Plant, however," he added, reinforcing the point with a gesture of his hand, and the grunt looked stupidly at him in confusion.

"If you—if you don't mind me asking, sir—?"

"I do mind," snapped the man, his eyes narrowing like shutters. "You're not under my employ for your curiosity. You're under my employ for your unquestioning loyalty. I give the orders, and you follow them without hesitation."

"M—"

"If you have any shortcomings about that _arrangement_, I can _arrange_ for you to join the civilians currently being rounded up by your grunt equals. I'm sure they would be quite happy to get their hands on one of the men responsible for disrupting their lives in such a fashion as this," he added, his lip curling as the grunt gave a terrified shake of the head, running off and shouting the order at the top of his voice.

The thin man turned back to the window and watched the sky, slivers of light crossing his face as the rest remained in shadow.

* * *

"So, yeah…" Ari muttered, sitting himself down on the sofa. "Is it alright with you if I stay here until the end of the tournament?" he asked, looking up at Noland, who was leaning on the frame of the hallway with pursed lips and a doubtful expression on the rest of his face.

"Of course it is!" Anabel said brightly, throwing herself down on an armchair and wriggling about to make herself more comfortable. "Don't be silly."

"I guess it won't be too much of a problem," caved Noland, pushing himself off the wall and trudging into the kitchen. "It might get a little cramped with four people, but when you practically live inside a mechanic's garage like I do, you get used to it. The only question is if you can," he added with a smirk, opening the fridge. "Hey!" he exclaimed, sticking his head inside. "Who took all the beer?!"

"Well, the plan was for there to be _three_ people…" Ari corrected, and Noland's head jerked upwards, banging against the freezer door. Silently cursing, the Factory Head rubbed his aching temple and slammed the fridge door shut, marching into the lounge room with a stare that demanded an explanation. "What?" he said, looking over to Anabel. "You didn't tell him about the plan?"

"I asked Brandon about it this morning before he went for training, and he said he was fine with it!" she said defensively, throwing up her hands as though surrendering. "He pays for the room, so it's his green light I needed, not Noland's!"

"What the heck are you toddlers talking about?!" shouted Noland, speaking right over the top of the pair of them.

"The plan!" Ari said mockingly. "Don't tell me you don't know about the plan… now, that's just sad," he added in a grave tone of voice, and Noland smacked his lips in annoyance. "Relax, Noland," he chuckled. "The plan was for me to take your room while _you_ move into _my _room," he explained.

"What?!" exclaimed Noland, looking wildly from Ari to Anabel, who shrugged and nodded her head in agreement. "Why should I be the one who has to move out? Why can't you, Anabel?!" he asked loudly, pointing almost accusingly at her.

"Because Brandon, Ari and I don't think that Leo can be _trusted_ with having a hotel room all to himself," she told him, looking at his finger as if to say, '_will you stop pointing that thing at me?_'. "And since the whole trust thing is your fault anyways—"

"_My_ fault?! How is it my fault?!" he shouted. "And why should I be the one who has to share a hotel room with my Psyduck of a little brother, just to stop him in the infinitely remote chance of something going wrong?"

"Well, give us a chance, and we'll tell you," chuckled Ari, who seemed to be finding Noland's whining hilarious. "Okay—" he shrugged and waved a hand towards Anabel, "_she'll_ tell you, because I honestly don't know, either," he added with a smirk, and Anabel gave him a cold stare before rolling her eyes.

"I just think – and Brandon agrees – that it would be better if someone's over there to keep an eye on Leoric…" she explained, "in case he tries to… _organise_ something stupid like most guys his age do."

"You're worried he's gonna get drunk?" Noland guessed, splitting into laughter. "Relax, Ana! He's gotten wasted before! Remember the photos that Ari showed us of the Silver Conference?!" he reminded her, smacking a hand against his thigh as he doubled over.

"I meant the _other_ thing guys like him are obsessed with," Anabel replied coolly, and Noland straightened up and wiped a tear of laughter from his eye.

"Oh come on, I think you're being a bit unreasonable there," he muttered. "He's smart enough not to try it."

"It'd be even smarter if you were there to keep it from happening," piped Ari, before subtly covering his mouth with his hand and looking at the ceiling as though intensely interested in the paint job.

"Hold on a second!" barked Noland, putting out a hand. "You're telling me that _I'm_ gonna be moving in with Leo _just_ to stop him from bringing someone home in the middle of the night? Love to remind you, Ana—" he wagged a finger at her, "but you've told me at least once that I'm the _last_ person that should be sent to keep an eye on that particular aspect of Leo's life."

"You're moving in whether you like it or not, Noland," Anabel said stubbornly, getting to her feet and crossing her arms, and Noland silently cursed the inexplicable air of authority that sometimes came to her when she became set in her mind on occasions like this.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because it was your so-called _advice _that put Leoric in the situation he's in with Misty and May," she answered.

"That was Noland?" Ari exclaimed, before shrugging his shoulders and scratching his ear nonchalantly.

"Alright, I get it, thanks," Noland said irately. "So this is, what, _punishment_?"

"I prefer _responsibility_," Anabel smirked, and the Factory Head looked at her, astonished, before slumping his shoulders and lowering his head.

"Fine. I'll swap rooms, if you'll let the whole '_bad advice_' thing go for good," he bargained, holding out a hand, and Anabel shook it with a sweet, yet triumphant, smile, before she strolled off towards her own room and disappeared out of sight.

"Next time—" Ari said loudly, getting to his feet and clapping a hand on Noland's shoulder, "next time you want to give Leoric advice, just have one of your Pokémon punch him in the head," he chuckled.

"That works?" he grunted.

"Hey, I got away with Galadriel whacking Ash, so you should be able to get away with doing it to Leoric," he shrugged, bursting into laughter as Noland's jaw dropped open.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***All the fully-evolved Pokémon in this chapter are bird-like, Flying-type, or both.**

**Quiz:**

***Ash's Noctowl learned Confusion against which Gym Leader?**

* * *

**Ta-da! A new chapter! And this one's on time, to the minute, just how Grandma used to make. And with a dash of new moves, too, courtesy of the Buster Kick!**

**I was originally going to have a bit more after the battle, but I think the battle was enough excitement in itself for that scene.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! And to the ones who haven't yet, but are going to, of course. All reviews are enormously appreciated, so keep them coming.**

**As per usual, don't hesitate to put any queries in your reviews if you're curious about anything.**

**This chapter has officially pushed The World Pokémon Championships above half a million words! That's excellent! And the story isn't even halfway done.**

**Chapter 95 (Regicide) will be whipped out this time next week, a.k.a December 11th. As the title suggests, it's only going to have one thing in it; the match of the round, the highly anticipated clash between Ari and Brandon! **

**Who will emerge triumphant in the upcoming showdown?! What strategies will both Trainers be using in order to emerge victorious?! You'll just have to find out by reading the next chapter!**

**Keep up the good work, and, as always...**

**Don't forget to review!!!**


	95. Regicide

**CHAPTER 95 – REGICIDE**

_Just relax… _

_Deep breaths… _

_One, two, three, one, two three, one, two, three…_

_You can do this. _

_He's just like any other opponent—_

—_who's going to be coming at you at a thousand miles an hour with his Legendary Pokémon…_

_No! Snap out of it, Ari! You think that way, you're already out of the game…!_

_Just stick to your guns…! Stick to your guns… stick to the A-game…_

_Remember your strategy… Take the ground to the air… The best offense is a cunning defense… Strike while the iron is hot…_

_Okay…_

_Well, now or never, I suppose…_

Ari raised his head, looking across the tunnel at the blank stretch of darkened brick on the other side, looking but concentrating as his thoughts continued to circle around inside his head. Above him, a multitude of muffled roars and shouts buffeted down through the hard stones, bearing the weight of innumerable fans, but it just sounded like the continuous drone of a swarm of bees as they waited expectantly.

As if on cue, the door at the end of the tunnel slid open without a sound, the noise from outside rushing in like a gust of air as he rose to his feet and walked into the sunlight. He almost clapped his hands down over his ears as the cheers swelled up from the stands, a gargantuan crowd packed into the stadium to watch the battle. Across the field, an identical sheet of steel parted from the wall to reveal his opponent, dressed in his traditional mountaineering uniform and with his arms at his sides.

_Brandon,_ he thought stiffly, taking a deep breath and marching towards the centre circle as he raised a hand and waved to the multitudes of supporters.

"From the bang, crash and boom to your living room, and to the diehard fans in the stands, welcome to the sixteenth – and final – qualifying match for the World Pokémon Championships' Top Sixteen!" shouted the commentator, inciting another blast of noise from the crowd. "This is Troy Barton, coming at you live around the world with the most anticipated match of the sixth round, with the action sure to heat up on this swelteringly hot Ayers Island afternoon!"

"On one side of the battling pendulum, we have a regional Champion, last year's fourth place in this very tournament, and, surely, one of the favourites to take home the trophy—!" he continued, smirking as he worked up his audience, "give it up for the Ecruteak Emperor himself… Ari DeVarro!" he roared, pointing his microphone away from the stadium as the air was shredded with yet more cheers and applause.

"And, facing off against Ari is an equally fierce competitor, the leader of the Kanto region's fearsome Battle Frontier, and possibly the one man who can bring his opponent's success to a crushing end…! He is the one, the only, the Pyramid King, Brandon Ceruse!" Troy announced, beginning to rattle off facts and statistics about both Trainers' histories as the latter two came face-to-face in the centre of the field.

"Well, here we are, I suppose…!" Ari chuckled nervously, focusing his gaze on the collar of Brandon's shirt, and the latter nodded.

"I'd rather not have faced you at this stage of the tournament, Ari," he muttered, making the boy's eyes dart up to his face. "I would have preferred a battle in the finals," he laughed, shrugging his shoulders as he folded his arms. "But, elimination means elimination, so from the moment we turn around and head to our ends, you know what to expect," he added gravely.

"Yeah, something starting with '_Regi_', right?" he said dryly, scratching the side of his face as Brandon gave a passive grunt and an unhelpful look. "I guess there's nothing for it, though, so—" he put a hand forwards, "let's make this a memorable battle, shall we?"

"May the better competitor win," Brandon smiled, shaking his hand. The moment their hands fell to their sides, however, all smiles disappeared instantly, and the two Trainers stared intensely at each other, for what seemed like a long time, before they turned and strode to their respective sides of the battlefield, Brandon in the green square and Ari in the red.

"This match will be a three-on-three battle with no time limit!" shouted the referee, who was none other than Samuel, Brandon's assistant and regular judge aboard the Battle Pyramid. "Neither Trainer may be permitted to make substitutions, and any Pokémon returned to its PokéBall after being called to battle will immediately be ruled unable to battle! There will be no intermission, and the Trainer with the last Pokémon, still able to battle, will advance to the next round! Do both Tr—?!"

"Yes, we understand!" chorused Ari and Brandon, two sets of fingers twitching eagerly at their sides as they waited for the beginning of the battle.

"Then let the battle begin!" Samuel declared, pointing his twin flags towards the sky as the starting siren echoed around the grounds.

"My faithful friend… I need your assistance!" boomed Brandon, hurling his PokéBall onto the field. The crowd gasped in wonder and anticipation as the Pyramid King's Pokémon appeared in a flash of blinding white light, and even Ari raised an eyebrow as he saw his opponent's first choice.

It was a creature almost entirely covered with curved, shining, grey metal, with a pair of stubby, cylindrical legs underneath a wide disc of a waist, and a dome-like torso connected on top of that. The centre of the Pokémon's body was a dark black stripe that ran down its front, with seven red dots forming a concentric circle in the middle of its face, or where its face would be if it had any distinguishable head of sorts. A metallic ball pushed out from either side of the 'head', giving way to a pair of slender, black arms that ended in red-dotted knuckles and tubular white fingers that flexed fluidly as it gave a strange, unearthly hum of a cry.

"_Rehhhjeeeschiiiru…_"

"And Brandon's first Pokémon comes in the form of Registeel, a Legendary Pokémon," noted Troy, flicking his large fringe away from his eyes. "With an impeccable blend of offense and defense, Ari is going to need to make his selection _very_ carefully if he wants to be able to keep up with Brandon!"

_I wonder why he didn't go with his Regirock to begin with…_ Ari thought, his brow furrowed as his hand floated off the PokéBall it had been grasping on his belt. _Why Registeel…? Well, no point pondering over a moot point!_ he told himself, a tiny smirk on his mouth as he took a different ball into his palm and lobbed it high into the air. "Colenzo, engage!" he roared, and the PokéBall split open with a burst of light to reveal the bulky, flaming form of his Magmortar, whose lipless mouth curled into a grin as it saw its legendary foe.

"Ari has gone with his Magmortar, opting to go with the advantage that the Fire-type has over the Steel-type!" Troy observed, as Ari's more vocal supporters cheered at their favourite's choice. "We've seen Magmortar perform well in previous matches, and against Pokémon that have the advantage over _it_, but none of them were a Registeel, albeit one that's certainly proven its status in the earlier stages of Brandon's championship campaign! So, without further ado… let the battle begin!" he declared, striking the starting hammer as the crowd erupted with noise.

"Alright, Colenzo, let's start out strong!" roared Ari, pointing across the field at Brandon's Iron Pokémon. "Zap that giant lightning rod with a Thunderbolt attack!"

"_Maaag…!_" hissed Magmortar, a pale yellow glow flickering into life around its rounded body, and a spear of electricity flew through the air towards its target, scoring a direct hit on Registeel. Brandon, however, simply smirked and tilted his head to the side as the lightning surrounded his Pokémon's body, and a moment later the energy dissolved into thin air as the Steel-type threw its arms out to the side and stamped a threatening foot against the ground.

_Darn it… _thought Ari, gritting his teeth.

"Our turn, Registeel! Charge Beam, now!" Brandon boomed, and Registeel held its hands at right-angles in front of its red-dot eyes, a crackling ball of blue spinning in the open space between its palms. A blink of the eye later, the ball exploded into a jagged beam of neon light that rocketed across the field, sizzling as it homed in on the Blast Pokémon standing placidly on the spot.

"Use Air Lance!" shouted Ari hastily, his eyes snapping wide open as he saw the attack glowing from the other side of his Pokémon's frame. Colenzo's eyes twitched into a squint as its body tensed up, and a shimmer of heat enveloped the Fire-type as the air itself began to burn from the unbelievable heat coming from the Magmortar's belly. Registeel's Charge Beam smashed into the invisible barrier around its prey, the blue beam spreading out like a ripple in water as it disappeared, leaving Colenzo standing unharmed in a small circle of molten earth that had formed during the Air Lance.

"Use Hyper Beam!" barked Brandon, and Registeel's hands cut through the air as they returned to the same position that they had for its last attack.

"Nice try, Brandon, but I'm not dumb enough to try and stop that kind of power just with _heat_!" Ari yelled, just as a bright, flickering ball of orange flashed in front of the legendary Pokémon's eyes. "Throw that Hyper Beam right back where it came from with Psychic!" he told his Magmortar, the shimmering haze of superhot air around it disappearing just as the ball of energy between its foe's hands erupted into a wide beam of light that careened across the field with ferocious speed.

The crowd rose up from their seats, fists clenched and arms tensed to punch the air as they watched the Hyper Beam threaten to punch straight through its target, but Colenzo's eyes narrowed fearlessly and shone with a pale blue glimmer. The glimmer encompassed its entire body, an outline of blue in stark contrast with the Fire-type's vivid red flames, and in almost no time at all, Registeel's attack met the same end, surrounded with blue as it struggled against the Psychic.

"Come on, Colenzo!" cheered Ari, his heart in his throat as the Hyper Beam roared closer and closer.

The Blast Pokémon thrust its arms forwards, teeth gritted as, slowly, it brought the destructive beam to a standstill, hovering shakily in mid-air halfway between itself and the centre of the field. With a guttural roar, Colenzo split the attack in two, a pair of smaller orange beams racing out to the sides on a collision course with the boundary walls, but the twin jets curved around and shot towards Registeel before they could smash into the metal barriers, still outlined in ghostly blue light as they combined and spun fiercely like a drill.

"Block it with Iron Defense!" Brandon shouted, standing as resolutely as his Pokémon as the latter glinted in the sunlight, an orange glow appearing on its front as its own Hyper Beam rocketed towards it. The attack slammed into the Iron Pokémon with a colossal bang, exploding against the Steel-type's body and covering half the arena with a thick blanket of black smoke that swirled and rippled.

"What power! What sheer force of will! How good is _that_ for the opening to a match?!" yelled Troy, on his feet as the crowd was full of ripples of its own, a hundred-thousand heads turning to whisper excitedly to their neighbours as Ari and Brandon held steely gazes, waiting for the dark cloud to pass. "Magmortar and Registeel have traded some punishing blows – some of which I'm sure would have sent other Pokémon straight to the emergency ward! – but neither have given an inch! But Ari may have just taken a slight lead after redirecting that Hyper Beam!"

_Don't count on it,_ thought Brandon, a tiny spark in his eyes as the top of Registeel's head began to poke out from above the fading smoke. "Now, Registeel! Iron Head, go!" he bellowed. A bright light burst out from underneath the cover of the smoke, and the Iron Pokémon leapt out of the cloud with a plume of black trailing behind its body, which was engulfed in sharp white light that looked like molten silver.

"Stop it in its tracks with Flamethrower!" Ari ordered, and Colenzo retracted the claws in one of its barrel-like arms, pointing the mouth of its cannon squarely at its foe as an orange glow lit up the inside of the cavity. A roaring jet of flames burst from Magmortar's arm-cannon, soaring across the field and crashing into the top of Registeel's head, but the overwhelming force of its Iron Head shredded the fire with ease.

"Too bad for you, Ari!" Brandon smirked.

"That's what _you_ think!" countered Ari, grinning fiercely, and Brandon's face twitched in surprise. "Boost out of the way, Colenzo!"

"_Maaaaag…mortar!_" roared the Fire-type, the last of its Flamethrower attack giving way to a hissing gust of air that sent it spiralling backwards. Colenzo shot straight towards the rear boundary wall, zooming past its Trainer in an instant, and for a brief moment, both it and Brandon's Registeel were moving at equal speeds, the Iron Pokémon still relentlessly chasing after its foe with a glowing white aura.

_BANG!_

A cloud of smoke and dust spewed out from the boundary wall, those in the crowd nearest to it scampering backwards as they heard and felt the impact, and the fans on the other three sides of the stadium getting to their feet and craning their necks towards the source of the collision. The greyish-black haze slowly disappeared into the air, and Brandon bared his teeth in frustration when he saw the result; Magmortar was standing, sneering, only a few paces away from a huge dent in the wall, with his legendary Pokémon wedged in the centre of the gaping hole.

"Free yourself, Registeel!" ordered the Pyramid King, and the Steel-type's slender fingers slid out from behind its hands, moving at impossible angles as they grabbed at the sheet of twisted metal and wrenched its body free. "Now, show Magmortar your Ancientpower!" he yelled, punching the air ferociously.

"_Rejirejirejirejireji…!_" buzzed Registeel, forming another shining silver ball, only this one was held between in front of its head instead of surrounding its entire body.

"Just dodge it with Boost!" Ari said loudly, the hint of a laugh in his voice as the Registeel sent the Ancientpower rocketing across the field, the glare of the bright light searing at the eyes of everyone watching the battle. Colenzo's arm swung out to the side, pointing straight at a boundary wall as the incoming attack whizzed closer, and its small black eyes glinted as it expelled another blast of hot air from inside. The Blast Pokémon shot towards the opposite edge of the field, moving like a champagne cork that had just been popped, and its foe's move dug itself harmlessly into the ground just wide of Ari, who kept his gaze focused firmly on the field in front of him.

"Magmortar is _really_ moving out there!" Troy cheered, the crowd echoing his words with raucous applause. "Brandon's Registeel is throwing everything but the kitchen sink at it, _including_ that last Ancientpower that was sent with all guns firing, Magmortar is still evading the assaults with grace and efficiency! But, I guess that's the kind of A-game that Ari is going to have to maintain, if he's to have any chance of defeating a Legendary Pokémon such as Registeel!"

_Not too shabby… _thought Brandon, the corner of his mouth twitching into the ghost of a smile as Magmortar's claws reappeared from underneath the rim of its cannon. _We might be in for a close fight after all…_

"Colenzo, let's get cooking!" Ari barked, stamping a foot against the ground. "Hit Registeel with a Flamethrower, full power!"

"Dodge it!" countered Brandon, just as Magmortar slid its claws back into its skin and pointed an arm directly at its foe. With a fearsome growl from the Fire-type, a column of flames spat across the field, a dull roar sounding throughout the stadium as the fire seemed to reach out with red-orange fingers that tried to snatch at the Iron Pokémon. But Registeel was too quick, lithely sliding away from the damaging flames before they even came close, completely unharmed as Colenzo finally lowered its arm and glowered at the Steel-type.

"Get up close and personal with Focus Punch!" Ari roared. Magmortar charged forwards at once, an arm shining with a blue-white glow, and a fierce grin formed on its mouth as it cocked its fist backwards and leapt through the air towards Registeel.

"Grab that arm, Registeel!" Brandon boomed, and his legendary Pokémon's fingers sped outwards, hooking themselves around Colenzo's wrist. The crowd roared with shock and surprise, and Ari's face contorted with frustration, as Registeel sent its foe crashing through the battlefield with little more than a flick of its own wrist, the Blast Pokémon disappearing beneath a layer of jagged rubble. Brandon gave a shallow nod of approval as he narrowed his eyes at the ground in front of his Pokémon's feet, the Steel-type's tubular fingers still extending down through the surface of the arena as they remained latched onto Colenzo.

"This looks like the time for us to end things!" he told Registeel with a triumphant smile. "Pound that Magmortar with H—!"

"You're not ending _anything_!" fired Ari fiercely. "Colenzo, drag that Registeel down and meet it halfway!" he commanded, and the earth under Registeel's feet exploded upwards. Colenzo gave a hissing growl as it burst out from the rubble, yanking down on its foe's unrelenting hold and pulling the latter in towards its body, where it locked the Steel-type in an iron-tight bear hug. "Now, melt that tin can down to scrap metal with Air Lance!"

"_Maaaaaaag!_" roared Magmortar, pinning its foe's arms to its sides as a sizzling shimmer of air surrounded both Pokémon. For a few quick seconds, the crowd looked on in confusion as nothing happened, but suddenly there was a screeching hiss of a sound as red-hot patches appeared on Registeel's greyish body. The Iron Pokémon screamed, jerking backwards and struggling against Colenzo's grasp, as the superheated air began to warp its body and melt the ground beneath the pair of battlers.

"Registeel, no!" Brandon gasped, as the enormous glowing welts on his Pokémon's body slowly began to spread over its surface. "_Shake Magmortar off, damnit_!" he thundered, eyes wide open in shock and horror as the legendary Steel-type's fingers snaked towards their foe, only to turn a sizzling orange, crumple and slide to the ground in the face of the overwhelming heat.

"This looks like things could be getting _very_ bad for Registeel!" Troy yelled, slowly standing up as he, along with the crowd, watched as Colenzo continued to sear and scorch the Iron Pokémon's body all over.

"Use Superpower!" screamed Brandon. There was a blinding flash of blue light that exploded outwards from Registeel's glowing red body, and Magmortar was sent hurtling backwards by the force of the attack, leaving the Steel-type to slowly cool its metallic hide. "Now use Hyper Beam!" shouted the Pyramid King, his Pokémon blasting a wide beam of destructive orange light across the field, the attack smashing into its target's chest and sending it sprawling over the ground, sliding to a rough stop just in front of its Trainer.

"Wait—perhaps I was wrong!" chuckled Troy, scratching his cheek with a long finger. "It seems that Brandon still has a lot of fuel in that Registeel's tank, even after that downright _painful_ move from Ari's Magmortar! He's been able to use that Air Lance attack several times in this tournament to _really_ get his opponents' Pokémon hot under the collar—!" he paused for a moment as the crowd jeered his poor choice of words, "but Registeel is one tough nut to crack!"

"How are you, Registeel?!" Brandon asked worriedly, his body tensed as shimmering fumes spiralled upwards from his Pokémon, but the orange glow was quickly disappearing from the Iron Pokémon's body, and he breathed a sigh of relief as its fingers returned to their original shape and size. "Excellent work!" he cheered, his own voice bolstered by the many in the stands.

"What about you, Colenzo? You still good for another round?" grinned Ari, pumping the air with his fist as his Blast Pokémon clambered back to its feet and sent two jets of flame gusting from its arms.

"_Maag…mortar…_" panted Colenzo, scratches dotting its rounded body as it glared at its foe.

"_Rejischiru…_" hummed Registeel, its featureless face giving nothing away, but its seven red eyes glinted in the rich sunlight as its body trembled.

"Boost in for a finishing hit!" Ari roared, the crowd roaring with him in excitement as Magmortar's claws sank back into their grooves, an intense spray of air cannoning out of its arms as it flew forwards with a lipless snarl, flaming tail blowing about behind it.

"Take Magmortar down with Iron Head, let's go!" ordered Brandon. Registeel wreathed itself in a ball of white light, fingers touching the ground before it launched itself across the battlefield, spearing over the ground as it set itself on its collision course with its foe. A hundred-thousand people held their breaths as the two Pokémon speared towards each other, a desperate game of chicken that neither was going to back out from, both thirsting for the victory over their powerful opponent as they flew on their last legs.

"_Now_!" bellowed Ari, a chorus of shocked exclamations running around the stadium as he punched the air. "Roll and turn!" he commanded, and one of Colenzo's cannons swivelled to face the sky, spinning down towards the ground as the Iron Pokémon passed through. The bottom of Registeel's silver aura slashed across the Fire-type's belly, leaving deep cuts in the flame-coloured skin, but Magmortar was, for the most part, unharmed as it pivoted in mid-air and chased after its foe.

"Registeel, turn around! _Turn around_!" Brandon shouted, watching on as Ari's Pokémon closed the gap between itself and his own legendary Pokémon, but the Steel-type was moving far too quickly to heed its Trainer's warning and change its direction.

"It's time for that finishing hit, Colenzo!" Ari shouted, pointing towards Registeel as the two Pokémon flew in his direction. "Flamethrower, maximum power!"

"_Maaaagggg!_" hissed Colenzo, cutting off the air to one arm as it pointed the barrel of its cannon dead-straight at Registeel's back. "_Maagggg…moooorrrrtar!_" bellowed the Blast Pokémon. A massive pillar of flames surged out from the cannon and struck Registeel squarely between the shoulders, crackling over the discoloured metal as the Iron Pokémon hit the ground in a smoking, charred heap. Magmortar clumsily landed on all fours just behind its foe, shakily holding up one of its cannons and aiming it at Registeel's body, as the din of the crowd disappeared in an instant, their eyes shooting towards Samuel on the sidelines.

"Umm…" he muttered, stealing a reluctant glance to his regular superior, but, for the first time since he could remember, the Pyramid King was standing motionless, shoulders hunched and his face a picture of blank shock. "Well… Registeel is unable to battle…!" he shouted slowly, taking his red flag from its clip and swinging it in Ari's direction. The crowd found its voice again at the declaration, rising to their feet with deafening applause from Ari's supporters, and groans of disbelief from Brandon's fans.

"Excellent work, Registeel. You were very brave," Brandon said at last, a slightly forced smile on his lips as he took his Pokémon's PokéBall into his hand. "You take a nice, long rest," he added, recalling the legendary Pokémon and stowing the ball on his belt. "Well, Ari, I'm most impressed that you and your Magmortar—" he began to say, but he broke off when he saw something completely unexpected; Colenzo was lying spread-eagled on the battlefield.

"Colenzo?!" exclaimed Ari, having seen his Fire-type close its eyes and fall limply onto the ground. This time around, Samuel was much less hesitant in his decision-making, and he waved his green flag at Brandon almost immediately after seeing the unconscious Blast Pokémon.

"Magmortar is also unable to battle!" he declared, drawing a collection of awed whispers from the stands as they suddenly realised that Magmortar was, indeed, unable to battle.

"I don't believe it!" shrieked Troy, almost bouncing up and down in the skybox as his free hand clutched at his hair. "I see it, but I—I just don't believe it! Words can't even describe the intensity to that finish, ladies and gentlemen! A fearless clash of two Pokémon at the end of their ropes, and even with Ari's ingenious use of his Magmortar's Boost technique at a critical moment, it _still _only managed to outlast Registeel by a matter _seconds_! It's a true testament to how badly these two deserving Trainers crave that final place in the Top Sixteen, but each has shown the other that they're going to do everything they can to stop their opponent from taking what they feel is rightfully theirs!"

"Well, you did more than what I asked of you," smiled Ari, returning Colenzo to the depths of its PokéBall, "so for that, you deserve a break. I'm proud of you, buddy," he added warmly, clipping the ball to his belt as his eyes flickered back to Brandon, waiting for his opponent to send out his second Pokémon; Registeel had fainted first, so the Pyramid King was required to call out his next Pokémon before he did.

"You might have gotten past Registeel with a type advantage," Brandon smirked, "but don't think that you'll be able to get past this next Pokémon!" he added, and with that, he hurled a PokéBall onto the field with a cry, "I need your assistance!"

The ball split open with a bright white flash, and Ari gave a grave nod as he saw the Pokémon that emerged from within. At first glance, it seemed to be an enormous statue, but seven yellow dots lit up on a dome-shaped head, arranged like an uppercase letter '_H_' as the Pokémon seemed to come to life. A pair of large, terracotta-coloured boulders formed the Pokémon's spiny shoulders, with two columns of flattened grey stones swinging down from below, ending in a pair of cube-like rocks the size of truck tyres.

Three spiked stones lined the Pokémon's back, each one sharpened to the point and glinting dangerously in the light. The torso itself seemed to be made of a mismatch of orange and grey rocks that had been clumsily jammed together, giving the Pokémon the unsteady appearance of crumbling at any moment, particularly since its weighty frame was being supported by two stubby, bowed legs, with flat rectangular feet planted on the ground.

_So, he's finally sent out that Regirock…_ Ari noted, clenching his jaw as he tried not to show any signs of intimidation. _This is not going to be easy—no, snap out of it!—remember the strategy!_ he told himself, shaking his head to get rid of his doubtful thoughts as he took his next PokéBall from his waist. "Take the ground to the air…" he whispered to the ball, his eyes dipping towards it before he stood tall and stared fiercely at Brandon, who returned the look just as fearsomely.

"Ari, please send out your next Pokémon…!" yelled Samuel, and Ari gave him a curt nod as he threw the PokéBall into the air.

"Dullahan, engage!" he shouted, and the ball burst open with a flash to reveal the lithe form of his Garchomp, swinging his twin claws through the air as he glided down and landed on the ground, growling ferociously as his chipped dorsal fin flapped about in the breeze.

"_Ghrraaaaaa!_"

"Ari has, once again, gone with the type advantage in the face of another of Brandon's Legendary Pokémon," Troy commented, settling down after the end of the Registeel-Magmortar duel. "It worked for him last time, but Regirock is Brandon's key Pokémon in this tournament, scoring several tough KOs at important points in his campaign, and it was one of the stars of last year's Championships, when Brandon advanced to the Top Sixteen! Perhaps this lucky charm of his will be able to bring Brandon to the same stage _this_ year, but there's only one way to find out!"

"Start out with Stone Edge, Regirock!" boomed the Pyramid King, and the Braille dots on its face lit up with blue, matching the trio of rings that spun themselves around its body. The rings broke into tiny shards of light with the sound of snapping rock, and the light gave way to a motley collection of pointed stones that hovered in the air, surrounding Regirock for a brief moment before they streaked out over the battlefield, whistling as they cut through the air and sped towards Garchomp.

"Use Rock Climb to absorb the blow!" Ari ordered, and Garchomp stomped a clawed foot against the ground as its claws on its arms glowed white and suddenly doubled in length. The earth beneath both combatants' feet shook, and a pillar of rock erupted upwards from the ground, stretching towards the sky before Regirock's Stone Edge plunged headlong into the structure.

The jagged rocks tore the section of pillar to shreds, the edifice collapsing in on itself with a spectacular plume of dust and pebbles, but the Mach Pokémon flew through the rubble even before the pile had even settled, barely battling an eyelid as a layer of sand coated his scales. Zooming across the battlefield so quickly that no-one in the stadium could train their eyes on it, Dullahan slammed his elongated claws into Regirock's head and shot through behind it like a bullet.

Before the crowd could focus on the Dragon-type's incredible moving speed, a ripple of air tore across the field and hit the Rock-type across the chest, knocking the legendary Pokémon back before it managed to reaffirm its footing. Garchomp swung around in the air and soared back to his Trainer's side of the field, calmly lowering himself on the ground, but the crowd was far from calm. They screamed at each other, as though their neighbour could tell them what had just happened, thinking that Regirock had somehow forced itself backwards for an unknown reason.

"I see you've been working on your Garchomp's speed," nodded Brandon, and Ari gave a knowing smirk as the two Trainers ignored the confused and raving comments coming from the stands.

"Thanks for noticing!" Ari replied, with a modest shrug of the shoulders. "I call it the Mach Wave! We've been trying to get Dullahan above the sound barrier for a long time, so now that we've accomplished it, you can expect a lot more of them!" he added with a competitive grin.

_I'll be sure to keep that in mind…_ Brandon thought, folding his arms as his eyes probed over the slightly pockmarked arena.

"Well—! I'm not sure _what_ to make of what just happened there!" Troy laughed, his mouth hanging half-open as he looked between the two Pokémon. "If anything, I'd say that Garchomp did quite the job of using an offensive move like Rock Climb in a defensive capacity, but after that, I lost track of where Garchomp actually _went_!"

He laughed again, lowering the microphone for a few seconds as the fans in the stands muttered sentiments of agreement, before he put it to his face again. "Whatever happened, it did _something_ to Regirock, because I'm pretty sure that it didn't get pushed back by nothing! Perhaps Garchomp's speed could be the secret weapon that pushes it across the line in this fierce battle! Who knows?!" he put to the crowd, just as Ari pointed across the field at the Rock Peak Pokémon.

"Dragon Claw!" he barked, and Dullahan raced across the field with a claw raised high, kicking up a trail of dust in his wake.

"You should know that lightning never strikes the same place twice, Ari!" shouted Brandon, throwing his arm to the side. "Knock that shark into the sky with Hammer Arm!" he roared to Regirock.

"_Rehrock…_" clunked Regirock, its club-like fist and most of its arm glowing a fierce white as Garchomp sped over the battlefield with frightening pace. Just as the Mach Pokémon swung back his arm and jumped towards it, the Rock-type did likewise with its own, catching Dullahan on the chin with a crushing blow and sending the Dragon-type sprawling as he rocketed up high into the air.

"Now, use Stone Edge!" Brandon boomed.

"Dodge it, Dullahan!" countered Ari, as the triple-rings wound themselves around Regirock's body and shattered into a spray of sharp stones. Garchomp's eyes, screwed shut as he gingerly moved his aching jaw about, snapped wide open as it heard the gathering whistling sound of his foe's Stone Edge homing in. With an agile twist of his slender body, Dullahan spun around to face the attack, banking to the left and diving in Samuel's direction, and the barrage of jagged rocks flew harmlessly by, disappearing out of sight as the Dragon-type carved out a wide arc in the air and sent Samuel ducking for cover.

"Aim with Lock-On, and fire with Ancientpower!" shouted Brandon, keeping track of every movement that his opponent's Pokémon was making. So too, it appeared, was Regirock, because a moment later it fired a blinking red crosshair into seemingly empty space, but it landed squarely on Garchomp's cheek as the latter swung around in the air again, now facing the Rock Peak Pokémon head-on.

The legendary Rock-type held its hands at arm's length, charging a shimmering ball of blinding white light, and with a powerful thrust it sent the attack hurtling through the air, catching Dullahan on the shoulder. With a strangled, raspy grunt, the Garchomp fell backwards and hit the ground, the bony tip of his shoulder scorched and smoking slightly, but the Mach Pokémon quickly scrambled back to his feet, snarling angrily at his foe and taunting it with a callous flick of his twin claws.

"Hah, it looks like you want another piece of Regirock, eh, Dullahan?!" Ari smirked. "Well, who am I to stop you?! Move in close!" he yelled, and Garchomp eagerly obeyed the command, shooting across the arena with its fangs bared and its eyes glinting fiercely.

"Hit Garchomp with Hyper Beam!" Brandon roared, and Regirock's seven eyes glowed white as it formed a spinning ball of orange energy between its outstretched hands. As its foe shot closer, the Rock Peak Pokémon gave a dull growl as it launched its Hyper Beam, the thick orange beam tearing over the field with the air seeming to split to allow it through.

"Use your Dragon Rage to block that Hyper Beam!" fired Ari, gritting his teeth and crossing his fingers behind his back. Dullahan's jaws gaped wide open in the face of his foe's Hyper Beam, looking more ready to swallow the attack rather than stop it, but a fierce ball of fire suddenly burst into life in front of the Mach Pokémon's maw. With a rattling growl, the Ground-type catapulted the flaming sphere into the path of Regirock's attack, the two blasts colliding with such force that the ensuing explosion tore a great hole in the centre of the battlefield, a shower of earth and dust falling haphazardly onto the arena.

"Wow! Now _that_ is a display of raw power!" shouted an overexcited Troy. "The power of ancients going toe-to-toe with the power of dragons! Regirock is still in good stead despite having a type disadvantage, but Garchomp shouldn't be counted out, either! This battle is as close as the last one, ladies and gentlemen, and something tells me there's still another gear for Ari and Brandon to shift up into!"

"I think it's time for an Iron Tail!" Ari yelled, and Dullahan sprinted forwards on his powerful legs, his thick, forked tail swinging about behind him as it began to glow with white brilliance.

"What goes up—!" Brandon shouted, and his Rock Peak Pokémon, seeming to understand its Trainer's cryptic words, raised an arm towards the sky as its foe snarled and put on an extra burst of speed. "Must come—down—!" the Pyramid King punched the air firmly, the Rock-type's fist flashing to life with a bright shine as the Mach Pokémon in front of it drew close and swung its tail around for its attack. Before the move could make contact, Regirock brought the full weight of its body down in its arm, clobbering Garchomp over the head with a sickeningly loud crack, the Hammer Arm driving the Dragon-type straight into the ground just inches in front of his foe.

"Dullahan, are you alright?!" exclaimed Ari, rushing to the edge of his box as Dullahan slowly raised his head above the ground, growling furiously. "Come on, get up!" he shouted worriedly, and his Pokémon's limbs shook as he gingerly picked himself up off the battlefield.

"Hammer Arm, again!" roared Brandon, and Regirock wasted no time in pointing its fist at the heavens, before smashing a glowing forearm into its foe's upper back. Garchomp was crushed between the Rock-type and the dusty stadium floor, eyes screwed shut in pain and drawing pained gasps of air as the legendary Pokémon above it slowly lifted its fist off his body.

"I'm sorry, Ari, but this ends now!" boomed the Pyramid King, but Ari's attention was focused solely on his Mach Pokémon, watching Dullahan's body tremble and twitch as the latter got to his knees with agonising slowness. "Double Hammer Arm!"

"_Reh…rok…rehhh!_" whirred Regirock, both arms raised above its head and glowing as it built up its extraordinary power.

"Dullahan, use Rock Climb!" pleaded Ari, and his Garchomp's yellow eyes glinted, in the brief fraction of a second where Brandon's Rock Peak Pokémon brought its arms backwards just before throwing them down onto its foe. A low, quiet rumble echoed through the arena, and the corner of Dullahan's mouth flicked upwards as a pillar of rock punched its way up through the ground, carrying Regirock high into the air as the latter made a futile swing at thin air, now standing high above the arena on a rickety tower of stone.

"Now _that's _what I'm talking about!" Ari cheered, thumping the air with his fist. "Good work, Dullahan!" he grinned, and the Dragon-type gave a small grunt of joy as he regained his feet, shaking its body from snout to tail as it blocked out the worst of the pain from Regirock's punishing strikes. "Well, it looks like we took the ground to the air!" he laughed, craning his neck as he spied the still-formidable form of Brandon's Pokémon atop the rocky spire. "So, what say we bring the air back down to earth?! Knock it down!" he ordered.

"_Gaaahrahhhh!_" roared Garchomp, driving a shining claw into the side of the pillar and tearing a long line through the rock. The tower seemed to explode all around the Mach Pokémon's arm, debris shooting outwards with needle-sharp points that buried themselves in waves along the ground, and the peak of the pillar wobbled wildly from side to side as the entire structure came crashing downwards. Regirock was thrown off the rock like a cowboy from a bucking Tauros, its hefty weight being sucked towards the ground by gravity's inescapable pull, and the crowd shot to their feet with screams of excitement, suspense and delight.

"Meet Regirock halfway with your Iron Tail!" yelled Ari, throwing his hand skywards as Dullahan flew in the same direction, speeding towards his foe like an inky blue bullet, tail aglow and eyes set like the stones that rained down on either side of its body.

"_Now_, Regirock! Use Hyper Beam!" Brandon thundered. Regirock tilted downwards as it fell, eventually becoming horizontal as it faced the ground that it plummeted towards, and the Rock-type aimed its arms straight at the rising Garchomp, a crackling orange ball forming between its huge fists. Garchomp's eyes twinkled with the vermillion light, and he crossed his arms in front of his face to block the worst of the attack, but with a grating rumble of a battle cry, the Rock Peak Pokémon pummelled its foe with the full extent of its overwhelming Hyper Beam.

"Dullahan, no!" Ari screamed, the crowd jumping backwards as one, as the force of Regirock's blast sent the Mach Pokémon shooting down towards the ground, the legendary Pokémon above dropping with it as it continued to buffet Garchomp with its immense attack. Pokémon and orange light crashed into the ground together with a deafening explosion, clouds of smoke swirling around the point of impact as the two Trainers at the stadium's fringe were showered with dirt and debris.

"That was a gargantuan effort on both Pokémon's parts, with Ari's Garchomp withstanding a brutal series of Hammer Arm attacks before turning Rock Climb into an evasive manoeuvre, but something tells me that Regirock's sheer strength and legendary power was too much for its opponent…! Who knows?! We'll just have to wait for that smoke to clear…" Troy told the crowd, his eyebrows arched as he watched the blackened cloud.

The smoke finally thinned, and a triumphant smirk appeared on Brandon's face as it revealed Ari's Dragon-type lying placidly at the bottom of a deep crater in the centre of the field, cracks spidering across the arena's surface as Regirock, standing just in front of its fallen foe, raised a victorious fist towards the sky.

"Garchomp is unable to battle!" Samuel shouted, his yellow flag in hand for the second time in a row as he waved it in Brandon's direction. "Regirock is the winner!"

"Like I said, ladies and gentlemen, Regirock was just too much for Garchomp to handle!" yelled Troy, covering his ears with his hands as the crowd screamed with excitement. "After all, Regirock _is_ Brandon's most prized Pokémon, so it would have taken a miracle for Ari to knock it out without losing one of his own!"

Frowning at the commentator's statements, Ari quickly recalled Dullahan to his PokéBall, a tick of a smile crossing his lips as he looked at the ball before placing it back on his belt. _Time for my best offense, then…_ he thought smartly, as Regirock slowly trudged back to its Trainer's side of the battle-scarred battlefield. "Horazon, let's give it our all!" he cheered, throwing his final PokéBall into the fray.

"I was wondering when you would call on your Dusknoir," Brandon nodded, as the ghostly form of Ari's Gripper Pokémon appeared amidst a flash of white light.

"Well… better last than never, right?" Ari chuckled, shrugging his shoulders as Horazon floated forwards, coming to a stop halfway between its Trainer and the crater that Garchomp's defeat had left.

"_Dusk… nwahhh…_" whispered the Ghost-type, its single eye narrowing as it saw the Rock Peak Pokémon that was to be its foe.

"Well-well-well, this is set to be an explosive back half to the battle!" grinned Troy, as Ari's fans in the crowd went wild with noise upon seeing his Dusknoir. "Ari has gone with _his_ most powerful Pokémon to counter _Brandon's_ most powerful Pokémon, and it's the mystical power and sleight of hand of the Ghost-type going up against the solid defence and backbreaking hits of the Rock-type! But keep in mind that Brandon still has one last trump card up his sleeve, should Ari manage to knock over the imposing obstacle in the form of Regirock!"

"Aim with Lock-On, and fire with Ancientpower! Just like against Garchomp!" Brandon ordered, keeping up the offensive right off the bat. Regirock swung into action just as quickly, a flashing circular pulse of red light flying out from between its hands, and the crosshair stuck to Horazon's belly, blinking once before disappearing amongst its greyish body. Before the Lock-On had even faded away, the Rock Peak Pokémon had already formed a glowing ball of molten white in front of its face, and with a swing of its arm it sent the attack curving through the air, homing in on the Ghost-type with deadly accuracy.

"Dive down and sweep forwards!" Ari countered, and Horazon quickly descended underground, a small black shadow the only sign that it was still within the battlefield. Regirock's Ancientpower arced downwards, tracking Dusknoir as though tied to it, but the shadowy form darted across the battlefield, moving left and right as it sped towards the Rock-type on the other side of the arena. The ball of light above the Gripper Pokémon continued to chase after its target, but suddenly the shadow braked to a stop, the Ancientpower overshooting its mark and bashing itself into the ground just in front of Horazon, exploding with a shower of starlight.

"Not bad…" Brandon admitted, muttering the words quietly so that no-one else could hear his reluctant admiration.

"Shocking, isn't it?!" Ari said fiercely, a competitive grin lighting up his face as his supporters jumped to their feet. "But now it's time for some _real_ shock! Horazon, give Regirock a taste of your ThunderPunch!" he shouted, and the shadow on the ground lunged forwards, the huge figure of his Ghost-type zooming out from underneath the earth. Dusknoir cocked an arm backwards, a yellow glow surrounding its fingers as a sharp crackling filled the air, and it sent its fist battering against Regirock's head before the latter had time to move at all.

The legendary Pokémon stumbled backwards from the shattering force behind Horazon's punch, giving a thunderous growl like the sound of grating sandstone as it lifted its arms. Suddenly, a bolt of electricity wound its way around the Rock Peak Pokémon, jamming its limbs in place, and Brandon's face contorted into a furious scowl as he realised that his Pokémon had been paralysed by his opponent's attack.

"Oh, no!" gasped Troy dramatically, a snicker escaping him as he heard similar cries amongst the stands. "Dusknoir's ThunderPunch has paralysed Regirock, meaning that it might not be able to attack or counter any of _Dusknoir's_ attacks! This is bad news for Brandon; as powerful as Regirock may be, it isn't going to last much longer with a crippling disadvantage like _that_ on its hands—er, clubs—!" he corrected himself, wondering if that was a more appropriate term for the appendages.

"Block it out, Regirock!" Brandon instructed, an idea popping into his mind. "If you can't move your body, we'll just send the fight to them! Use Stone Edge!" he barked.

"Cancel it out with Will-O-Wisp!" fired Ari, and both Pokémon ringed themselves in pale blue light; Regirock forming a trio of spinning blue discs around its stricken body, and Horazon conjuring a bundle of eerie blue flames that sent spectral shadows dancing across its rotund torso.

"_Go_!" shouted their Trainers, and the two combatants sent their attacks hurtling at each other at the same time, Regirock's Stone Edge whistling through the air as it met Dusknoir's Will-O-Wisp head-on. Fire met rock in a dazzling flash, a fiery explosion rocking the stadium as a shockwave of hot air gusted away from the centre of the stadium, hitting Ari and Brandon in waves and sending their clothes blowing about their faces. Ari's trademark hat floated away and landed in the stands, where it was dived upon by several crazed fans, but he either didn't mind or didn't care, his eyes not budging an inch from their view of the battlefield.

"Ancientpower, once more!" thundered Brandon.

"_Reh…rohhhhck!_" roared Regirock, summoning a colossal ball of white energy from between its palms and holding it above its head.

"Sucker Punch!" Ari shouted, and Dusknoir whirled around on the spot so quickly that it became blurred, a blade of purple light shooting forth from the spinning Ghost-type and striking Regirock across the face. For the second time in a matter of moments, the Rock-type tottered backwards, losing control of its Ancientpower, and the shining orb hit the ground with the sound of shattering glass, breaking into a million pieces of white dust that blew across the field in the wake of the breeze.

"Regirock?!" gasped Brandon, watching as his Pokémon looked to be on the verge of losing balance.

"Finish Regirock with Shadow Ball!" Ari bellowed, and Horazon cupped its hands together, a spinning ball of crackling darkness forming between them, and with a screeching roar the Ghost-type sent the attack slicing across the battlefield. The dark orb crashed into the Rock Peak Pokémon with a loud bang, landing a direct hit on the top of its head, and Regirock gave a weak groan as it tipped over and fell to the ground, unmoving and unseeing.

"Regirock—" choked Samuel, staring in disbelief for a long time, before he came to his senses and took his blue flag from its clip, "Regirock is unable to battle!" he declared, pointing the flag at Horazon. "Dusknoir is the winner!" he added, and Ari jumped in the air with a whoop of delight as Brandon pursed his lips and cast his eyes downwards.

"What an unbelievable display of prowess by Ari and Dusknoir!" shrieked Troy, his words tumbling out of his mouth before he knew it, as the crowd beneath him swelled with noise. "They managed to take down Brandon's Regirock – a Legendary Pokémon that is universally feared by Brandon's competitors – without taking a single hit! Of course, it was severely worn out after that intense showdown with Garchomp, but still—!"

"—And for that, you were very brave, Regirock…" Brandon muttered to himself, quietly recalling his fallen Rock-type to its PokéBall with a flash of red light.

"—Leaves us with one of the greatest parts of my job as a commentator, and that is sudden death!" Troy continued, and the crowd fell into a hush as they heard the last two words. "That's right, after all the exhilaration of the fierce battling from Registeel, Magmortar, Garchomp and Regirock, it comes down to Ari's Dusknoir, and Brandon's final Pokémon! These two Pokémon, with the strategy of their Trainers, will determine who the final entrant in this year's Top Sixteen will be! It doesn't get any more exciting than this!" he shouted, finally lowering his microphone as he sucked down deep breaths of air.

"I know what your last Pokémon is, Brandon!" Ari challenged, making the Pyramid King raise his head away from the four PokéBalls left on the end of his belt. "Just send it out so we can do this!" he shouted, and Brandon gave a cunning smirk as he registered the hint of hesitation in his opponent's normally confident tone of voice.

"So be it!" he boomed, tearing his last PokéBall from its clasp and enlarging it. "Regice, I need your assistance!" he roared, throwing the ball at full speed onto the field, and it split open with a dazzling array of white light.

The Pokémon that emerged from the PokéBall was a gigantic creature, made entirely of pristine ice that reflected the bright sunlight from every surface of its body. Its body resembled a mass of perfectly-cut crystal, four spear-shaped icicles lining its back in pairs on either side, and two more barrel-like crystals formed the Pokémon's arms, each of these tipped with three small fingers, also carved from ice.

The Pokémon's torso was a thick hunk of ice, looking somewhat like a hexagonal pyramid that had been stretched vertically, while flattening the apex until it was almost flat. Seven dots arranged in a widened plus-sign adorned the Pokémon's face, and supporting its enormous bulk were a pair of spindly cones that were seemingly attached to a pair of discs that acted as the Pokémon's hips.

"_Iyuuuh…!_" moaned the Iceberg Pokémon, balancing itself perfectly on its legs as Horazon caught sight of it from the other side of the arena.

"Look at that! Brandon has chosen to use his _entire_ arsenal of Legendary Pokémon in order to best Ari in this titanic clash!" Troy shouted, his face tinged red as he slowly rubbed his now-aching throat. "I don't think Brandon's been _this_ eager to defeat an opponent since the tournament began! Up until now, we've never seen Regirock, Registeel and Regice together in battle, but Ari is certainly no pushover, as Brandon no doubt realises! The final battle before the finals, Dusknoir versus Regice!" he screamed, and the crowd screamed with him as they cheered on their favourite to win.

"Regice, begin with Blizzard!" roared Brandon.

"Get in a quick Sucker Punch, Horazon!" Ari shouted, and his Pokémon turned rapidly on the spot, launching a razor-shaped slice of darkness that cut its way over the field, slamming into Regice's forehead – or what would be assumed to be the forehead, above its Braille dots – with the sound of a whip-crack. He clenched his fist tightly as the Ice-type slid back towards its Trainer, carving out two deep lines in the ground with its pointed legs, but the legendary Pokémon seemed unharmed from the attack, and blasted a bone-chilling gust of frigid air throughout the stadium.

The frozen gale made the crowd shiver and shrink backwards, fervently rubbing their arms and legs to stay warm as the temperature plummeted, and both Ari and Horazon cringed as they felt the biting cold tear away at them. Regice slowly let down its Blizzard attack, but as it did, the field was submerged in a thick coating of ice that stretched from end to end, layer upon layer building on top of the one below as pillars and bergs formed at random.

_Drat!_ Ari thought, gritting his teeth. _He's already set the field up for Regice…! How am I—? _he snapped his fingers as a joyous grin lit up his face. "I know!" he exclaimed, and Dusknoir's eye swivelled around to look worriedly at its Trainer. "Horazon, melt the ice with Will-O-Wisp!" he shouted, and the Gripper Pokémon gave an understanding nod as it formed a spray of blue fire in front of its palms, shooting the flames into the field around Regice. The wisps hit the ice with a dull boom and the hiss of steam, and the Iceberg Pokémon groaned in anger as it felt the vapours against its frozen body.

"Douse the fire with another Blizzard!" Brandon countered hastily, and Regice eagerly blasted its foe with another flurry of glacial wind. Fire clashed with ice in the empty space between the two Pokémon, neither one giving an inch or a second to its foe as the two attacks continued to batter against one another, but they soon stopped their assaults at a shout from their Trainers, leaving little more than a large pool of water in the centre of the field.

"Use Curse!" ordered Brandon, throwing his arm to the side as his Pokémon lowered its own arms.

"_Iiiyuuuhhh…_" hummed the Ice-type, tilting its body backwards as its yellow eyes filled with a strange red light which spread to encompass its entire body, pulsing to some invisible rhythm.

"Nail it with Shadow Ball while it's motionless!" Ari roared, and the mouth on Horazon's stomach opened wide as a pinprick of black energy appeared in the air between its yellow lips. Suddenly, the pinprick bulged outwards into a huge ball of sizzling darkness, and the Gripper Pokémon scooped the orb into its hand, lobbing it across the field with tremendous power, the attack exploding against Regice's bulky front in a cloud of black smoke. Unfortunately for Ari, as the smoke quickly cleared away, the legendary Pokémon swung its body downwards to its original position, and there wasn't a single mark or blemish on its surface, which shone like glass.

_Rats…_ he thought grimly, his mouth twitching in irritation.

"Stop Dusknoir in its tracks, Regice—!" Brandon yelled, pointing across the icy battlefield to the Ghost-type, "and freeze it with Ice Beam!"

"Dive down!" shouted Ari quickly, just as a pale ball of blue light sparked to life between Regice's outstretched pillars of arms. Horazon hastily retreated under the surface of the ice, its shadow becoming fragmented from the faceted shape of the water crystals, but the Iceberg Pokémon sent a sky-coloured bolt of energy spearing into the ground where it had disappeared, instantly freezing the air into a large pillar of ice. Ari was about to cry out in distress for Horazon, but he shut his mouth when he saw a flicker of darkness creep sideways from the edifice, the ghost of a smile forming at the corner of his mouth.

"We're not taking any chances!" Brandon told his legendary Pokémon, who skated forwards on its sharp-tipped legs, weaving circles around the pool of water in the field's centre as it tried to scout out its foe. "If that Dusknoir won't come out, we'll flush it out with Earthquake!" he boomed, and, somehow, Regice managed to force its weight and jump into the air, hanging weightlessly for the smallest of moments before coming crashing down, and enormous cracks exploded outwards from the points of its feet.

"Sucker Punch!" Ari commanded, and as the cracks wove through the sheet of ice, reaching towards every corner of the battlefield, Horazon burst out from underground, already spinning furiously like a top. For the third time in the battle, a purple blade of energy broke free from the whirling Gripper Pokémon and raced across the field, driving itself into the base of Regice's arm with a hideous grinding sound, sending the limb snapping backwards from the force of the blow.

"Counter with Avalanche!" barked Brandon, and the Iceberg Pokémon suddenly became outlined in brilliant snowy light, which shot out in all directions and covered the splintered and shattered ice covering its Trainer's side of the battlefield. Regice raised its arms towards the heavens, and with a deafening crack, all the glowing ice on the field rose up in one single wave, casting a deep shadow across the other half of the arena. With little more than a flick of its fingers, the Ice-type sent its attack rushing forwards, ton upon ton of crystal bearing down upon Dusknoir as the latter hovered calmly in front of its Trainer.

"Protect yourself with Will-O-Wisp, Horazon!" Ari shouted, panicked as the wave of glimmering ice shot down towards the ground.

"_Nwaah…!_" hissed Horazon, closing its eye and spreading its hands wide despite the thundering roar of Regice's Avalanche, and three rings of ghostly flames flickered to life around its body, orbiting around it as it disappeared beneath the tide of crystal. The crowd jumped to their feet and craned their necks, jockeying for the best view of the field, which was now half-covered in a colossal mound of powdered snow, and Ari clasped his hands together and bowed his head where he stood.

"Well, that was unexpected…" muttered Troy, more shocked than anything else as he stared at the pile of white. "Ari and Dusknoir seemed to have all the answers for Regice's attacks, avoiding every hit that came its way, just like it had done against Regirock, but it turns out that it couldn't dodge the one attack that mattered, and that souped-up Avalanche has buried Dusknoir under a thick layer of snow!"

_Buried but not dead,_ Brandon thought wryly, quietly chuckling at the notion as, on the opposite edge of the field, he watched Ari let his hands drop to his sides and raise his head to stare fiercely back at him. _What the—?_ wondered the Pyramid King. _Something's amiss… he should be worried, not determined—_ his eyes widened as he realised the reason. _Oh shi—!_ "Regice, Dusknoir's gotten out of your Avalanche! Use Earthquake!" he bellowed to his Pokémon.

"_Iyuuuuhhh!_" roared the legendary Pokémon, bringing the full weight of its body down upon the ground, and this time the cracks wound deep throughout the battlefield itself, penetrating to the farthest edges of the stadium floor and reducing its former Avalanche attack to a small mountain of diamond dust. A deep, rattling cry of agony arose from the torn-up arena, and a moment later Horazon was thrown violently up from underground with a yellow flash of light, falling through the air and hitting the cracked earth with a dull thud and another pained groan.

"Now, Regice, Ice Beam!" Brandon shouted, pointing at the stricken Gripper Pokémon.

"Come on, Horazon! Block with Will-O-Wisp!" Ari retaliated, and Dusknoir pushed itself upright just as Regice thrust its hands forwards, a shimmering ball of frost pulsing between them. The Ice-type sent its attack zigzagging through the air towards its foe, but Horazon met the assault fearlessly, lobbing a pair of flaming blue orbs into the face of the neon bolt, and with a splintering crack, the Ice Beam froze the spheres whole, the two solidified wisps clattering uselessly onto the uneven ground.

"Follow up with a Shadow Ball!" yelled Ari, smirking knowingly as the stands were filled with confused whispers and suspicious glances. Horazon, on the other hand, unquestioningly created a ball of shadow energy in front of its gaping mouth, and blasted it towards its foe with vengeful gusto, looking to get back at the Iceberg Pokémon for its earlier Earthquake.

"Freeze the field, Regice!" Brandon ordered, folding his arms as his Pokémon sent a chilling blast of air over the ruined arena, instantly forming a new layer of ice that stretched from sideline to sideline. "Now dodge!" he added, and the Ice-type effortlessly evaded Dusknoir's Shadow Ball, skating over the ice with the grace of a ballerina as the attack harmlessly struck a patch of ice at the corner of the battlefield.

"Try and hit it with some Will-O-Wisp attacks!" Ari roared, undeterred by Regice's increased speed. "Aim for Regice's sides, and don't stop!"

"_Dusk… dusknoir!_" boomed Horazon, sending two ghostly blue flames hurtling around the arena in a wide arc. With barely a sound on the ice-laden field, Regice dodged its foe's attack yet again, the fiery balls smashing into the ground behind it with a hiss of steam as the merely managed to melt a large patch of ice into water. Again and again, the Gripper Pokémon blasted a volley of its Will-O-Wisp at Regice, and again and again, the legendary Pokémon swept past the attack, leaving nothing but a puddle of water in its wake.

"You're reaching at straws, Ari!" Brandon frowned, watching as Regice skidded past another Will-O-Wisp, splashing water across its body as its feet dragged through one of the tiny pools. "Regice, Avalanche—!"

"We've got them now, Horazon!" Ari cheered, punching the air with his fist. "Use Psychic to drag all the water on the field onto Regice!" he commanded, and Dusknoir's pupil flashed from red to blue as, with an ominous rushing sound, every last drop of water lying on the battlefield was sucked up into the air, dumping itself on Regice and holding firm like a coat of paint,.

"What is this?!" exclaimed the Pyramid King, baring his teeth as he watched his Pokémon struggle against its bonds, but the water seemed to be immovable. "Freeze it with Ice Beam!" he roared desperately.

"ThunderPunch!" Ari bellowed, and Horazon flew across the field with furious intent, a shining yellow fist raised high as it crackled with electricity. The mouth on its stomach split open and gave a screeching hiss that tore at the air, and Brandon's face contorted in visible pain as the Gripper Pokémon rose up and brought its fist forwards, smashing into Regice's face. A screaming moan emanated from the Ice-type as the lightning in Dusknoir's attack speared through its body, amplified tenfold by the water encasing it, and the stadium was filled with dancing yellow light as the Ghost-type's ThunderPunch blasted the legendary Pokémon.

"Regice, no!" shouted Brandon, running to the edge of his Trainer's box as Horazon's attack faded away, leaving Regice to teeter dangerously on the spot as jolts of electricity continued to arc around its torso.

"Horazon, Shadow Ball!" thundered Ari, his Pokémon's mouth stretching wide open as a purple-black spark ignited between its jaws. The spark burst into life, widening into a colossal ball of darkness that swirled and rippled, the sizzling sound of lightning filling the air as Dusknoir held the attack in the palm of its hand, before it pushed the attack into Regice's Braille eyes. There was a deafening sound as the Iceberg Pokémon was sent rocketing backwards, but the sound was neither of attack or Pokémon, but from the crowd, roaring loudly as the legendary Ice-type toppled over and lay still on the ground.

"Regice is unable to battle…!" shouted Samuel. "Dusknoir is the winner, and Ari DeVarro advances to the Top Sixteen!" he declared, sealing the decision with a wave of his blue flag, and Ari jumped high into the air with an exuberant cry of triumph as the crowd screamed even louder than before.

"Huh…" was all Brandon said, his eyebrows flying upwards in solemn surprise for a brief moment before he recalled Regice to its PokéBall. "Well done, Regice," he said proudly to his Pokémon. "Now take a good, long rest," he smiled, tucking the PokéBall away as he carefully made his way over the slippery ice, heading for the centre circle. "Congratulations, Ari!" he shouted, his voice managing to penetrate through Troy and the crowd, because Ari turned around from embracing Horazon and walked over to meet him. "You deserve this victory," he told the boy, holding out his hand.

"No better opponent out there," Ari said with a goofy smile, shaking Brandon's hand warmly. "To be honest, I came into this battle thinking I'd lose," he muttered, and the Pyramid King gave a hearty laugh.

"Then why didn't you?" he jested, clapping Ari on the shoulder. "Don't underestimate yourself, or your Pokémon's abilities. If a Pikachu could defeat my Regice in a one-on-one battle, then I don't see how you could have a hard time thinking that your Pokémon could," he added coyly, and Ari squirmed slightly.

"I'll keep that in mind next time you send your legendary team after me," he shrugged, and together the two Trainers waved at the crowd.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***This is the first time that Brandon's previous Championships campaign has been mentioned since the first chapter.**

***Despite all of Brandon's Pokémon being weak to Fighting-type moves, one was used against them only once, in the form of Colenzo's Focus Punch.**

**Quiz:**

***Which of Brandon's Pokémon used in this chapter did NOT know a Fighting-type move?**

* * *

**Wow, golly. That was a BIG chapter. The biggest one so far, actually. The battle itself is over eleven thousand words, which is just... wow. ****Match of the round indeed. **Not to sound conceited, though, folks.

**And some of my new favourite battling moments have come out of this chapter. Hopefully, you've got some good mental images going there at home, too.**

**Writing this chapter was the second-most draining that I've done. So, I hope that high brain-drain corresponds to high viewer enjoyment and quality.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! And, of course, to the ones that haven't, but are going to. All reviews are appreciated with extra love on top, so keep them coming.**

**Sticking with the script, if you have any questions about what you've seen here, send them as part of your review, or even as the whole review. I won't bite, I promise.**

**Seriously, though, if you're going to review any chapter of this story, let it be this one. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a lot of feedback from you guys and girls, so please don't disappoint, haha.**

**Anyways, Chapter 96 (Serious Contenders) will be heading your way on December 18th! That's a week away! In this next chapter, you can expect a sneak peek at who will be duking it out with who in the first round of the finals, now that things are sorted! A new and unexpected face will be appearing, but you'll never guess who it is!**

**Keep up the good work, and, as always...**

**Don't forget to review!!!**


	96. Serious Contenders

**CHAPTER 96 – SERIOUS CONTENDERS**

"Come on, Ari! Hurry up!" snapped Anabel, gesturing wildly with her hand as she looked over her shoulder. "You're gonna be late!" she added, sprinting down the long, luxuriant corridor towards a set of large double-doors. A few paces behind her, Ari clutched onfto his hat as he sprinted after her, his feet flying over the concrete beneath him as she opened the doors a fraction and ushered him inside. Shutting the door as quietly as she could behind her, Anabel turned around and started with surprise when she saw that he was already halfway down the next hallway, heading towards a moderate crowd that were gathered in front of another pair of doors.

_Please don't be late…!_ he thought desperately, slowing his pace and squeezing between a trio of reporters that were bickering with their fellows about something to do with licenses. Weaving his way through the crowd, he managed to get a full view of the double-doors without any bodies obscuring them, but he was yanked sideways by the collar of his shirt, swinging him around to see Dawn standing alongside Ash's other friends with a curious look on her face.

"Hiya, Dawn!" he said brightly, waving a hand as she lowered hers to her side.

"Where'd you get off to?" she asked him, an eyebrow raised, but a moment later Anabel came into view, struggling past several rude journalists and almost falling over as she joined the group. "Hey, Anabel!" she grinned, as the Salon Maiden straightened up and returned the smile. "Did you have to remind Ari about the selection ceremony?"

"More or less," she shrugged, staring expectantly at Ari, who remained oblivious as he adjusted his hat. "Go on, get in there!" she shouted at last, drawing the attention of the reporters, and Ari gave them all one quick look before sprinting towards the door, a flurry of cameras and microphones moving towards him as he wrenched the door open and slammed it shut with a bang.

"He certainly knows how to attract attention," giggled Max, watching as the swarm of reporters returned to chatting amongst themselves.

* * *

"Where were you?" Leoric whispered, as Ari bent forwards and rested his hands on his knees. "You're the last person here, y'know; Ash got here about a minute before you," he added, nudging him in the ribs and pointing towards Ash, who was staring at his surroundings with something close to awe in his eyes.

The room was a lavishly decorated one, with ribbons of golden fabric lining nearly every inch of wall space from roof to floor, which was a scarlet carpet stretching across the room's length. A number of large wooden platforms dotted the carpet, leading from either side of the door and reaching to the far end, and on each one was an enormous trophy made of brilliantly polished metal, a small plaque underneath inscribed with the name of those who had won them. As he looked, Ash saw that they were arranged in order of the year that they had been awarded, the first set of trophies resting on the pedestals closest to the door, and last year's trophies were sitting next to a trio of empty stands.

_Once this tournament's over, my name is going to be on that middle stand, _Ash told himself, a flicker of a smile passing over his mouth as he saw the words '_8__th__ Annual World Pokémon Championships – Singles Division Winner_' engraved on the wood. Sneaking a covert look sideways, he saw that he wasn't the only one that had been staring at the trophy-less platform; fifteen other Trainers were shooting glances at it every few seconds.

"_Hmm-hmm_!"

The sound made all heads turn away from the empty trophy stand, the sixteen Trainers now looking intently at a well-built man in his late forties, immaculately dressed in an expensive black suit: the Championships' MC.

"Welcome, Trainers, to the Hall of Fame!" he said, his booming voice echoing throughout the large room. "This is the place where the greatest competitors in the world are immortalised for overcoming all other challenges and rising to the peak of Pokémon battling! The sixteen of you are, as you are all aware, vying for the title of World Champion! Although, as I look around, I see that two of you are also competing for the Tag Team Trophy as well," he added with a chuckle, and both Ari and Leoric sheepishly scratched their heads and looked at each other.

"Now," continued the MC, "the honour of being amongst such an elite group of Trainers – the Elite Sixteen, as you will – is one that is not without its responsibilities. As with all officially recognised tournaments, dishonest behaviour and cheating will be severely dealt with, resulting in your immediate disqualification from the tournament. Don't think that your place in the finals has allowed you leniency," he told them gravely, his eyes darting from Trainer to Trainer as he said the words, and each one nodded silently in reply.

"But your responsibility as a Trainer does not simply extend to upholding the rules of the Championships," he reminded them, now pacing back and forth in front of the new pedestals. "As the most skilled Trainers in Pokémon battles, you are on show to the world – an audience of innumerable magnitude – and as such, your conduct should – nay, _must_ – reflect that—" his eyes flickered towards Paul for the tiniest moment before resuming their sweeping gaze over the room, "so I am expecting nothing less than absolute perfection in the way you behave _off_ the battlefield."

"Some people in this room may be more comfortable with that than others," said a young woman with long black hair, standing off to the side as her almond eyes glinted mischievously. "One or two might not be used to behaving themselves," she smirked, also glancing in Paul's direction as the latter purposefully kept his eyes looking straight ahead.

"Take a chull pull, Marilith," chuckled a large man on the other side of the room, and Ash's eyes widened in surprise as he recognised the man as Kev Tautama, the man that he'd seen at the Green Goldeen the day before. "We know not to miss up," he said, and the woman called Marilith clicked her tongue before looking back at the MC.

"Thank you, Mr. Tautama," he said graciously. "As I was saying, your behaviour is reflected upon this tournament, and likewise, the status of this tournament is reflected in you. As Mr. DeVarro would no doubt testify to—" he gestured in Ari's direction, and the boy pulled the brim of his hat a little lower towards his eyes, "there are many reporters outside these doors who will be asking just as many questions of all of you. You will be celebrities for a very long time because you have come this far, but don't let it go to your head."

"With that out of the way," he smiled, striding towards the corner of the room and reaching for a large package shrouded by black cloth, "allow me to congratulate you on qualifying for this year's finals competition! In order to determine which of you will be battling against each other in the first round, we will be using a process that, although extremely old and occasionally trivial, is the most impartial system known to man."

"Rochambeau?" joked Wynter, leaning against a wall.

"I'm afraid not, Mr. Shinigami," laughed the MC, pulling the cover off the package to reveal a tall box on a wooden pillar, a large circular hole cut in the top. "By pulling names out of a hat. Or, in this case, numbers out of a box," he added, with another small chuckle. "There are sixteen balls inside this box, numbered from one to, conveniently, sixteen. One by one, I will call you up to stand in front of this box, and you will draw a number, which will correspond to your place in the tournament tree."

As he said the words, there was a soft humming noise from the back of the room, and the finalists all looked behind the MC to see a large television screen sliding up from the ground, a four-tier tournament tree shown in green on a dark blue background. Sixteen boxes flashed into life, each one attached to the end-branches of the tree, the eight boxes on the left running down the screen from one to eight, and the boxes on the right from nine to sixteen.

"Now, if you could all stand in a straight line," instructed the MC, and the Trainers slowly moved up towards the box. Ash quickly settled himself between Leoric and a second Trainer whose name he didn't know, and once the line had been formed, the MC stood behind the wooden post and pointed at the end of the line. "Mr. Tautama, you first," he beckoned, and Kev merrily strolled towards the box and stuck his muscly arm inside, the limb disappearing up to halfway between the elbow and shoulder.

"This one feels like a wunner," he nodded, pulling out a ping-pong ball with a crimson 'one' painted on the side. "Well, would you look at that?" he chuckled, showing it to his rival finalists. "First one to puck, pucks number one! Must be a good sign!" he smirked, pocketing the ball and walking back to stand next to Ari, as an image of his broad-nosed face appeared in the box marked 'one'.

"Mr. Mortiego, if you would?" smiled the MC, and Paul slowly made his way to the man, reaching inside and drawing number eight. His face impassive, he held the ball in his hand and rejoined the line just as Ari's name was called, the former's image appearing on the bottom-left corner of the screen as the latter took his turn. After a few moments, he ripped his arm out of the box and looked excitedly at his number, his expression turning sour as he briefly showed it to the others.

"Sixteen," Leoric chuckled, as Ari's picture flashed on the screen and moved into the bottom-right corner, the opposite side to Paul's, and both of them seemed to realise it before the others.

"Pity. I don't get to wipe the floor with you until the Grand Final," Ari fired, and Paul simply glared at him as he slipped back into the line.

"Mr. Dardanel, you're next," the MC chimed, and a large, slender man stepped forwards. His dark blue hair was spiked up at the top, his sideburns and fringe cropped short and accentuating a strong jaw line, sharp nose and small, dark eyes. With barely a sound, he stuck a black-gloved hand into the box, the hole swallowing up his arm until it reached the shoulder of his red jacket, and he slowly removed the number four ball from the box, tossing it lightly into the air and marching back in line as the television screen confirmed the selection.

"Mr. Reiger."

"About time," Leoric laughed, jogging over to the stand and making quite the display as he shoved his arm inside. He pulled out his ball, which had the number 'nine' shimmering on its surface in the light, and his lips scrunched up for a moment before he waved it in the air in front of the other Trainers, sneering as he made Ash follow his arm, the latter trying to make out what the number actually was.

"Semi-final," he muttered cryptically, and Ari gave him a knowing smile, as Leoric's image appeared in the top-right corner, the four edges of the tree now filled in with the faces of himself, Kev, Ari and Paul.

"Mr. Yaiba," said the MC, and the Trainer at the other end of the row made his way to the wooden stand. At first glance, he could have been related to Wynter, as he had a similar appearance, with untidy hair that was drawn down along his back in an extremely long ponytail, and an overall similar stance. However, Yaiba wore a large red kimono held together with a white obi, a pair of plain sandals underneath his feet, in stark contrast to the clothes of everyone else in the room, as he quickly took out the number thirteen ball.

"Ooh, number thirteen…!" sniggered Leoric, making mock-spooky noises, and Yaiba gave him a swift hand gesture before resuming his place in the line.

"Your turn, Mr. Ketchum."

"Huh?!" exclaimed Ash, not registering the comment. "Oh, right!" he said hastily, feeling the eyes of his fellow finalists on his back as he reached inside, and he frowned as he suddenly realised that the box was a lot deeper than it looked on the outside. His hand groped around in the darkness, finally scraping a finger against the top of a ball, and he snatched wildly at it, pulling it out and looking at the number staring back up at him.

"Number five…" he muttered, turning it around so that the number faced the MC. A moment later, his face flashed up on the huge screen, drifting towards the left and settling into its new place in the tournament, just beneath the Trainer called Dardanel.

"Aw, man!" Leoric whined, rubbing his palm over his chin. "Ash, you'd better beat these guys so I can take you on in the big one, right?!" he said fiercely, holding his fist in front of his head, and Ash gave a grin and a nod as he walked back to stand next to him. "That way Paul's gonna be crying to his mummy," he added in a whisper.

"Anabel should be happy that you're not facing each other until after a couple of wins," Ari pointed out, leaning across Leoric to give Ash a quick thumbs-up, as the MC called out another name, Sinclaire.

"Good luck, Emma," said Wynter with a smile, winking at the girl that stepped forwards. She was a slightly short girl, only at the same height as the MC's chin – and he was an average-sized man at that – but exceedingly cute, with a tangle of mousy brown hair and a light smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks. Grinning sweetly back at Wynter, Emma drew her number, which was two, and Kev gave a jolly whoop of delight as her picture appeared just beneath his on the tree.

"Sweet!" he roared, clapping his hands together. "Thus is gonna be a choice battle, eh?!" he chuckled, as Wynter gave her a jubilant nod, and she stepped back into line.

"Come on, where's my opponent?" Leoric shouted in mock-frustration, giving a dramatic groan.

"Ms. Prower, perhaps you could put Mr. Reiger out of his misery," the MC suggested, and Marilith took her place in front of the box, giving Leoric a sly look over her shoulder as she reached down and pried a ball from its depths.

"Would you look at that…?" she grinned smartly, showing the ball to Leoric, and the smile slowly slid off his face as he saw the number 'ten' painted on the side. "It seems that we are battling first, _Mr. Reiger_," she added, putting a silky emphasis on the last two words as she dropped the ball into her pocket and strode back to her place. Leoric wore a cocky smirk as her face appeared on the screen, coming to rest below his, and he rolled his eyes as Ari made a whip-cracking motion with his hand.

"What took you so long to get here, anyways?" he shot back quietly, discreetly elbowing Ari in the side. "You didn't tell me why you were so late."

"I'm sorry, _mum_," Ari said drily. "I was talking to Anabel, if you have to know that badly," he added with a smirk, and Leoric's eyes narrowed as, behind him, Ash shuffled about on his feet and purposefully looked towards the MC as another finalist, by the name of Landomere, was called out.

"Yeowch…" hissed Leoric, noticing that on Edwin's face was a fearsome-looking red tattoo of a Rayquaza, stretching from his cheekbone and arching over his left eye to finish between his eyebrows. Seemingly accustomed to the reaction, Edwin turned to the wooden post and dug out his number, 'fifteen'. "Well, there's your opponent, Ari!" he said brightly, thumping Ari on the shoulder with his hand as the South American gave the latter a curt nod.

"So what were you talking to Anabel about, anyways?" pressed Leoric, just as the word '_Lowe_' sounded in the room. He gave a quick wave to Olly as the British Champion took his place in front of the MC, then refocused his attention on Ari, who simply watched on as Olly drew the number three ball, pointing at Dardanel with his free hand as he stepped back into line.

"I'm swapping rooms tonight, remember?" Ari muttered to Leoric, folding his arms.

"Oh, right…" Leoric replied, nodding in understanding. "That thing…" he added in half-earnest, his eyes flicking to the side as he saw Ash's form slump slightly, the latter relaxing his shoulders ever so slightly.

"Ms. Green? Please," said the MC, gesturing towards the box as one of the few remaining finalists, a tall girl with long chocolate-coloured hair and a purple T-shirt, walked forwards.

"So you've got everything sorted out…?" Leoric asked, as the girl plucked out the number fourteen ball, smiling nervously at Yaiba at the end of the row as their pictures were grouped together in the same branch-fork in the tournament tree.

"Pretty much, yeah," shrugged Ari, as the girl's white sneakers gave a tiny squeak, their owner blushing slightly in embarrassment as she moved back to her spot in the line. "I'm moving in there with her tonight, actually, so—"

"Ms. Rye, please select your number," the MC instructed, and a teenage girl with shockingly neon-blue hair strode confidently forwards and, in one fluid motion, took out her ball and showed it to the other finalists. "Number eleven!" he nodded, and Rye skipped back to her spot, giving a thumbs-up to someone halfway along the line as she did so.

"Hey, Ash… what's up with you?" Leoric murmured, spotting the tightly-wound scowl on Ash's face as a girl by the name of Zheng made her way to the wooden stand. Ash's head whirled around to look at him, turning a little too quickly, because Leoric's eyebrows twanged upwards as Ash gave him a non-committal look, his eyes shooting back to the front as Zheng drew 'twelve' and was paired with Rye.

"And that leaves us with our last two finalists!" cried the MC, clapping his hands together as all eyes turned to the tournament tree on the screen, and, indeed, the only empty spaces were those next to Ash and Paul, in the number 'six' and 'seven' spots. "I apologise for this, Mr. Jensen, but Mr. Shinigami will be the next person to draw his number," he said, humbly spreading his hands wide as Wynter took foolishly large strides towards the man.

"That's alright," replied Jensen, his voice a high, nasal whine. As Wynter stood in front of the box, Ash allowed himself a glance at the man, taking note of his dark green hair which fanned outwards like a plant's leaves, and something chimed at the very corner of his mind. He opened his mouth to ask Jensen a question, but he was suddenly distracted as Wynter gave a piercing whistle, his head whipping around to see the American giving him a vigorous nod as he stuck his hand into the box.

"I hope you're ready for me in the next round, Ash!" he chuckled, pulling his arm out. "Because I'm gonna be facing—!" his eyes trailed down to the number on his ball, and his face went from excitement to horror in within half a second, his mouth falling open like a trapdoor. "Paul?!" he gasped, throwing his head back in frustration as everyone saw the number 'seven' clearly painted on the ball's surface.

"Tough break, Wynter," Leoric said sympathetically, as Wynter's image appeared above Paul's. Wynter, aghast, stuffed his ball into his jacket pocket, muttering inaudibly as he stepped back in line on the other side of Jensen, who walked forwards, drew the number six ball, and took his place between Wynter and Ash.

"Looks like you and I are battling each other first, Ash," Jensen muttered with a curt nod, and Ash gave a blank look of agreement before doing a double-take.

"How do you know my name?" he wondered, and Jensen gave a low chuckle.

"You don't remember me?" he asked, the corner of his mouth flicking upwards into a smirk as he looked past his shoulder at Ash's face.

"We now have the draw for our finals competition!" announced the MC, before Ash could say anything in return to Jensen. "Kevin Tautama versus Emma Sinclaire. Olly Lowe versus Calhoun Dardanel. Ash Ketchum versus Amos Jensen. Wynter Shinigami versus Paul Mortiego. Leoric Reiger versus Marilith Prower. Kyrasinna Rye versus Emberlynn Zheng. Kane Yaiba versus Tiffany Green. And Edwin Landomere versus Ari DeVarro. What exciting battles you all have in store for you!" he added jovially, and he was met with a round of excited mutters as the finalists tried to size up their new opponents.

"I'll be looking forward to our rematch, Ash," smiled Jensen, patting Ash once on the shoulder. "I certainly hope you've trained your Pikachu," he added, and with that he turned heel and strode out of the room, leaving a stymied Ash in his wake as he was mobbed by the journalists waiting for him in the next room.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***Emma Sinclaire belongs to Blakeface. Marilith Prower belongs to Rocky373. Kyrasinna Rye belongs to Jigglypuff's Pillow. Emberlynn Zheng belongs to xleo12x. Kane Yaiba belongs to KK the Prophet. Tiffany Green belongs to moonclarinet. **

**Quiz:**

***In which chapter did the MC last make his appearance?**

* * *

**The finals matchups have been decided! Some juicy battles in the chapters ahead, no doubt about that.**

**In all honesty, after the last chapter, this one was bound to seem smaller. I'm not really happy with how I wrote it, because I've had a very disjointed week.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and to those who haven't, but will in the future. I know I always say this, but all reviews are appreciated to the max.**

**Any questions about the chapter? Put them in a review. Who knows; I might be able to answer them.**

**This chapter is the fifth-last one to have trivia and the quiz question, just to let you all know in advance.**

**The next chapter, Chapter 97 (No Rest For The Wicked) will be put up here sometime soon. Either Christmas Eve or New Year's Day. I haven't decided on which it will be, because, as you know, the week before Christmas is always the most hectic, and I might not have any time at all to write. ****Keep up the good work, and, as always...**

**Don't forget to review!**


	97. No Rest For The Wicked

**CHAPTER 97 – NO REST FOR THE WICKED**

"Marilith Prower…" murmured Leoric, resting his arms on the top of his sofa as he stared up at the ceiling. "I wonder what kind of Pokémon she's going to use against me tomorrow…" he added, his eyes running over the tiny imperfections in the painted white above his head. "Well—" he got to his feet and looked wearily towards the hallway, "I suppose I'd better get some rest; it's going to be a big d—"

A loud flurry of knocking erupted on the other side of the hotel room door, quickly silencing him as he whirled around. _I gave Ari the room key, _he thought, his eyes narrowing as he cautiously walked towards the door, _so why would he need to knock?_

"Ari, what are you trying—?" he asked irritably, swinging the door wide open, but yet again he fell quiet as he saw an unfamiliar face waiting in the open hallway. "Can I help you…?" he barked, and the young woman standing in front of him met his words with a forced smile as she procured a large sealed envelope from behind her back.

"This letter arrived for you several minutes ago, Mr. Reiger," she informed him, her hand darting back to her side as he snatched it out of her grasp and eyed it suspiciously.

"Right…" he muttered, more to himself than to his present company, as he turned the letter over in his hands. The envelope had been sealed with a strange-smelling, bright blue wax, but his eyes widened considerably when he saw that an insignia had been stamped into the wax, its design immediately recognisable to him. "Uh—thank you very much—" he said disjointedly, flicking a quick smile to his messenger.

"Enjoy your night," she replied, giving Leoric a polite bow as he stepped back inside his room.

"Yeah, you too," he muttered half-heartedly, ignoring her eyes probing over him as he shut the door and threw himself back onto the lounge. Even though he knew he was alone, he quickly checked his surroundings before ripping the envelope open, smoothing out the creases in the large piece of paper inside. His gaze swept from left to right and back again as he scanned the letter, quietly muttering the words he read.

_Leo—_

_Hey! Guess who? How have you been?_

_Now, I know you weren't expecting a letter from me so soon… but I saw you on the TV yesterday, and you looked fantastic in your battle – as you always do, of course – so I figured I'd drop you a line and let you know how things are! _

…_Surprise, surprise; they're the same as ever. The weather's always halfway between snowy and Arctic… but for someone like me, there's nothing wrong with that! I know you enjoy it, too, right? Just more to make snowmen out of! As far as I'm concerned, I'm going pretty well; I get to spar with a lot of strong Trainers who are coming through town to challenge the Snowpoint Gym… but I think we both know who my favourite battling partner is!_

_I have to admit, I'm kinda missing you up here. Things have been lacking in excitement, and there's barely anything to do, so I've got a lot of free time on my hands. Normally it'd be something I'd welcome, but with you down there in Ayers Island, it just feels like it's going to waste. I dunno, maybe it's just me. Life's—well, it's boring me! Even a day at the lake seems pointless._

_On a side-note, our little 'hangout' has finally been repaired! I'm a little surprised that it took so long to fix, considering it's been nearly five months since you blasted a hole in the side of it…! You've still got a lot of answering to the city planners for that, by the way. But you know what? I don't care; if you hadn't been so obsessed with getting inside, we'd never have met, now would we? I can still remember having to haul you out of there after you got yourself lost… good times… pity you got arrested. Oh, and in case you were wondering, no, no-one else has been allowed inside after you damaged it, so you don't have to worry about _that_, okay?_

_Well, that's about all I have to tell you from here in the north! I'm looking forward to seeing you again, and I hope you do great in the Championships (if you're still in them by the time you get this)! I might have a surprise for you depending on how well you've gone…_

_Give my regards to your brother (is his name Noland?)!_

_Love, Candy xoxo_

"Whatcha got there…?" sniggered Noland, his face materialising next to Leoric's.

"_WHOA_!" he screamed, jumping into the air as though hit with a Thunderbolt attack. He whirled around, almost crashing into the coffee table as he saw his older brother leaning over the back of the lounge with a mischievous grin stretching from ear to ear, both their eyes shooting down to spot Candy's letter lying on one of the sofa cushions. "You scared the—shit out of me, Noll!" he roared, in between uneven breaths as he grabbed at his chest.

"What's this, hmm?" Noland chuckled, his eyes lighting up as he scooped up the letter.

"Give it back," hissed Leoric, his hand darting forwards to try and snatch it back, but Noland simply took a hasty step backwards, evading the lunge with ease. He tried to grab the letter again and again, but Noland was just too quick, either keeping it just out of reach, or smacking his hand out of the way with his free arm.

"Now, let's see…" he muttered, clicking his tongue. "Hey, my name's on here! That means it's my business, right?" he added smartly, his fingers fastening on the collar of Leoric's shirt as he held the latter at arm's length, tilting his head to the side as Leoric's hands scrabbled near his nose. "Who's Candy?" he asked.

"She's a friend of mine!" Leoric growled, still struggling to reach his letter.

"A _girlfriend_, perhaps?"

"She's not my girlfriend, you idiot!" he shouted, and he slammed an open palm into Noland's elbow to try and loosen the latter's grip.

"Then how come it says '_Love, Candy x-o-x-o'_?" he countered, letting go of his brother's shirt and pointing to the bottom of the letter with another sly smirk. Gritting his teeth, Leoric crumpled the letter between his own hands and tore it away, stuffing it into his pocket before folding his arms.

"She's just being nice, is all," he said defensively, casting his eyes away from Noland's face, and he spotted a large sports bag lying on the ground at the mouth of the hallway. "What the hell is _that_?" he asked, pointing towards it, and Noland gave a hearty chuckle.

"That's my bag, of course!"

"Let me rephrase," Leoric muttered angrily, walking over to stand alongside it and kicking the strap. "What the hell is it _doing here_?"

"Oh, didn't Ari or Anabel tell you?" Noland shrugged, raising an eyebrow and leaning against the wall. "I'm gonna be staying with you until the end of the Championships! Get your party gear ready!" he laughed, throwing his head back at the stupefied expression that flashed onto Leoric's face.

"What? Oh, that's just perfect…!" he groaned.

"Thought you had the room all to yourself, didja?" Noland cackled, sitting himself down on the lounge as Leoric scowled at the back of his head.

"Obviously," he snapped, and his brother's head slowly turned around with an almost patronising expression on his face, but it soon split into an evil smirk.

"Is that what that letter from _Candy_—" he let the word roll off his tongue, and Leoric boiled, "is all about, hmm?"

"Oh, that's funny…!" he shouted, smacking a hand against his knee and bending over double as he gave a raucous, but fake, laugh. Hastily dropping the charade, he hoisted Noland's bag off of the ground and walked across the lounge room, kicking open the balcony door and hurling the bad over the railing, where it disappeared from sight within a fraction of a second, a faint whistling noise reaching the Factory Head as his possessions plummeted towards the ground.

"Leo!" he roared, bolting towards the balcony and watching as his bag fell further and further. "_So_ not cool!"

* * *

As the streetlamps cast their glow in the dark night air, Anabel sauntered along the line of glowing yellow circles that shone on the sidewalk, her hands held loosely behind her back as she cast her eyes at her surroundings. She could see the minute scuttling of tiny creatures up in the trees neighbouring the lights, a rustling here and a scraping there, but more than those movements and noises, she could hear the small animals as they talked. She heard their voices like breaths of wind, accompanied by the grasses, trees and bushes that longed for the sunlight again, and it felt like the street was much more livelier than it appeared to an ordinary person.

And so, she was completely unaware that something was following close behind her, staying close to the large trees and darting forwards with only the gentle whisper of moving grass giving its position away. Something tall and dark, its movements matching the rhythm of her steps as it drew closer and closer in the shadows.

_Now that I'm just a spectator, I think I'll just relax and enjoy a few sights with my newfound free time,_ Anabel told herself, her head tilted towards the starry sky. _I really need a dip in the hot springs, now that I think about it,_ she added with a chuckle, running a hand over her cheek as she crossed the street and began walking alongside the row of hotels on the other side. Behind her, still hidden amongst the trees, the indistinct figure continued to follow after her, its body always in shadow as it kept the Salon Maiden in its sights.

"Oh, no…" she suddenly sighed, and her pursuer shrank back in the darkness as she turned her head towards the trees. _After the battle they had, Ari and Brandon aren't gonna shut up about whose Pokémon was better and all that nonsense,_ she thought tiredly, her shoulders slumping for a moment before she continued on her way, the figure in the shadows keeping pace as she crossed a three-way intersection and stopped in front of one of the larger hotels.

_Maybe…_ she said silently, a loud flapping noise echoing somewhere above her head,_ I should just—_

_WHOMP!_

"_Waaaahhh_!" Anabel shrieked, as something large and heavy smacked into the pavement with a loud thud, just feet away from her, and she felt like her heart had just punched its way out of her chest. Tentatively inching forwards, she took a closer look at the object, but her shock turned to confusion when she saw that it was nothing more than a large, dirty sports bag. "What in the…?" she muttered, crouching down in front of it with her brow furrowed.

"_Hey, Anabel_!" shouted a male voice high above, and Anabel craned her head skywards to see a pair of thick-muscled arms waving about frantically from a balcony of one of the apartments of the hotel.

"Noland?" she exclaimed, recognising the voice that went with the arms. "Is this yours?" she roared, pointing angrily at the bag next to her feet.

"_Yeah! Leo threw it out the window!_" Noland answered. "_Could you bring it back here on your way up?_"

"That thing almost landed on me!" she snarled.

"_How is that _my _fault?"_

"WOULD YOU STOP SHOUTING?" roared a voice from another of the apartments. "PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!"

"Uh, sorry!" cried Anabel with a slight grimace. She watched as Noland's head disappeared behind the balcony railing, and she gave frustrated, resigned groan as she snatched up the bag and looped the strap over her shoulder before walking through the doors of the hotel.

From the cover of the shadowed trees, the mysterious follower hissed quietly as it watched the Salon Maiden move out of sight. A passerby in the shape of a young woman happened to hear the noise, and she cast her vision towards the cluster of trees, but all she managed to see was a twinkle of darkness and the smallest flash of purple before the streetlights were suddenly extinguished.

"Huh?" she murmured, turning on the spot and peering at the trees through the dim light provided by the buildings behind her back. "I wonder what that twinkle was…" she said quietly, walking across the street to investigate. Her curiosity growing, she slipped between a pair of grey-bark trees and followed the line that they made down the street, barely making a sound over the soft grass.

A few trees later, the woman stopped in her tracks as she heard something; a faint, ragged, fluttering something. She tilted her head to one side, trying to train her ears to the source of the noise. But then, she froze; the sound was right next to her, and with a mind-numbing flash of terror, she realised what it was.

"Where do you think you're going, girly?" growled a man's voice, heavy with laboured breath, but hissing like meat on a spit. A split second later, something immense smashed into her skull, and the world went white.

* * *

_Hunh… Ugh… My friggin' head…_

_Where am I…?_

…

_Come on, open your eyes…!_

…

_Okay, that's not going to work. What about my arms…?_

…

_OW! Right, maybe it's not just my head that feels like hell… My legs?_

…_Shit! Nothing._

…

_Hoo boy… I think I'm gonna hurl… hold-it-in-hold-it-in-hold-it-in—ACK!_

_What was that? Something just touched my arm! Open your eyes, damnit!_

…

_Everything's blurry. I can barely make anything out; it all seems so far away, like everything's shrunk down to half its size. Or maybe it's because my head feels twice the size it should be… but what was it that touched me?_

_Turn your head and look around…_

…

_What the—? I can't move anything except my eyes! …Well, that's not saying much to start with; I still can't see anything clearly. It's all just a blur of white and red…_

"Hey, you're awake!"

_Somebody's voice! Try opening your mouth…_

…

_Nope, looks like my body still isn't listening to me. Feels like I'm in a full body-bind… well, full enough to stop me from doing anything useful. Like talking._

"Bring some cold water!"

_There's that voice again… it's a woman. She sounds… familiar, somehow. But from where? Or when?_

"You've been out for a while now. When we found you, we'd honestly thought you were long dead."

_I feel pretty dead right now, if it's any consolation for you getting that thought wrong…!_

"Can you talk? One blink for yes, two for no. Like how they do it in the old sci-fi movies, haha…"

_Thanks very much for laughing at a time like this, lady! I can't move, I have no idea what's going on, and—fuck it…_

…

"Okay, so you can't talk. That's alright, we can use the blinks. How's your eyesight?"

_Pretty goddamn bad at the moment. How the hell am I supposed to give a yes or no answer to that? But—now that you mention it—things are a little bit clearer… maybe if I blink a couple more times…_

…

_Okay, now things are starting to defog themselves. Where am I?_

…

_It looks like I'm in some kind of house. Or maybe a shed. Look for the important things._

…

_Feels like there's a bed underneath me, and a cushion under my head. That points towards bedroom. But the ceiling's all—curvy… what the hell kind of house is this?_

"Do you know where you are?"

_No, I don't know where I am! I don't know what the hell's going on with me!_

…

"Looks like you can't remember anything. You're on a place called—oh, your water's here. …Thanks for that."

_My water? Oh, right. She told someone to bring some cold water…_

"You thirsty?"

…

"Bring another glass while you're at it!"

"Okay, sis!"

_Someone else. Sounds like a kid. Definitely male… this lady's younger brother? I guess it's not important._

"This might be uncomfortable for a few moments, okay?"

_Huh?_

"Close your eyes."

_What the hell are you going to do to me?_

…

_ARGH! Holy shit, that's cold! My face! Get it off! Get it off!_

"Hey, stop thrashing your head about so much. You're gonna hurt your neck."

_Well, it's kind of hard not to when you've poured ice-cold water on my face, you bit—!_

_Hang on… I can move my head! I can move it! Haha!_

…_Now, let me try and get a better look at you… whoever you are…_

…

_Well, you're definitely a woman. I'll give you that much._

…_Not too sure about the white loafers, though. Or the black singlet…_

_Actually, it is fairly hot in here, so maybe not. But that just brings me back… where is here? I'll try talking again._

…

_Nope, still nothing._

"Looks like you're still wiped out fairly bad. Try moving your arms and legs."

_I already tried, idiot! Why do you think I'm still lying here – wherever it is – instead of getting up and getting the hell away?_

…

_See? Still nothing! Now what am I supposed to do, hmm?_

"I guess you're stuck here for a while then, aren't you?"

_Yeah yeah, whatever… keep giggling…_

_Bitch…_

"Righto then. Open your mouth, and try not to choke."

_This had better be my water, or I'm gonna haunt your ass like you wouldn't believe…_

…

_Where the hell do you get this water from, the goddamn Antarctic? I can't feel my tongue!_

"Holhd!"

"You can talk! That's good news."

…_I'm really starting to get sick of you always being right, lady._

_But I can talk now, so I'm gonna let that slide…_

"Whe… an I?"

"First things first. Where did you come from?"

"Cuhn… fron…?"

_Swallow before you make a bigger idiot out of yourself._

…

"Come from…?"

"Yeah. What, are your ears still lagging behind the rest of your face at the moment?"

"Shut up… don't pick on me while I'm down… not very nice…"

"Well, alright, I'm sorry. But why don't you start off by telling me your name?"

"My name…?"

_Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow… okay, this is starting to get even more painful… But at least now, I can move my fingers. _

"My name… Mark Lear…"

"How nice of you to wash up on Mikan Island's beach then, Mr. Lear," said the woman in the black singlet. "My name's Cissy. I live here on Mikan Island with my little brother, Senta. He's the one who brought you your water," she added. "We found you passed out on the beach about a day and a half ago, so we brought you back to our house to help you recover. Normally we'd have taken you to a hospital, but there were… extenuating circumstances."

"Extenuating circumstances?" Mark repeated, slowly moving his wrists around in small circles as his arms lay limply at his sides. "Like what?"

"Like the fact that your picture's been put up on television in connection to nearly half a dozen murders," she snapped, and Mark's face blanched. "Looks like you know something about it, then," she said with narrowed eyes.

"She was my friend…!" he hissed, his hands balling into fists. "Both of them! I didn't kill anyone on Ayers Island! I was set up!" he told Cissy, looking her straight in the eyes, and the corner of her mouth twitched with reluctant sympathy.

"You're telling the truth, aren't you…" she sighed, and Mark nodded as he noted that it was a statement, not a question. "Well, why don't you explain to me what happened?" she suggested, sitting down on the ground next to the mattress he was lying on.

"No time," he answered, pushing his torso upright with his hands. "I have to get out of here."

"You don't seem ready to be getting _anywhere _in your condition," she noted, giving a grunting laugh as his arms trembled and gave way, leaving him to fall back onto his bed. "By the way, I took the liberty of having your Machoke and your other Pokémon healed at the Pokémon Center while you were unconscious," she added, pointing to six PokéBalls lying in a china bowl near Mark's head.

"Why did you let me stay here, instead of taking me to the authorities?" Mark asked bluntly.

"To be honest, I haven't got a clue…" shrugged Cissy, folding her arms and leaning against a wall. "If you really did the things that have appeared in the news, the sea would've swallowed you whole and never let you come back out. But since you were alive – albeit barely – I guess I thought that something must be watching over you. There's no way a person could've made it from Ayers Island to here without some kind of supernatural lucky streak," she laughed.

"As lucky as I might be, I doubt the same courtesy is gonna be extended to you," he countered, now punching himself in his thighs to get some feeling back. "There's a reason I had to flee; my superiors aren't going to be happy that a loose cannon like me is still splintering their shit into woodchips."

"'_Splintering their shit into woodchips_'?" Cissy repeated, a quizzical look on her face as she got back to her feet. "Well, that's a unique expression, I'll give you that… but you need to rest up until you're strong enough to go—wherever it is you're meant to be going—"

"I'm after the person who's _responsible_ for what happened to me," he muttered, and now he had enough response in his legs to sit on his knees, taking a few moments to steady himself as the blood rushed to his head and made the room spin.

"So you're after vengeance," she replied coolly, but Mark shook his head as he moved into a crouching position.

"Justice," he grunted. "Where's your phone?" he asked, peering towards the door that led into the hallway.

"Uh… I'll go and get it…" she said uncertainly, heading for the hallway, before she stopped at the door and turned around to face him. "Who are you calling?" she inquired. Mark ground his teeth together and turned away, making sure she couldn't see the flash of red that showed in his eyes.

"My boss…" he muttered.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***This is the first chapter to feature a current Gym Leader who isn't also a main character.**

**Quiz:**

***Which character from the Pokémon franchise shares a Japanese name with the name of the island on which Mark woke up?**

* * *

**Stay tuned for the next chapter, be sure to leave a review, and, as always...**

**Keep up the good work!**


	98. Fast And Present

**CHAPTER 98 – FAST AND PRESENT**

"And that makes three…" said Shane, grinning from ear to ear as his fingers brushed over the cool, glass surface of the small golden orb in front of him. The treasure of Lightning Island seemed to twinkle back at him in response, reflecting the pale starlight on the treacherous peak upon which its shrine stood. Curiously, there were large spikes of twisted metal littering the snowy ground, rust-red from what must have been years of exposure to the wind, salt and sea, but at that moment his only focus was on the treasure.

"Finally, my mission's complete," he smiled, swiftly snatching the sphere from its niche and tucking it into his jacket pocket. But as he turned and headed down the unforgiving slope, a jagged, cracking bellow of thunder split the heavens in two, stormclouds erupting from thin air and covering the night sky in a blanket so thick, it blotted out the moon and plunged Lightning Island into darkness.

_Maybe I spoke too soon…!_ Shane grimaced, as massive arcs of lightning snaked their way through the clouds, all converging on a single point high above the rubble-strewn peak. Despite the Commander-to-be's best efforts to run, he found himself rooted to the spot; whether out of fear, stupidity, or curiosity, he didn't know. But a moment later, he didn't need to know, for from out of those lightning-coloured clouds came a gargantuan creature that instantly turned him pale with terror.

A thicket of knifelike feathers bore down towards the island's shrine, spears of yellow and black flashing harshly against the illuminated backdrop of the sky, and a set of talons glinted ferociously as they flexed. A slender beak, as long as Shane's arm, split open and gave a shattering screech as a pair of tiny black eyes focused their sights on the intruder, cold with murderous intent.

"You wanna fight?" Shane roared, taking a PokéBall into his hand and tossing it onto the ground. "Then let's fight! Steelix, take charge!"

The enormous silhouette of his Iron Snake Pokémon rose up from the mountaintop, dwarfing even Zapdos as it rose to full height and gave a proud, grating roar of its own. Steelix narrowed its eyes and showed its rectangular teeth to the Titan of Lightning, but the latter dive-bombed towards the ground, talons outstretched as it reached only for the intruder that had so brazenly stolen its treasure. With his quick thinking and sharp reflexes Shane tried to duck for cover, but even that didn't stop the Electric Pokémon from slashing his shoulder with a razor-sharp claw, drawing a deep wound that gushed blood onto the cold ground.

_Shit!_ he thought, screwing his eyes shut and clutching at his injured shoulder. "Steelix…" he growled through gritted teeth. "Protect me!" he ordered, and his Steel-type moved swiftly into action, surrounding its Trainer with its thick tail and covering the overhead gap with its expansive jaw. "Try and knock Zapdos down with a Stone Edge attack!" he yelled, peering cautiously through the narrow slit of a gap between Steelix's head and tail.

"_Grrawurrrr!_" snarled Steelix, a set of blue rings glowing fiercely around its huge frame as the thunderclouds above flashed intermittently with lightning bolts. With a loud crack, the rings turned into a cloud of jagged stones that Steelix sent hurtling through the air at frightening speed, so fast that Shane couldn't even spot them in the ample light provided by the storm. But the legendary Pokémon was more than a match for the assault, effortlessly rolling to the side in midair as quick as the lightning that crackled high in the sky.

_Damned Zapdos…_ Shane thought angrily, wincing as he gingerly touched a fingertip his wound. It was still oozing blood down his back, and it didn't seem to be slowing down or clotting up at all. _Bastard had to slice up me just enough to be a real pain…_ he added, closing his eyes and trying to think of his next plan of attack. But as he contemplated, a high-pitched whirring sound erupted from outside his protective cage, and his Steelix gave a roar as its body trembled all around him.

"What the hell?" he muttered, edging towards the hole in his Pokémon's armour, but he threw himself vainly to the side as a spinning spear of brown shot through the gap like a bullet, almost slicing him in two. He yelled in pain as he felt his back scrape against Steelix's diamond-hard tail, but he was forced to ignore the pain and drop to the ground as the spear slashed towards him yet again, the sharpened tip only inches away from his body before retreating.

His breath and pulse racing, Shane staggered drunkenly to his feet, leaning against Steelix with his healthy side for support. The blood was still pouring from his wound, and his frantic dodges had, if possible, made it worse, for his vision was starting to blur noticeably around the edges, even in the limited light he had from under the Steel-type's jawbones. "Holy crap…!" he gasped, his expression drawn. "What… _was_ that…?" he asked himself wildly, trying to conjure an explanation.

"_Zaaaaaaaooooooo!_" shrieked Zapdos, a flash of lightning illuminating the strip of sky that Shane could see, and his eyes widened with shock as he realised what had just come so close to striking him down.

"The damn thing can use Drill Peck…?" he hissed, shaking his head to keep himself alert through the blood loss. _How am I going to get out of this…?_ he thought desperately, panic rising in his body. _If I try to have Steelix attack from afar, I might as well be throwing breadsticks at it; it'll dodge too easily. If I stay inside here, Zapdos is gonna break through the hole with Drill Peck and end up impaling me… but if I let Steelix move freely, it'll zap me down with a Thunderbolt or just tear me limb from limb with its claws—_he grimaced as the pain jolted through his body again, _so what can I do?_

"This is hopeless…" he said at last, trying to claw back the despair taking hold of him.

"_Grriuuww…"_ hissed Steelix, and Shane could hear it being battered from all angles by Zapdos' repetitive strikes.

_Even though Steelix are one of the largest Pokémon in existence, that bird has got us caged in on all sides with its speed,_ he thought. _In our present condition, there's no way we could even run away—! _he swore in frustration as an idea, somehow, came to mind, scarcely able to believe that it hadn't revealed itself until that moment. "Of course!" he exclaimed, rummaging groggily through his pockets.

"Come to me…!" he rasped, his voice growing ragged as his body began to grow heavy, but he managed to pull a solitary PokéBall from his pocket and flick it onto the ground.

On the other side of Steelix's protective barrier, Zapdos flitted about irritably, preparing to strike the pesky intruder with another sting of its Drill Peck attack. As it dove towards the narrow gap in the Steel-type's armour, however, a bright flash of light temporarily blinded the Titan of Lightning, causing it to falter in its flight and crash clumsily into Steelix, screeching in pain as its vision went white.

_HOW DARE THAT HUMAN USE SUCH TRICKS ON ME?_ thought the enraged Pokémon, quickly getting back into the air and readying another joust. But as its beak began to spin, a dull red glow began seeping out from the cracks in between Steelix's body segments, and a moment later the latter's mouth split open into its wicked, toothy grin as it raised its head to the blackened heavens.

"_Aroohhhaahh!_" sounded a fearsome roar from within Steelix's coils, and a jet of golden flames erupted upwards from the ground. Eyes widening, Zapdos rolled agilely to the side, the blazing spear barely missing its yellow feathers, and it quickly righted itself to blast a bolt of lightning down upon the now-vulnerable intruder. But the attack glanced harmlessly into a huge spike of iron, and the Flying-type squawked in outrage as Steelix lowered its tail, still grinning maliciously.

"Good work…" Shane laughed, his eyes drooped and his mouth hanging open lazily. "Steelix, use Crunch…!" he ordered.

_FOOL! _Zapdos thought. _WITH ITS BULK, THAT POKÉMON COULD NEVER REACH ME—!_

"_Gruuuwwwwo!_" hissed Steelix, and it suddenly leapt into the air, using the shape of its tail as a spring to launch itself to a seemingly impossible height. Zapdos was caught completely off-guard, a crescent moon full of rectangular teeth rearing up in its field of vision, and the Pokémon's mouth snapped shut around its foe's right wing. Steelix's pupils burned with fervour as it locked eyes with the Titan, and a split second later its immense weight succumbed to gravity and pulled it towards earth, plucking Zapdos out of the sky as its wing was dragged mercilessly downwards.

"Arcanine…" Shane panted, reaching an arm out in front of him, and the majestic Fire-type trotted dutifully to stand alongside its Trainer. "You'll have to… carry me…" he told the Pokémon, leaning heavily on one leg as he struggled to stay upright. Despite the desperate sounds of struggle between Steelix and Zapdos in front of them, Arcanine bowed its head and slipped Shane's arms down over its neck, lifting him up onto its back.

"Good job…" he smiled, feeling the warmth of his steed's fur, and it made him slip further towards unconsciousness. "Steelix…!" he roared, his voice straining. "Stop Zapdos with a Bind attack!" he ordered, teeth bared as his wound throbbed again, droplets of blood seeping down his arm and dripping onto the stony ground. The great Steel-type's tail shot through the air and snapped tight around its foe, pulling Zapdos into an unbreakable hold.

Arcs of lightning wreaked havoc over the mountainside, obliterating trees and boulders into powder as the legendary Pokémon tried desperately to free itself. Wave upon wave of electricity shot out from its struggling body, blinding its captor, but the Iron Snake Pokémon's will matched its body, constricting tighter and tighter with every flash of light. With his head lolling down and his eyes staring unfocused at the ground, Shane couldn't see how valiantly Steelix was holding back its foe, but he could hear the outraged shrieks and grating growls of the two Pokémon, and it brought a smile to his face.

"Steelix…" he shouted, "blast that son of a bitch… with Explosion!"

Even though it was already under the duress of subduing a legendary Pokémon, Steelix raised its head towards the black, stormy sky and gave a proud, echoing roar that spread over the mountainside and bounced off the rolling, churning waves of the sea. Zapdos began moving more violently than ever, almost tearing its wings out of their sockets as it tried to rip itself free from the Steel-type's infernal cage, and slowly, it began to slip further and further out from between the latter's tail segments.

"_Gruuoowwww!_" snarled Steelix, swinging the sharpened tip of its tail around and holding it a hair's breadth in front of the space between Zapdos' eyes. The pupils of its eyes shrinking to the size of peppercorns, the legendary Titan of Lightning was forced to watch, motionless and helpless, as the grey spike slowly turned a blinding white, its foe's entire body illuminating the mountainside with raw destructive energy.

"Arcanine, get us the hell out of here…!" Shane rasped, feeling himself becoming overwhelmed by the sheer power emanating from Steelix's glowing bulk. With a dutiful howl, Arcanine turned tail on its fellow Pokémon and bolted across the uneven ground, leaping over boulders and slipping between the enormous palm trees that dotted the path ahead of it. From his seat on Arcanine's back, Shane saw the rock below him racing by in a blurred mess, only able to watch as the illuminated surface slowly gave way to the natural darkness of the night.

Barely able to speak for the wind being knocked out of him by the bumpy ride, he dug his fingers into Arcanine's fur and tugged backwards, bringing his trusty Fire-type to a braking, shuddering stop. The more loose pieces of underfoot gravel clattered on the ground as they were scattered, and Shane turned his head back in Steelix's direction just in time to see the harsh white light suddenly expand outwards, a great rush of wind accompanying the surge before everything seemed to pull inwards with inescapable gravity.

Shane's world went white; he didn't even hear the boom.

* * *

"Come on… pick up, you bastard!" Mark shouted into the phone, his teeth bared in anger as the monotonous dial tone continued to drone against his ear. After ten seconds or so, he slammed the receiver down on the hook and ran a hand through his wiry black hair, and a grunt of a snicker sounded behind him. Whirling around, he rolled his eyes when he saw Cissy leaning on the doorframe with her arms crossed and her eyebrows raised in a way that clearly said 'I-told-you-so'.

"Shaddup…" he muttered irritably, turning his back to her and reaching a hand towards the phone again. Fingers closed around his wrist and pulled it backwards as Cissy put a stop to his effort, and she gave him another look as her free hand lifted the phone away from him. "You got something you wanna say?" he growled, his eyes smouldering.

"Obviously, or I'd've pulled you by the ear," Cissy retorted, and she threw his arm back into his lap before sitting down alongside him. "What exactly are you hoping to achieve by calling this guy, especially since he obviously isn't making the effort to take your call," she pointed out, as a flash shone through the gap in the curtains. She turned around towards the light and snapped the curtains across, blocking out the view of the choppy sea.

"Damn weather," she muttered, before rounding on Mark again. "Well?" she demanded.

"I don't know, alright?" he shouted, punching the floor, and Cissy flinched. "Maybe if I don't tell him that I know about his—backstabbing bastardry—and I ask for a rendezvous point, he'll tell me where he's heading…!"

"From the success you've been having on this—" she held up the phone and waved it in front of him, "it looks like he doesn't even want to talk to you."

"His phone could be on silent," Mark countered gruffly, but he softened his expression before facing her again. "Tell you what," he said calmly. "I'll call him _one_ more time, and if he doesn't answer, I'll let it go until tomorrow. How's that sound?"

Cissy pursed her lips and considered his proposition for a few moments. "I suppose I can't say no to that," she conceded, dropping the phone in his lap and pushing herself upright. "Just make it short if he does answer; from what you've told me about this guy—"

"You don't really know enough to be giving me advice on how to deal with him," Mark finished, taking the receiver off the hook and dialling the number. "I'll try not to run up the phone bill," he nodded, and Cissy snorted.

"Run it up all you want, it's the PLC who pay for _that_ phone," she laughed, looking over her shoulder as she left the room. Mark's back was already to her by the time she did, but she held the gaze with a frown on her lips. _You're an enigmatic man, Mr. Lear…_ she thought worriedly, folding her arms and heading towards the kitchen for a refreshing cup of java.

Mark pressed the receiver against his ear, counting the rings as the call waited to connect. _Four… Five… Six… _he muttered silently, resigned to his former boss not picking up. _Seven… Ei—_

A flurry of loud clicks on the end of the line startled him into bolting upright, and he held back an exclamation as he realised that, at last, the call had gone through. "Hello?" he asked tentatively, fighting the turbulent emotions inside him, and for several long seconds there was no response.

"Hello, Mark…" came a voice from the receiver, and Mark froze.

It was a woman.

* * *

"Hello, Mark…" smirked Kyōfu, holding Shane's cell phone against her ear, and her smirk widened to a sneer when she heard the tense intake of breath from the other end of the line. "It's been a while."

"Kyōfu …!" Mark hissed, and she raised an eyebrow at his venom. "Where's Shane?" he barked.

"Now, now," she tittered, sounding mock-hurt. "Is that any way to greet an old _friend_?" she asked silkily. "After all, we _did_ both run that mission in the Kre—"

"You should know better than to talk about classified information on an unsecure line," Mark interjected, making Kyōfu frown. "I don't think Commander Saturn _or_ that particular government would be happy if they heard you blabbing about their special little treasure… or the buildings you torched."

"Well, look who's gotten themselves some _fire_ of their own!" she giggled haughtily. "You weren't so feisty the last time we reminisced about our successes. And I could honestly care less about our past assignments," she added with another smirk. "Those morons don't have a hope in hell of getting their mirror back."

"There you go, blabbing on and on again," he grunted. "But back to my original question. _Where's Shane_?" he asked, and Kyōfu rolled her eyes at his one-mindedness.

"Why the sudden interest in finding him?" she countered, looking at the fingernails on her empty hand. "Last time I checked the news, your teammates were dead. I thought you would have been worrying about them—" she chuckled at the murderous growl he gave her, "instead of coming after our new _Commander_ with a vengeance."

"Because I'm _totally_ going to head back to an island locked up tighter than a tick's ass with security and media coverage," Mark drawled. "You obviously know where he is, since you're using his cell phone. So tell me."

"Hey, for all you know, I could have just picked up this phone during a stroll through the Orange Islands…!" Kyōfu teased, pouting sarcastically into the phone.

"You damn bitch!" Mark yelled, forcing her to yank the phone away from her ear. "Cut the shit and tell me where to find Shane!"

"You forgot to say '_please_'…!" she replied in honey-sweet tones, although any traces of kindness had long disappeared from her expression.

"_Where is he_?"

Kyōfu slowly turned around on the spot and surveyed her surroundings, eyes following the contour that marked the rim of an enormous crater, the centre of which she was standing on. Barely feet from her were the charred and unconscious bodies of two fearsomely large Pokémon, the larger of the two still coiled murderously tight around the smaller. At the very edge of the giant hole was her teammate, Osore, darting between an Arcanine and a human-shaped figure slumped against the sloping ground, splashes of dried, scarlet blood soaking a large bandage tied around the latter's shoulders.

"Oh, he's here…" she answered cryptically, signalling to her partner, who replied with a sign of her own. "But he's been through the wars, by the look of him, so I think it'd be in everyone's best interests if we just let him rest."

"Sorry, but I can't allow that," Mark muttered dangerously, and Kyōfu crinkled her nose at him.

"You're not in a position to disallow anything after your showy prison exit," she reminded, taking a small satisfaction from the passive grunt on his end. "Like I was saying, _Mr. Commander_ needs to get his strength back before you can go meeting him in person like a big boy—"

"Cut the mocking before I reach through that phone and cut off your tongue," he snarled.

"Aw, but then I'd have to stop talking to you _altogether_!" giggled Kyōfu nastily. "And I _do_ enjoy your company…" she added dryly.

"Just put Shane on the phone so I can talk to him," said Mark, his tone growing rough and impatient. "I'm sure even _he_ isn't too beat up to take a phone call."

"You'd be sure wrong then," she said smartly, as Osore came jogging towards her down the crater's slope. "But why wait for him to come around? Tell me where you are and we'll bring him straight to you for a nice talk!"

Silence.

"You don't honestly think I'm that stupid, do you?" was his reply.

"If you have to ask—"

"I tell you my location, you're gonna intercept me and have me taken down as a rogue agent," Mark continued, raising his voice above her snide comment. "I've been in the business long enough to know how these things pan out."

"So what made you think I'd give over the _Commander's_ location?" snapped Kyōfu. "You must've lost brain cells getting out of that cop cage or something… you never used to be so dense," she added, with a poisonous grin.

"If you're not going to tell me where you and Shane are—"

"_Then what, asshole_?_ Then what_?" she roared into the receiver, losing her temper at last. "Are you gonna track us down and teach us a lesson? Just remember, _you're_ the one who's wanted by the Orange Archipelago police, not the Commander or I! You've got more chance of fucking me than finding me."

"Shouldn't be too hard to find you, then," Mark sniggered, and Kyōfu gave a howling scream of fury as she snapped the phone shut.

"You just wait, you damned bastard," she hissed to herself, half-throwing the phone to Osore. "How's the Commander?" she barked.

"Hon—the Commander's unconscious, but he should be fine after a night's sleep," Osore reported. "I stopped his blood loss and bandaged all his wounds, so as long as he doesn't push himself, he should be fully recovered within a fortnight. Even less if he gets looked at by our doctors," she added merrily.

"And the Pokémon?"

"Not in nearly as bad shape as he is," she shrugged. "They'll be fully healed with a routine check-up at the nearest Center. Umm…" she continued hesitantly, noticing her partner's hands curled into fists, "that was Hunter, wasn't it?" she asked, holding up Shane's cell phone.

Kyōfu looked coldly at her for a moment, then uncurled her fists and blew out a deep breath to calm herself. "Yeah, that was Mark," she nodded. "Looks like he wants some payback for Alex and Emily."

"It's understandable, though, right?" said Osore, dropping the phone into her pants. "If we were put in a squad under someone else's care, and they ended up offing me or one of our teammates, then _framed_ you for it, wouldn't you be pissed?"

"What, are you _defending_ him?"

"No, not at all!" she said defensively, waving her hands. "I was just trying to put things in perspective."

"Well, here's _my_ perspective," Kyōfu muttered. "Mark wants the Commander dead. But Cyrus wants Mark dead, so I want Mark dead too."

"I guess… but maybe the ends don't justify the m—" Osore started, but she was cut off by a loud vibrating in her breast pocket. "It must be Commander Charon," she told Kyōfu, grabbing another cell phone from the pocket and holding it to her ear. "Agent Osore reporting, Commander!" she stated dutifully.

"Put me on speaker so Kyōfu can hear as well," muttered Charon's dulcet tones, and Osore followed the order, holding the phone between herself and her partner. "It's your lucky day—or night, as it were—ladies!"

"Why's that, sir?" Kyōfu asked, looking at Osore and raising an eyebrow in jest.

"The locator signal on ex-agent Hunter's Houndoom's PokéBall has been triangulated," he informed them. "Our happy little traitor is camping out at the Mikan Island Gym as we speak."

"He got as far as Mikan Island?" Osore exclaimed, clearly impressed, but Kyōfu silenced her with a stern look.

"And that's as far as he's getting," Charon said bluntly. "Here are your new orders. Capture that wild Zapdos trapped by Shane's Steelix—"

"How—?" Osore turned on the spot, wondering if the Commander had hidden sensors in the area.

"He tapped your phone's camera," Kyōfu muttered quickly, quietening her.

"Thank you for that memo from the Department of the Completely Obvious," Charon said irritably. "As I was saying… capture it, revive it, and give it the adrenaline drug in Osore's medical kit. Then, fly to Mikan Island and dispatch Hunter. Keep in mind that he may have enlisted the help of Cissy Perl, the Mikan Island Gym Leader; if she tries to get in your way, your priority there is to incapacitate her non-lethally."

"Why non-lethally?" Kyōfu asked, pretending to sound upset.

"The last thing Team Galactic needs is a full PLC investigation into a Gym Leader's sudden death involving one of our members, especially with the World Pokémon Championships finals beginning in a few hours' time. The Boss apparently has some retarded interest in the tournament, so don't go and needlessly complicate their programme," he explained. "Anyways, once Hunter has been eliminated, destroy all traces of him."

"Understood, Commander Charon," replied the two agents.

"A team has already been sent to recover Shane and his Pokémon and return them to our base of operations," he continued. "Give his cell phone back before you depart so that we can continue to monitor his location. That will be all for now; report once your assignment is complete for further instruction," he concluded, and the connection died with a dull click.

Kyōfu quickly turned away and strode towards Shane's still-unconscious Iron Snake Pokemon, but Osore continued to stare at the phone as though not quite sure what she had just heard. "Did Commander Charon just call _the Boss_ retarded?" she asked, incredulous.

"He called the Boss' _interest in the tournament_ retarded, if you'd listened," Kyōfu shouted back. "Now, go give our Commander his cell phone back while I finish up here," she ordered, looking up at the Titan of Lightning before her, still tangled between Steelix's iron spikes, and a vicious smile lit up her face like a thunderbolt as she enlarged the PokéBall in her hand.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***The only Titan that Shane didn't encounter was also the only one not captured by Lawrence III during the second movie (Articuno).**

**Quiz:**

***Of the five Pokémon that Shane used in order to obtain the three Titans' Spheres, which was NOT present during his battle against Paul?**

* * *

**Like Kyōfu said, it's been a while. Almost six months since I updated this story. A quick explanation: I got tired of writing this because of all the faults I could see in the first dozen or so chapters, and figured "why finish a story that I don't like the beginning of?" But I'm over that hump now; if you took the time to read this far, you obviously don't care about the mistakes I made at the start!**

**But in all sincerity, apologies to the readers who I may have led astray in saying I was discontinuing it. I can't let this story go... and I hope they can't either.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and who have been leaving reviews for other chapters along the way! Thanks also to the people who haven't reviewed this one, but will in the near future, since all reviews are appreciated for being win.**

**Any questions about what you read? Try a review, and I'll try to answer it without spoiling anything.**

**Chapter 99 (Nightshadows) - wow-oh-wow we're almost in triple figures! - will most definitely be posted in a shorter period of time than it took this one to get finished. Pinkie swear.**

**Keep up the good work, and, as always...**

**Don't forget to review!**


	99. Nightshadows

**CHAPTER 99 – NIGHTSHADOWS**

Ash leapt confidently out of bed, a smile stretching from ear to ear as he hurriedly shimmied out of his pyjamas and snatched up his clothes from the nearby dresser. Humming a merry tune to himself, he threw on his clothes and jammed his hat down over his head, throwing open the door to the hallway and striding towards the kitchen.

"Today's the day, guys!" he said loudly, the excitement almost bubbling through his skin as he skidded over the wooden floorboards. "It's the first round of the finals, which means I'm only a few hours away from advancing to the next one!" he shouted, striking a victory pose with his eyes closed. Strangely, he heard no amused giggle from Dawn, no reluctant sigh from Pikachu, no grunting laugh from Brock, and he opened his eyes to an even stranger scene.

Brock and Dawn were standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the living room, greeting him with stony expressions and firmly crossed arms, and Pikachu's fur was standing on end as he crackled with electricity, a scowl on his face to accompany the others. Ash slowly lowered his arms from their posing position and looked confusedly between them, wondering what on earth was going on.

"Is… something wrong?" he asked.

"You didn't have to be such a jerk to Anabel, you know," Dawn hissed, her eyes almost shimmering with tears of anger.

"Yeah, that was pretty low of you, Ash," nodded Brock, a nerve twitching in his jaw, and Ash's mouth fell open in shock.

"Me? What'd I do?" he exclaimed, taking a staggering step backwards. His shoulder blades hit something soft, and he gave a loud yelp as he spun around, only to be met with the hardened face of his mother. "Mum, do you know what they're talking about?" he asked imploringly, but something about the look in her eyes gave him the answer before she opened her mouth.

"She's a sweet girl, Ash…" Delia sighed, throwing her hands up as if in defeat. "Maybe it's all the travelling you do; you've certainly changed your attitude when it comes to being a gentleman, by the looks of it."

"Changed my attitude?" he repeated, dumbfounded as he swung his gaze between her and his friends. "I don't even know what my attitude is, since I don't know what I'm supposed to have d—!" he froze and looked out the window, and he felt his heart sink through to the ground when he saw a blackened sky dotted with the lights of the street below.

"It's dark?" he screamed, grabbing his hair. "I slept through the afternoon!" he gasped, eyes wide as saucers. "I—I—"

"_Now_ he remembers," Dawn muttered darkly to Brock, who frowned and shook his head in understanding.

"I missed my battle with Amos!" Ash finally managed to say, feeling himself grow weak at the legs, and he reached a hand to the wall to steady himself. "I'm out of the tournament…" he groaned. Apparently he'd just said the wrong thing, though, because a moment later Dawn dug the point of her shoe into the side of his knee and sent him toppling onto the ground with a dull _plonk_.

"_That's_ what you're so upset about?" she howled, at this point forcibly restrained by Brock, although the latter seemed less than happy with keeping her from savaging Ash. "How about you show some remorse?"

"Dawn, I don't even know what you're shouting at me for!" he retorted hotly, jumping to his feet. "I haven't seen Anabel since yesterday afternoon, when I came out of the selection ceremony for the Top Sixteen! Which I'm now out of, since I didn't show up for my match!" he added angrily. "Why didn't you two wake me up?"

"What are you talking about?" said a new, all-too-familiar voice, and Ash gritted his teeth.

"Get out of my hotel room, Ari."

"You came around to _mine_ this morning, remember?" Ari continued. Ash kept his back to the boy, but he could still imagine the look on the latter's face, and it turned his hands into balled fists. "You were all in a fuss about Anabel and I sharing a room. Almost beat the door down," he added snidely, making Ash begin to see red.

"Get. Out," he repeated through his teeth, half-turning his head towards Ari.

"What was it you were yelling, again?" he taunted, and Ash could see him faking a look of concentration out of the corner of his eye. "Something about Anabel and I '_shacking up_'?"

"You liar!" Ash roared, whirling around and driving his fist into Ari's left cheek. Ari's head snapped sideways as he fell heavily to the ground with a loud groan of pain, leaving Ash to stand over him with his arm still outstretched, body heaving with trembling breath. "I never said anything like that! I never even _visited_ you this morning! I've been asleep the whole time!"

"So…" Ari muttered, leaning on one arm while the other rubbed his red cheek, "Anabel's in tears over you accusing her of being with me, even though you never said it? Yeah, good luck convincing her of _that_—!" he thrust upwards with his foot and caught Ash in the hip, sending him spinning around as he, too, hit the floor.

"You think that hurt?" Ash growled, reaching forwards to grab Ari, but a pair of hands pulled him backwards by the scruff of the neck and put him in a tight arm-lock. "You probably told Anabel all those things _yourself_, you deceiving ass!" he shouted, struggling against the hold.

_SMACK!_

"Don't use that kind of language, Ash!" Delia snapped, lowering her hand. "I didn't raise you to talk like that!"

Ash brought his head back around to face his enraged mother, but instead of her face he found himself staring at a sheet of yellow lined with a pair of brown stripes. "Pi… Pikachu…?" he wondered aloud, his voice now raspy and barely louder than a whisper, although his breath was still coming to him in ragged gasps. "Wha—what's going on?" he asked, raising a hand to rub his struck cheek, but he found his fingers trailing through something soft and light on the way. "Huh?"

He lowered his gaze curiously, raising an eyebrow when he saw a white blanket covering his body, but it took a few seconds for his brain to process the discovery. "I'm… still in bed?" he realised, feeling the downy pillow against his cheek, which was completely uninjured. _So it must have all just been a crazy nightmare,_ he told himself, breathing a deep sigh of relief. _What a scary dream, though… I hope I never end up doing those things, especially in front of mum…!_ he added as an afterthought, sticking out his tongue in disgust. _I don't even need to be thinking about that sort of thing, anyways._

"What time is it…?" he said groggily, wiping sleep from his eyes as he rolled over to check the alarm clock. The small red lights read _1:54 A.M._, and he gave another relieved sigh. _Not even close to sleeping in,_ he thought with a tired smile, pulling the sheets a little more tightly around his shoulders as he closed his eyes again. _Gotta get plenty more sleep if I want to be in top condition for my battle against Amos in the morning_, he told his body, willing it to embrace slumber again, and mercifully, it didn't take long before he was fast asleep.

* * *

His face was a mask of concentration, his slanted eyes slowly moving over the scene before him. Any foolhardy mistakes over the next few minutes would cost him dearly, and the situation was delicate enough as it was; the precise placement of the objects, the connections between them, and the safeguards to keep them from being removed. Even the slightest miscalculation, and it would soon be over. But it was precisely that danger, that uncertainty, that made it all the more thrilling for him.

It was, of course, chess.

Galactic Commander Saturn sat at one end of the board, playing white. His usually stalwart defences had been destroyed with some innovative use of the black knights; courtesy of them, a row of fallen white pieces lined one side of the board, along with several other pieces that had been snatched during the course of the game. It was only some equally brilliant countermeasures that had allowed him to even things up; he'd thrown a wave of pawns towards the black king, scalping a rook and knight when they tried to intervene, and the black queen had fallen to his bishop just last turn.

His challenging adversary in black was Thorn, a member of the team which would embark on the impending expedition to Mt. Coronet, spiky hair offsetting the lackadaisical expression on his face. The rest of his team was crowded around the competitors, after having spent the last day on alert, waiting for their boss to issue the order to ascend the mountain. But no such word had arrived, so, extremely bored, they tried to involve themselves in watching the game.

"I can't believe the Commander managed to get rid of Thorn's lead," said one of the grunts to another, who nodded in agreement. "After he lost both castles, I thought he was gone for."

"Well, he's not the deputy leader for nothing," muttered a third, arms folded. "You need good tactics to win chess, remember."

"Yes, let's all pitch in our thoughts about the match, shall we?" Saturn asked as he cast them a dark look. "Don't waste time talking about your mission when there are more important things like chess to attend to."

"But we've been talking about the expedition for the last two days, sir," said the first grunt, taken aback. "It's all we _have _been talking about, and we've run out of things to say, to be frank."

"Then keep quiet," Saturn barked, turning his attention back to his opponent. "Tell me, Thorn, what are _your_ thoughts about the expedition?" he inquired, his eyes still scoping over the board as he pondered his move. "Are you nervous?"

"A little bit, yes," Thorn replied, blowing out a deep breath and slumping his shoulders. "I mean, Mt. Coronet is a _big_ mountain after all. But, the Boss wants me to climb, so I'm going to climb."

"That's a pleasant attitude," Saturn smiled, taking his queen and sliding it along the edge of the board. "Your move."

Thorn pored over the chessboard for a few moments, weighing up his options, but it didn't take him long to grab hold of his rook and flick it against Saturn's queen, knocking it out of the game. He kept a finger on top of his piece, double-checking the safety of the move, and a smile lit up when he saw that his rook had a direct line to the white king. "Check," he declared, letting go of the rook and waving a hand towards his Commander, to the muted applause of his compatriots.

"What am I to do?" groaned a frustrated Saturn, throwing up his hands. "My queen captured and a check forced in one move." He quickly cancelled the check by moving a piece between Thorn's rook and his own king. His bishop now stood in the way, and it was protected by his sole remaining knight, standing bravely between a pair of black pawns.

"If I may be so bold as to ask, Commander," said Thorn, "how importantly exactly is this expedition we're about to make? I understand if it's not my place to ask, but I'm sure all of us—" he jerked his head towards the others, "would feel a little better if we knew what was expected of us when we left headquarters."

Saturn's eyes flickered upwards to the grunt momentarily, face completely blank as he considered the question. "When Cyrus handpicked you and your fellows for the expedition, what was the reason behind his choosing you?"

"Uh, telecommunications, I think," Thorn answered, uncertain of the Commander's direction.

"You think, hmm?" he repeated, looking back at the board. "A certain answer would be more suitable."

"Oh—he picked me because of my telecommunications skills, sir," Thorn said, more attentively. "He said that my job was to '_set up a secure communication shelter and to search the project site for electronic irregularities_'… wherever that site is meant to be."

"You mean he hasn't told you where you're climbing _to_?" Saturn exclaimed, pretending to be surprised as he stared at the other team members. "_None_ of you?"

"No, sir."

"Not a thing about it."

"I don't think he mentioned it, no…"

"Why wouldn't he tell you something as crucial as that?" he asked. "Surely the expedition team should be told their destination. Especially you, Thorn; after all, you're the _telecommunications expert_," he added, with a slight flick of the eyebrows.

"Maybe I'm not important enough," Thorn shrugged, clearly catching onto the hidden undertone in Saturn's words. "Or maybe you should _check_ again," he sniggered, moving a bishop of his own into a diagonal that headed straight for the king. Thorn's teammates murmured amongst themselves, pondering between themselves about the possible choices Saturn could make, but the latter gave a grunt of annoyance and drummed his fingers against his chin.

"What to do, what to do…" he muttered, more to himself than the others, and his hand hovered over the pieces, darting and jerking this way and that like a claw in a skill tester machine. It occasionally dipped down and grabbed a piece, moving it here and there to see how the play would affect his position, but none of them seemed particularly advantageous, since they all returned to the square on which they originally rested.

After what seemed like five long minutes, the blue-haired Commander shrugged his shoulders and made a simple move, pushing his king back one space to step out of check.

"I thought there was an unwritten rule that said you should never retreat in a game of chess," Thorn taunted, a hand on his knight. "It puts you in a bad position, strategically _and_ mental—"

"Checkmate."

Thorn snorted in disbelief, looking down at the board, but he did a double-take when he saw that the rook he'd used to capture Saturn's queen had left him completely defenceless; the second of Saturn's bishops had been hiding behind his king, and when he moved it out of check, it had opened a path straight to the black king. The Galactic grunt tried desperately to find a way around the move, but his pawns and knight were stonewalling any movement out, and Saturn's knight covered the only available exit. Checkmate.

"How the hell did _that_ happen…?" he wondered, stunned.

"When you know your opponent will always advance and seek to take you down, it's better to let them think you're retreating," Saturn commented, a victorious twinkle in his eyes. "That way, they have no reservations about following you, even if that pursuit leads them into a fatal trap." He pointed between his bishops, knight and king to emphasise his point, and the other grunts burst into awed applause at the brilliant play, exchanging looks of astonishment amongst themselves.

"I thought he was gone for sure…!"

"Did you _see_ that? What a move!"

"The Commander's a genius!"

"Or so it would seem," said a low voice behind the crowd. The team instantly recognised the voice, whirling around and snapping to attention, and Saturn gave a quick salute as Cyrus walked towards them, his hands held behind his back as the grunts split apart to give him a clear view of the chessboard.

"You just missed an enjoyable game, sir," Saturn told him, twirling his captured queen around its base on the table.

Cyrus leaned in and examined the board, his face emotionless. "Thorn," he muttered, and the grunt lurched to his feet and stood at attention like his fellows. "You should have advanced your e-pawn instead of using your bishop to put Saturn's king in check."

"Why is that, sir?" Thorn asked.

"Saturn would have thought you were setting up a cage, forcing him to shift his knight," Cyrus explained, ignoring the look of shock on the Commander's face. "One swoop of your knight would put a fork between his bishop and king. Two turns more, and your knight would set checkmate when it exposed your rook."

Thorn could only stare at his leader, flabbergasted, as Saturn's gaze returned to the chessboard. A moment later, his face contorted into a pained expression as he recalled the last few moves of the game. Cyrus was right; the seemingly flawless planning and execution of his trap would have been undone if Thorn had simply moved his pawn one space forwards.

"It's no wonder I've never beaten you, sir," he chuckled, setting down his queen and standing up.

"That's because you don't constantly keep track of every piece's potential," Cyrus replied, snatching up Thorn's e-pawn and holding it in his palm. "In a game where the pawns can topple the king, that king needs to utilise every piece's full potential, whilst limiting that of his opponents'. Nothing less should be expected."

As his leader turned around to face the mountaineers, Saturn pursed his lips and held back a roll of the eyes, feeling a little stung by the way in which Cyrus had put a damper on his victory.

"Men!" Cyrus barked, and the team immediately snapped to attention again. "Make your final preparations for our expedition to Mt. Coronet. We will be leaving within the hour," he announced. Save for Thorn, the entire group of grunts exchanged looks of joy and excitement, breaking their stance to turn their heads and murmur amongst themselves, but it seemed that Cyrus wasn't finished, because he silenced them with a simple rise of his hand before speaking again.

"In addition to the orders you've already received, I have some information to share," he continued. "Commander Saturn, Commander Jupiter, Commander Mars, and myself will be accompanying you."

Mutters broke out amongst the expedition again, but this time the team was confused at the announcement, wondering what on earth their mission would now have to involve to warrant the inclusion of the organisation's top four. Even Saturn was visibly surprised with Cyrus' news, apparently not being told of it beforehand.

"Is that safe, sir?" piped up one of the team members. "We're a fairly large team as it is," he pointed out, looking left and right at those around him. "With four more, we can't guarantee that the provisions will last, or that the equipment will support the extra—"

"Each of us will be carrying provisions and equipment for ourselves," Cyrus told him, and the grunt fell quiet. "A second team will be departing from our 'headquarters' in Veilstone City, to rendezvous with Commander Mercury, who is returning from a mission in the Orange Archipelago. From there, that party will join us at the Iceberg Ruins, where we will rest overnight. I'll give you further orders after we have rested."

"Sir! Yes, sir!" shouted the grunts, all performing a military salute before running off to double- and triple-check their gear before they embarked on their journey.

"The Iceberg Ruins?" wondered Saturn aloud, and Cyrus turned to face him. "What of the Regice that inhabits it?"

"That Pokémon was captured on a previous assignment by a member of the Special Forces squad," he replied. "Speaking of which, have there been any new developments in Mercury's assignment?"

"As much as I love people talking about my business behind my back, I'd much rather be invited into those conversations than have to barge into them," drawled a voice behind them. Saturn leaned over to look past Cyrus' shoulder and, upon spotting Charon's hunched form approaching them from the hallway, he bit back a poisonous retort in the presence of his superior.

"I _was_ inviting you into the conversation, Commander Charon," replied Cyrus, not bothering to turn around and look at the new arrival. "Saturn wasn't the one I told to monitor Mercury's progress… or do you not remember our conversation in my office last night?" he wondered, eliciting a scornful look from the older man.

"Well, I'm glad I have to answer to the back of your head, _sir_," he growled, making no effort to hide his sarcasm. "Hayes successfully gathered all three of the Titans' Spheres; I ran a sonar scan through his cell phone and found the little bastards in his jacket pocket."

"His location?"

"North Mandarin Island Base Hospital, according to his GPS. The dispatch team I sent fours hours ago just passed the Viridian City checkpoint. They should reach him in another three hours, depending on the weather at the Pummelo Island checkpoint."

"What of Mercury's surveillance team?"

"They're… headed for Mikan Island," Charon continued, somewhat less confidently. "They should arrive in… half an hour, to tie up our loose end."

"You don't have to make euphemisms around me, Charon," said Saturn, a hand on his hip. "Our '_agents afloat_' are going to kill Mark and toss his corpse into the ocean. They should be finished around sunrise, if my calculations are correct," he added, checking his watch, which read _4:22 A.M.._

"Congratulations, you know what a euphemism is," Charon snorted, a sneer on his face. "I'm all out of gold stars, so you'll have to make do with one of these—" he swiftly raised his middle finger at the blue-haired Commander.

"That will be all, Commander Charon," Cyrus said loudly, back still turned. Charon pushed his tiny rose-tinted spectacles further up the bridge of his nose, which wrinkled in distaste, but he took his swift leave as his leader implied, finding time to mutter a few choice phrases under his breath as he ambled back down the hallway from which he came. Moments later, pounding footsteps could be heard from the opposite direction, and Saturn whirled about on the balls of his feet to see the other two Galactic Commanders running towards them, although it looked more like they were racing each other than anything else.

"Sir!" they both shouted, jostling each other and jockeying for position as they slowed to a stop in front of Saturn and Cyrus. Mars had her arm flung out and pressing backwards against Jupiter's ribcage, but Jupiter was tugging on the hem of Mars' skirt and sticking her foot behind the redhead's, trying to trip her up.

"Mars! Jupiter!" Cyrus shouted, and the girls froze.

"Our apologies, sir," said Jupiter humbly, her and Mars extricating themselves from each other and bowing their heads for a moment. "A video call is waiting for you to connect in your office, sir."

"According to our data, the signal originated in the Hoenn region," Mars added, vehemently nodding her head. "Somewhere in Slateport City's industrial district."

"Slateport City?" Cyrus repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Thank you for coming so quickly, Mars. Now, if you three will excuse me," he said, walking past a beaming, curtseying Mars towards his office, and ignoring the heated voices between the three Commanders that could be heard behind him as he left.

A minute later he was standing at the polished wooden door, his hand on the fingerprint-sensitive plate that beeped as it registered his identity and unlocked the tumblers. He quickly stepped inside and slammed the door shut behind him, picking up a touch-screen keyboard from his desk and tapping it a few times in quick succession. The large digital screen slowly slid out of its hiding place in the side wall opposite him, and he tapped the board again with a finger to bring up a large box full of static interference.

Two seconds later, the static disappeared, and the image in its place was a crystal-clear shot of a group of men and women in white lab coats, standing in front of some complicated-looking machinery in the background. In the centre of the group, where one would expect the leader, was a muscular, middle-aged man with a dark beard and moustache, a blue bandanna with a stylised 'A' adorning his nearly-shaven head.

"We're in, Cyrus," said the man, and a greedy, evil sneer stretched from ear to ear.

* * *

**Trivia:**

***The end of the Saturn-Thorn chess game is identical to that of a famous real-life chess game in the 1990s.**

**Quiz:**

***Which island is located just south of North Mandarin Island?**

* * *

**Wow, I actually updated within a week! Well, not exactly a week, but I posted the last one last week and this one this week, so that's gotta count for something, right?**

**Thanks to the faithful readers and newcomers who all reviewed the last chapter, and it's good to see that some chapters before that got some TLC as well. Thanks also to those of you who haven't yet reviewed this instalment, but will be leaving in the near future. Your reviews are all awesome, especially the ones that aren't afraid to point out my obvious faults, and each one is appreciated to the max plus one.**

**Any conflicting thoughts on the events you've just witnessed? Put up a restraining order... or, barring that, a review might be helpful in sorting out the awkwardness!**

**Chapter 100 will be posted, most likely within the next week, since I managed to write half the darned thing last night over some marshmallows and Zoids: NC-0 playing in the background. Not going to give you the chapter name this time - even though it's the 100th chapter, wow how did I manage to get into triple figures? - because I want it to be that little bit of a surprise... that, and the title completely gives away the chapter content.**

**So, until next time, keep up the good work! And, as always...**

**Don't forget to review!**


	100. Death Marks The Spot

**CHAPTER 100 – DEATH MARKS THE SPOT**

Mark opened his eyes and rolled over in bed, swarms of thought still buzzing around in his mind and keeping him away from some desperately needed slumber. Try as he might, his brain couldn't stop from replaying his conversation with Kyōfu over, and over, and over again, and her words unnerved him more and more with every repetition.

Or, rather, the words she'd left unspoken.

_She didn't say anything at all about trying to find me, _he thought, staring at the ceiling. _No-one else would dwell on that at all… and yet… _"Why is it the only thing I'm thinking about?" he whispered.

_Because Kyōfu will have already found you long before she says she's trying,_ answered a voice in his head, the thought giving him chills.

"But she had to be close by Shane, since she had his cell phone when I called it earlier," he muttered, well aware that he was talking to himself, but it was helping to put voice behind his thoughts. "Shane was heading to Shamouti Island to steal the Titans' Spheres, but they're supposed to be heavily guarded by some monstrously powerful legendary Pokémon… with his skills, he would probably have been getting the third one by now—" another chilling thought occurred to him, "so Kyōfu must have been there to make sure he completed his mission…! Which means…"

_She's in the Orange Islands, just like you are,_ finished the voice.

"Even so," he told himself, in an effort to calm down, "there's no way she'd be able to find me way out here on Mikan Island… the only pieces of electronic equipment I had on me when I washed up on the beach were my PokéBalls—" he glanced over at the six tiny capsules, still in the china bowl that Cissy had set down on the floor when he'd woken up. "So—so—" the world seemed to slow down as he stared at the topmost ball, specially marked to indicate that it was Houndoom's PokéBall, and he suddenly remembered.

_When someone signs up to Team Galactic, their prized Pokémon's PokéBall is fitted with a tiny tracking chip to ensure that all operatives can be located at any time in case an immediate extraction is needed… so—_ "That means they've been tracking me with the locator chip in Houndoom's ball!" he shouted, leaping to his feet and sending the covers flying everywhere.

_I'm in danger…_ he thought, creeping into the lounge room, but he froze. _No—Cissy and Senta are in danger, too, because they've been harbouring me here for the past two days. If they've been able to track me through Houndoom, then they'd know for sure that I'd been holed up here at their Gym. I have to get them out as well,_ he resolved, looking left and right for something to point him towards Cissy's room. Finding nothing, he went with the best option available.

"Cissy?" he roared, stamping his foot on the ground to try and generate some more noise – even though he was sure his voice was doing more than enough. "Cissy! Wake up!" he continued, and a few moments later, a small bar of light flickered on from underneath a door to his right, minor scuffling noises sounding from the other side. Mark turned and headed for the door, but he barely made it two steps before it was thrown open.

"What's the big deal, making such a damn racket?" she groaned groggily, her eyes half-screwed shut from her bedroom light, and an altogether sour expression on her face as she stumbled into the lounge room. "Do you have any idea what time it is…?" she whispered, brows furrowing at him.

"Quarter to five," Mark answered in a dead-pan voice, making Cissy fold her arms. "If it makes you feel any better, I haven't gotten _any_ sleep—"

"It doesn't!" she snarled, taking a threatening step forwards. "It'd make me feel better if you hadn't woken me up _at all_! I actually have a life to live during the day, instead of being cooped up in someone else's house – on their good graces, I might add! – before I piss off to some godforsaken corner of the world!"

Mark nodded in understanding, but her statement didn't deter him. "Your day-life is going to have to be put on hold for the time being," he told her, ignoring the death-stare she threw at him. "You're in danger right now… you _and_ your little brother," he added, not at all surprised when Cissy looked at him in confusion.

"You figured that one out _when_, exactly?" she asked angrily, and this time Mark was the one confused. "We've been in danger from the moment we let you into our house! If it was Senta's choice, you'd have been sent to hospital and then shipped back to prison! Don't go telling me we're in danger when I'm fully awa—"

"It's… actually a lot worse than that," Mark interjected, before running back to his makeshift room and scooping up the bowl full of his PokéBalls. Despite her questioning body language, he took Houndoom's ball from atop the others and enlarged it, holding it upside-down in the palm of his hand.

"All members of Team Galactic – past or present – allocate one Pokémon which they deem to be their 'partner Pokémon', the one they'd never willingly be without," he explained. "That Pokémon's PokéBall is then fitted with a computer chip, which allows their progress to be monitored by Team Galactic headquarters, by tracking their location. It's like GPS, only it's more accurate. This—" he jiggled Houndoom's ball a little in his palm, "is the one of my PokéBalls they put the tracking chip in, which means that if anyone from headquarters was looking for me, all they'd have to do is activate the chip and they could find me within fifteen seconds."

"And you just _forgot_ about that important little detail until just this moment?" she shouted, now looking ready to punch him in the nose.

"Well I'm _sorry_ for not remembering until now, when it's not too late to _do_ something about it!" Mark replied sarcastically. "I'm a rogue agent who's done missions regarding _a lot_ of sensitive information, so we should be thankful that something hasn't happened already."

"I don't think that—"

"There's no time to think!" he said loudly, silently lashing himself for raising his voice at her. "This place isn't safe for you any longer, since Kyōfu – the agent I spoke to on the phone earlier – is more than likely going to be the one coming after me."

"How do you know that?" Cissy asked.

"Call it a calculated guess," he muttered, looking away. "If I'm right, she was near Shamouti Island when I made the call, so it won't take her very long to get herself over here to—well, you know…" he broke off and focused his sights back on her. "You need to wake Senta up and get the pair of you somewhere safe, with someone you can trust—"

"I'm already up, no thanks to you," yawned Senta, stumbling into the room from behind them and rubbing his tired eyes. "Sis, why's this dirty moocher making us get up so early?" he whined grouchily.

Mark turned around, feeling a small pang of remorse for the boy, but it quickly disappeared. "Trust me, kid, things are at the stage where you're better to get up now than wait until later and not get up at all," he said, a little grimly.

"Why's he still even in our house?" Senta continued, clearly ignoring Mark's words and appealing to his sister. "He's a criminal, and if he's well enough to be shouting at us in the middle of the night, he's well enough to hit the road!"

"Senta, be quiet and show some respect!" Cissy barked, and Senta reluctantly shut his mouth, but he looked icily at Mark nonetheless.

"Cissy, I mean it when I say that if me running now would help you out, I'd already be out the door by now," he said truthfully, facing her again. "But this woman is a trained assassin, and she'll be coming here to hunt me down, with I-don't-know-how-many others with her as backup. As bad as this might sound, we've only got two things in our favour right now," he added darkly, shrinking Houndoom's ball.

"And… what are those?" she asked, and Mark could see the unease creeping into her.

"One, we know they're coming," he replied. "That's something that she won't expect. Two, you know the island, which is something I'm betting none of them will be able to boast. If we don't use both of those facts to our advantage, then—" he took a breath and looked her square in the eye, "then our chances of surviving are as good as zero."

His words hit home. Cissy gulped, nodding slowly as her mind raced, and she leaned sideways to look at her little brother. "Senta…" she muttered quietly, "we have to leave and head into town right away, you understand?"

"Ye—yeah, sis—!" he stammered, having heard everything Mark had just said, his knees by now shaking uncontrollably.

"Alright, good to know we're on the same page at last," Mark nodded, but Cissy bolted back into her room like a startled rabbit. "Cissy, what are you doing?" he shouted after her, but she reappeared a moment later, her six PokéBalls in hand. "Oh. Good thinking," he smirked, and the two Trainers quickly filled their belts as Senta headed for the door.

"Come on, squirt…!" Cissy grunted, grabbing Senta by the wrist and opening the door, waiting for Mark to run outside before following and slamming it shut behind her.

Together, the trio ran down the long stretch of road that made their driveway, darting past the palm trees that lined it on both sides. The path had been well-worn by many Trainers eager for a fight – and several had been victim to one or more of Senta's childish pranks over the years – but that was far from the thoughts of the two Mikan natives as their feet thudded over the ground.

"Any ideas on where the two of you are heading?" Mark asked, looking over at them; normally, he would have outstripped them easily, but it seemed that his body was far from its peak physical condition at the moment.

"Not yet!" answered Cissy. "Right now, I think the best thing would be to get into the centre of town! If this Kyōfu is going after you, she'll have a harder time in a crowded area, right?"

"You should just worry about yourself and Senta," he told her, shaking his head as they closed in on a wall of trees. "Where to now?"

"This way—" Cissy headed left, towards a short stretch of grass that led onto the rock-strewn beach. "This path follows the eastern coastline all the way onto the end of the main street!" she informed Mark.

"Save the tourist info and keep running!" he shouted back, making out a mass of thunderclouds to his left. _Excellent…!_ he thought. _Those clouds will provide some cover… and they're coming from the west, so Kyōfu is going to have to either go through them or around them! In any case, it should buy us enough time to find a safehouse! _"It's looking like we might have Lady Luck on our side after all!" he laughed, pointing at the black sky over the sea.

Senta looked over at the storm before Cissy did, but something didn't seem right to him, and he squinted at them as they ran through the park. "W-w-w-wait—!" he squealed, pointing a quivering hand at them, "something's wrong! They're moving too fast!"

"How can a storm cloud be moving too fast?" Mark snapped, but Senta was right; in the time it had taken him to turn around, look at Senta, talk, and turn back to the ocean, the clouds had already rushed above them, blotting out every star in the fading night. _What the hell…?_ he wondered, as a bright flash illuminated the landscape.

A white-hot lightning bolt descended from the sky, spearing into the trees to the Cissy's right and blasting a large palm to smithereens. The trio shrank back as a shower of burning woodchips rained down on them from afar, covering their heads with their hands. Mark was the first to recover, looking up at the sky just in time to see a truly terrifying sight; a creature seemingly made of lightning had appeared from within the clouds and was swooping down towards them from above the tree that had just been destroyed.

Two piercing screams next to him quickly told Mark that Senta and Cissy had just spotted the enormous beast themselves, and his eyes darted sideways to see them both frozen to the spot, apparently paralysed out of fear. Uttering the same curse repeatedly under his breath, he took them both by the hand and sprinted in the opposite direction, headed for the beach. He could feel his companions slowly pulling themselves out of their shock, and although he couldn't understand why it was so hard for them to simply run the other way, he powered ahead and tugged them along in his wake.

_We need to get to the beach…!_ he willed himself, almost feeling the creature's monstrous shadow on his back as the sand's edge came within sight. _Almost there…!_ he thought fiercely, but a moment later he skidded to a stop as he saw something unnerving in the water. A large line of ice was heading towards them from the horizon, feeding on the water before it and increasing in speed as it came closer and closer.

Wondering what fresh hell this was, but bargaining that whatever it was, it couldn't be worse than the lightning-beast chasing them from the trees, he took his chances and ran for the beach yet again with Cissy and Senta in tow. His resurgent charge lasted only a few steps, though, because a moment later the cause of the frozen lane became visible to him, and he felt his blood grow cold as the ice streaking towards them.

It was another fearsome creature, and, like the lightning-beast from the thunderclouds, it looked almost exactly like it was made of the ice on which it travelled. The only difference between the two was that Mark knew the name of this one, but the realisation did little to calm his nerves, or his heart as it fell through his stomach.

"Regice…" he whispered. "What the hell—?"

"Don't look so surprised, _partner_," cackled a female voice high above him, and his head craned skyward to see the lightning-beast still hovering behind them, but this time around he saw something else. There was a person riding on the creature's back, snowy white hair tied up in a bun, and a pair of unmistakeable orange eyes narrowing triumphantly as their gazes locked with each other's.

"Kyōfu!" he exclaimed, his hands tightening their grasp on the siblings as he pulled them closer to himself, not for his protection but for theirs. He turned his head to the coast again, and right alongside the legendary Ice-type was another woman, this one with long, wavy black hair and blue, almond-shaped eyes. "And Osore…" he muttered, looking back at Kyōfu on her perch. "Well, you'd better come down from there so we can get this over with!" he roared.

"Oh, but I'd much rather kill you with my brand new Titan of Lightning!" she replied silkily. Senta and Cissy gasped in horror at her words, comprehending their significance, but Mark only registered it as a base insult, shaking his head and letting go of his companions.

"I wasn't talking about you killing me!" he laughed. "That's never going to happen! I was talking about what would happen when I found you!" he sneered, grabbing his crotch and thrusting it in her direction. But before Kyōfu had time to even formulate a reply to scream at him, Cissy pointed a finger up at her and launched into such a foul-mouthed tirade that even Mark did a double-take; he'd never heard a woman ever use that kind of language.

"Remind me again where I invited you into the conversation, you minno bitch!" Kyōfu screeched, baring her teeth at Cissy.

"Calm down, Cissy," Mark warned, clapping a hand over her mouth to stop any more words escaping it. "I'm pretty sure we've just passed the point where words are going to help our situation." With that, he snatched his six PokéBalls from their clasps and hurled them onto the ground just in front of him, unable to help a small smile as he saw the familiar figures of Houndoom, Rhyperior, Staraptor, Walrein, Machoke and Parasect, all perfectly healthy from their troubles on Ayers Island and at sea.

"You're intending to fight her?" Cissy asked incredulously, pushing his hand away. "Are you insane? She's got Zapdos on her side, and not just _any_ Zapdos; _THE_ Zapdos! Not to mention the other one on the water with the Regice!"

"Osore and her Regice are all yours," Mark smirked. "I'm trusting you to handle her; she's not as tough as Kyōfu."

"Oh, so now you think you're tougher than I am?" she hissed, moving her face just in front of his. "I'm a Gym Leader, if you happened to forget!"

"You specialise in Water-types, so I would think you'd be better at battling at sea," he reminded her. "We're about to battle for our survival right here, since Kyōfu looks pretty intent on wiping us off the planet, so we should play to our strengths," he added, and Cissy nodded grimly as she moved to stand behind him, their backs facing each other.

"Senta, get between us!" she barked, and Senta, in spite of the dark patch slowly spreading over his pyjamas, bravely moved between the two adults. "You heard Mark, so let's make some waves, my Pokémon!" she shouted, throwing five PokéBalls onto the landward side of the beach.

A Blastoise, Poliwrath and Crawdaunt burst out of the first three balls with bright flashes of white light, growling fiercely as they faced Osore. The fourth of Cissy's Pokémon resembled a large blue platypus, with a set of three-clawed, webbed arms and feet, and a large, powerful tail that thumped against the ground behind it. A large red gemstone adorned its forehead, glinting in the occasional lightning bolts that arced through the clouds, and its hooked bill opened for a snarl as it spotted Regice.

Cissy's fifth PokéBall split open to reveal a stocky green Pokémon that seemed to be wearing a giant, festive sombrero, a shaggy yellow coat striped with brown covering most of the rest of its body like a poncho. In fact, the only parts not covered by the hat-like growth or the coat were its face – which, like Golduck, was characterised by a large bill – and its extremities.

"_Ludi ludi…!_" clapped the Pokémon, but despite its species' affinity for dance, this Ludicolo was currently focused on battling the foe at hand.

"And the sea for number six…!" Cissy muttered, throwing her last PokéBall further than the others, and it released a large seahorse of a Pokémon into the ocean, a pair of branch-like horns adorning its head, and a wavy protrusion extending from its tubular mouth past each eye.

"You want all these Pokémon to see your execution so badly?" Kyōfu taunted, raising an eyebrow at their defiant behaviour. "Why do they never just give up and let themselves be killed?" she muttered sadistically, tossing five PokéBalls of her own onto the grass in front of Mark.

Five bursts of white later, and a fierce collection of Pokémon were lined up against Mark's half dozen, the first of which was a Scyther that tested its knifelike blades against the air in front of it, staring intently at Parasect. Alongside it was a large, nine-tailed fox with cream-coloured fur, its red eyes glinting maliciously in the dark while a Seviper flicked its forked tongue in and out from between its fangs.

Kyōfu's next Pokémon hovered above the ground, its head half-covered by a large hat-like feature not unlike Cissy's Ludicolo, although this one was purple and shaped like a witch's hat. A line of red stones studded its neck, and a mass of frilly purple fronds swayed gently in the breeze as a small, masked Pokémon with bouquets instead of arms jumped down onto the ground next to it, its long green cape fluttering behind its body.

"Look at that, there's five more Pokémon to watch you die!" Kyōfu laughed, before looking past them to her partner on the water. "Hey, Osore, send your others out as well! Don't let them miss out!" she shouted, an evil grin plastered on her face.

"Right you are!" Osore replied, and a gargantuan pool of light erupted from one of her PokéBalls, eventually giving shape to a ferocious Gyarados. Her other four balls were hurled onto the beach, a callous-looking Gengar and Weezing facing Cissy's Pokémon as their two teammates appeared on the scene. The one alongside Gengar looked like a giant beach ball with eyes and a mouth, the top half white and the lower red; the other resembled a cross between a large wolf and an even larger hyena, its fang-filled maw roaring and sending flecks of spit everywhere.

"I just realised…" said Mark, looking at the fearsome array of Pokémon gathered together in readiness for battle, "I never really thanked you for taking me in and healing my Pokémon, Cissy."

"Why the hell are you bringing that up _now_, of all times?" she hissed furiously, their backs still to each other.

"Not really sure," he sniggered. "But if we all make it out the other end of what's about to happen, I'll definitely thank you for it," he added, before turning his attention to Kyōfu. "Hey, Kyōfu, tell you what! You stop trying to kill me right now, you surrender peacefully… and I won't sleep with you. But you _will_ have to blow me!" he shouted, his lip curling.

"You asshole…!" Kyōfu growled between gritted teeth. "_Obliterate them all!_" she shrieked to her Pokémon.

"Rhyperior, knock that bitch off Zapdos with Rock Blast!" Mark roared, and Rhyperior aimed its massive palm towards the Electric-type, launching a small boulder into the air from the depths of its arm-cavity. Zapdos screeched as it surrounded itself with a veil of yellow light, and a split second later it shot a Thunderbolt at the attack, shredding it into a million tiny fragments that fell towards the ground. The pieces didn't even hit the ground, as they were swept away by the rest of Kyōfu's Pokémon as they stampeded towards Mark's, Osore's beach-locked Pokémon did the same to Cissy's, and pandemonium began.

Kyōfu's Ninetales leapt towards Parasect with its mouth aflame, spewing a torrent of fire towards the Mushroom Pokémon, but the attack was cut short by Walrein, who jumped in the way and met the blast with its Water Gun. The two attacks collided in a frenzy of steam, but none of the three Pokémon were harmed. Following an order from its Trainer, Parasect itself scuttled out from behind Walrein, a pair of glowing green tendrils racing through the air and wrapping themselves around Mismagius, and the Ghost-type cried out in pain as the Giga Drain began to steal its life force.

"_Saaaaai!_" was the cry of another Pokémon as it sped past the vines with a sharp flash of white, and the vines simply gave away in the middle, crashing uselessly onto the ground and dissolving into tiny particles of light. Scyther, the Pokémon responsible for the attack, landed lightly on its feet and spun around like a blur, but Houndoom was quicker, liberally spraying the mantis with its searing Flamethrower attack.

As Scyther sliced through the flames with its blades and threw itself at Houndoom, Senta snatched up a rock from the ground and, checking to make sure he wasn't in immediate danger of being struck by a stray attack, ran out from behind Mark and hurled the stone with all his might at Kyōfu to knock her to the ground. Unfortunately for the youngster, his throw fell well short, bouncing harmlessly off Zapdos' belly, although the legendary Pokémon took no more notice of that than it did of Osore's Gyarados as it fired a brilliantly bright orange beam towards the cluster of Pokémon below.

Cissy, however, took much more notice of Gyarados' Hyper Beam, for it was headed straight for Senta, and she turned to her Golduck. "Golduck, protect Senta!" she cried, and the Water-type sprang into action at once, tackling the boy to the ground just as the attack rushed past. The destructive blast sheared between Mark's Machoke and Kyōfu's Seviper, exploding against the trees and setting them aflame, but the two Pokémon who had so nearly been hit were unfazed, charging at each other a moment later.

Seviper's jaws opened wide as it made to impale its foe on its enormous fangs, but Machoke's superhuman strength was more than a match, its sturdy hands grabbing at the snake's mouth and holding it open, the latter's fangs dripping poison mere inches from the Fighting-type's face. Parasect quickly pounced on the occupied Seviper, slashing it across the midsection with its razor-sharp claws, and the end of Seviper's tail fell twitching onto the ground, causing the Fang Snake Pokémon to screech in agony as it desperately tried to bite the foe in front of it.

"_Weezing weeh…_" moaned Osore's Weezing, hovering above the scene and sending a Flamethrower of its own towards Parasect, who was caught completely unawares.

"Rhyperior, guard!" shouted Mark, spotting the flames in Weezing's mouth before it fired the attack, and the Ground-type's great arm swung low around its parasitic partner, taking the full force of Weezing's blast.

"Douse that Weezing with Hydro Pump, Blastoise!" Cissy ordered, spotting the exchange in-between struggles of her own. Blastoise dutifully spun around, cannons at the ready, and it sent a thick jet of water catapulting through the night. Unfortunately for Weezing, there was no loyal teammate to deflect the attack in its place, and the Poison-type was knocked out in an instant by the high-pressure blast, even before the attack threw it far and wide over the grassy path.

Blastoise's opponent before the order had been Gengar, and it used the distraction to full advantage, silently slipping out of sight and teleporting a foot behind Mark. Senta cried out in alarm, but the Ghost-type swiped at him with a spectral claw, knocking him onto the ground before turning back to its true target with a ball of darkness forming between its hands.

Mark spun around as he heard Senta fall, and Gengar raised its Shadow Ball high, but a crimson claw appeared directly behind its head, and Mark ducked for the ground with his hands covering his head. A second later, he felt the Gas Pokémon being launched over his body, and he turned his head upwards to see a column of black rings spewing forth from Crawdaunt's extended claw, the Dark-type having been ordered only a few moments earlier by Cissy to defend him with a Dark Pulse.

"Thank you," he panted, regaining his breath as he got to his feet, and he looked towards Gengar only to see it sprawled unconscious over the ground. "Thank you _a lot_," he corrected himself.

His thanks were short-lived, though, as the Rogue Pokémon suddenly pushed him backwards with a nudge of its claw, knocking him onto the grass again. From his ungracious seat, Mark watched as Crawdaunt was engulfed by a cloud of green leaves, each one swirling about and slashing its hardened shell until the Pokémon collapsed in front of him with exhaustion. Dumbfounded, his head snapped sideways to see Kyōfu's Roserade standing in a pose that clearly meant it had thrown a Leaf Storm at Crawdaunt, but it was forced to roll swiftly out of the way when a green ball of light almost split it in two.

"Almost, Kingdra!" Cissy yelled, giving a thumbs-up to her Dragon Pokémon in the water.

"_Duu du-duu!_" replied Kingdra, setting its sights back on combating Regice.

"Ice Beam," Osore snarled, voice as cold as the Pokémon being commanded, and a ball of neon-blue light appeared in front of Regice's body. Kingdra's eyes widened in surprise at the attack, and they stayed that way, for the Ice Beam completely froze its body and most of the surrounding seascape, a huge sheet of ice now stretching from Osore to halfway towards the horizon.

"Good work, Regice," said Osore, looking towards the beach. "Kyōfu can strike with her Zapdos, but we can still make it a spare…!" she giggled malevolently, motioning towards her Iceberg Pokémon.

On land, Zapdos swooped low over the field, trying to pluck Mark off the ground with its strong pair of talons, but Cissy's Blastoise put a stop to its charge with a beam of molten silver light that threatened to cripple one of its wings. Forced to pull up and retreat to the safety of the air, the outraged Electric Pokémon built a charge of electricity around its body, aglow with yellow light as it readied a Thunderbolt against the insolent Water-type.

"Rhyperior, horn time!" Mark shouted to his Drill Pokémon, spotting the Titan's attack as he dodged a searing Flamethrower from Ninetales. Rhyperior nodded dutifully, growling as its larger horn began to spin like a drill on its head, and Zapdos sent its Thunderbolt spearing down towards Blastoise. The jagged blast was, however, drawn towards Rhyperior's horn, acting like a lightning rod as it effortlessly grounded the otherwise dangerous attack.

"Hydro Pump on Scyther!" Cissy shouted at Blastoise, taking note of the Mantis Pokémon as it leapt murderously towards Mark's Parasect with both arms spread wide and glowing, preparing an X-Scissor that would more than likely cut the Grass-type in half. Blastoise made full use of the cover Rhyperior had provided it, ducking its head and throwing a full salvo of water at Scyther. Unlike Osore's Weezing before it, the Bug-type wasn't knocked out by the blast, but the attack came close, driving all the breath out of its body as it was knocked towards the treeline.

"I appreciate the backup, Cissy!" Mark roared merrily, a grin lighting up his face.

"Likewise, Mark!" Cissy yelled back, her hair whipping about from the force of the attacks flying in every direction. "How's Senta?" she asked.

"I'm fine, sis!" shouted Senta, having gotten back up after his encounter with Gengar, although he was sporting a nasty bruise across his cheek as a result.

"Stay alongside me, Senta!" she told him, unable to look back in his direction at the risk of letting a foe land a critical blow on one of her Pokémon. Understanding the situation, Senta jogged up to her sister and stood right behind her, watching from under her arm as the battle continued to rage on.

"What's that Pokémon doing, sis?" he asked, pointing at Osore's Regice as it created a long plane of ice that stretched up the beachside. "It looks like a ramp!" he observed, and a moment later, his question was answered, because Osore's Electrode moved onto the icy ramp and began to roll rapidly towards them, its body glowing a blinding white. "It's gonna explode!" he shouted, cowering behind Cissy.

"No it won't, you little squirt," Cissy soothed, putting an arm around his head and turning towards Golduck. "Golduck, grab that idiot ball and hold it fast!" she ordered, and her Duck Pokémon jumped between its Trainer and its foe, putting its webbed hands in front of its head as the red gemstone between them lit up.

"_Golduuu!_" quacked Golduck, snaring Electrode within the iron-fisted grasp of its Psychic. Caught by surprise, the Electric-type struggled against the binding power of its foe's attack, but it stopped as it suddenly realised that its impeding self-destruction had been mysteriously halted, its blinding power being held back by an unknown force completely independent of Golduck's telekinetic abilities.

"Bet you're wondering why you're not about to go _kaboom_ on us, eh?" Cissy taunted, her face lit by the light emanating from Electrode's body. "Thanks to Golduck's special ability, Damp, no Pokémon within a good distance of us is blowing up in our faces anytime soon. Say hi to your Trainer for me!" she added, nodding at Golduck, and the latter sent Electrode flying through the air with little more than a flick of its wrist, careening towards Osore on the icy seaward expanse.

"Shit!" squealed Osore, as her own Pokémon made an involuntary beeline straight for her, its body expanding outwards with light as Golduck's Psychic evaporated. "Gyarados, put Electrode out of commission with Hyper Beam!" she ordered reluctantly, and her snarling Atrocious Pokémon readily obliged, spewing a thick torrent of orange light down onto its unfortunate teammate.

A colossal explosion racked the coast as the Hyper Beam made contact, the shockwave grinding at the ice with a terrible howl as cracks spidered everywhere over its surface, and the heat that followed melted a considerable portion of the frozen sea shortly after. Forced to waste valuable time ordering Regice to heal the damage, and recalling her unconscious Electrode before it forever sank below the ocean's surface, Osore held herself back from storming ashore as she locked Cissy into her sights, eyes smouldering like coals.

"I'll get you for that, you cocky bitch!" she shouted furiously, as bright flashes erupting behind the Gym Leader began to narrate the other half of the battle.

"I've gotta get Kyōfu off that goddamn Zapdos!" Mark hissed to himself, ducking away as a sizzling ball of green energy flew overhead. "Staraptor, Quick Attack!" he called out, his faithful Flying-type untangling itself from a scuffle with Kyōfu's Mismagius and taking to the sky at once, effortlessly weaving this way and that through the chilly air. Climbing even higher, Staraptor put on an extra burst of speed, streamers of white light trailing behind the extremities of its wings, and the Predator Pokémon spun like a tornado as it homed in on the Galactic assassin.

Suddenly, a pillar of red light exploded upwards from the ground, exploding against Staraptor's feathers and sending its charred body plummeting towards the ground, pulled ever faster by gravity's clutches. Mismagius gave a ghostly giggle as it watched its foe fall, having caught it from below with a Power Gem that was sure to teach the hapless bird not to abandon its battles so quickly.

With a dull thud, the Flying-type collided with the ground and sent up a shower of dust, the cloud falling over Machoke and Seviper as they continued their battle, but the tussle was soon over, as the serpent's tail, despite being halved in length by Parasect, had been wrapped around the Superpower Pokémon's chest, squeezing all the air out of the latter's lungs. Unable to breathe, Machoke quickly collapsed alongside its avian teammate, the Fang Snake Pokémon whispering a delighted hiss as it uncoiled itself and gave chase to its next opponent, the same troublesome Pokémon that had cost most of its tail.

"Poliwrath, send Mightyena to the dark deep with Focus Punch!" shrieked Cissy, and her bulky Tadpole Pokémon growled eagerly as it charged towards Mightyena, a fist raised high and brilliantly aglow with white light.

"_Munenenehaaa…_" snickered Mismagius, appearing in front of Poliwrath and striking it across the brow with a jagged ball of black light. The Confuse Ray attack immediately ingrained itself into the Water-type's subconscious, causing it to break its run and instead hurl itself towards its supposed enemy in Ludicolo. The Carefree Pokémon was suddenly set upon by a flurry of fists from Poliwrath, and a dismayed Cissy shouted desperately for the latter to snap out of its trance.

Hearing the commotion and gazing over his shoulder, Mark cursed under his breath as he saw Cissy's Pokémon battering its friend. "Parasect, show Poliwrath some love with your Aromatherapy!" he ordered, before realising that the Mushroom Pokémon would be left completely open to attack. "Rhyperior! Gonna need you to cover Parasect while it gives us all a bit of relief!" he roared at the enormous Ground-type, who nodded its craggy head and leapt to Parasect's defence, throwing its arms wide and protecting the bug from harm.

"_Sekku-sect!_" clicked Parasect, a green aura pulsating around its dome-shaped carapace, and the gentle light swept across the grassy path and onto the beach, a cloud of sparkling green settling over each of Mark's and Cissy's Pokémon. Within moments, Poliwrath returned to its original mindset, hurriedly pulling its fists away from its bruised fellow, and it muttered an apology to Ludicolo before turning towards Mismagius and bearing down on it with a vengeance.

A bright bolt of blue light flew over Poliwrath's head, missing the Water-type by inches as it carried through the air and smashed against Rhyperior's armoured hide. Across the beach on the icy platform, Osore punched the air triumphantly as she saw her Regice's attack land a direct hit, its Ice Beam almost completely freezing the Drill Pokémon save for its head and the spiked elbow of one arm.

"Now, Gyarados; Hyper Beam!" she howled, but her Pokémon's howl was deafeningly louder as an enormous ball of orange energy bloomed into life before its gaping mouth. One bright flash later, and the Hyper Beam exploded forwards, streaking over the landscape with tremendous power. Most of the Pokémon duelling against each other on the beachside were forced to duck for cover, but Rhyperior, despite being unable to block or evade the devastating attack, wasn't even troubled; instead, the attack slipped past its outstretched arm and cannoned into the Pokémon it was supposed to be guarding.

The force of the ensuing explosion was so intense that the very ground on which Parasect was standing threatened to split open to the chasms below, and Kyōfu was forced to cling on for dear life to Zapdos' needle-like feathers as the wind behind the blast tore at her stronger than any gale. The bright light given off by the blast had everyone – man, woman and Pokémon – in the area covering their eyes, and when the coast finally slipped into night once more, it seemed as though Mark's Parasect had been completely annihilated by the sheer destruction of Gyarados' attack. Mercifully, however, Mark saw his Mushroom Pokémon's battered figure lying unconscious behind Rhyperior's icy prison, its body so charred that it had been camouflaged with the rest of the impact zone, blackened by the explosion.

Kyōfu's shrunken Seviper, with its newest foe now ruthlessly cut down by one of its allies, turned its attention to the other party responsible for slicing off its tail, and it sprang towards Mark with its venomous fangs glinting in the sparse light. By the time Mark had even realised that the Poison-type was headed his way, it was far too late; like a vice, Seviper's jaws clamped shut around the man's right leg like an iron vice, its left fang piercing the fabric of his pants and sinking through his flesh.

Mark howled in agony as he felt the foot-long fang drive itself through his leg, snapping through veins and nerves before jarring against his shinbone. He fell onto one knee almost instantly, the feeling quickly leaving his leg as the horrifying pain of the serpent's venom pumped into it, and he brought his fist crashing into Seviper's face.

"Let! Go! You! Bastard!" he screamed, delivering another brutal punch with every word, but nothing deterred the crazed Pokémon, until a huge object seemed to fall from the sky and pulverise what little body Seviper had left. Its breath disappearing, the Poison-type relinquished its hold on Mark and tore itself away, leaving its crimson fang still embedded in his lower leg, but it was delivered a sickening headbutt to the face by Walrein, who had crushed it under the incredible weight of its Body Slam.

"Senta!" Mark shouted, and the little boy came running from Cissy's side at once, anxious to know the reason for his being called. "Get this thing… out of me!" he growled between his teeth, the poison beginning to seep up towards his knee. Senta's eyes widened in shock as he saw the fang sticking out of his leg, but he asked no questions and grabbed the sides with both hands, giving it an almighty tug that, apart from causing Mark to roar in pain, managed to dislodge the venomous spike.

"Good work, kid," he panted, ripping off the sleeve of his jacket and fashioning it into a single strip of cloth which he tied tightly around his thigh. "Staraptor—!" he yelled, "get Rhyperior out of that cold box with Heat Wave!"

"_Staraaaaa!_" trilled the Predator Pokémon, wheeling around in the air and furiously flapping its wings in Rhyperior's direction. Its feathers glowing molten yellow, each flap sent a wave of flames cascading over the layers of ice trapping the Ground-type, and the frost quickly melted away into a large puddle at Rhyperior's feet. The Drill Pokémon gave a healthy roar as it enjoyed its regained freedom, and Staraptor returned the cry with one of its own, but it was cut short as a pair of razor-sharp blades slashed across its back.

Its prey falling limply onto the ground, unconscious thanks to its twin Slash attack, Scyther spun around on its feet and, with a flick of its wings, launched itself at Mark with cold murder written all over its sharp-featured face. As the mantis threw its arms wide, blades shining sickly purple in preparation for a fatal Night Slash, the air behind it suddenly exploded with a pale blue glow, and it turned in mid-air only to see a wall of stone shatter against its body and turn the world black.

"Thanks for the backup, Rhyperior…!" Mark winced, Rhyperior lowering a smoking palm-hole as it lumbered after Kyōfu's Ninetales, the latter doing quite a job of holding off against Cissy's Blastoise one-on-one. A moment later, though, a large blue shape crashed against the Rock-type's arm and fell to the ground; Poliwrath had just been knocked out cold by a devastating Shadow Ball from Mightyena, which then jumped in between Rhyperior and Ninetales as though demanding a fight with the much larger foe.

Looking around at the remaining battles and the Pokémon involved, Mark felt his heart sinking little by little. Between himself and Cissy, they had six Pokémon left; Rhyperior, Houndoom, Walrein, Blastoise, Ludicolo and Golduck, all of which had been fighting tooth-and-nail against their opponents, and none of which was still fighting at full strength. Kyōfu and Osore, on the other hand, had seven, including a Zapdos and Regice that had been untouched since the chaos began. As defiant as he remained, the logical side of Mark couldn't help but see that his side of the battle was fast running out of usable Pokémon with which to hold back the enemy and overturn the odds.

Kyōfu seemed to come to the same realisation almost simultaneously, for she smacked a hand down against Zapdos' back, a smile of victory on her face. "It's time we enter the fray _for real_, and clean this mess up once and for all," she told the legendary Pokémon, who screeched and dove towards the ground.

"_Blaaaaas—tooooooooooise!_" roared Blastoise, a colossal ball of spinning water exploding out from its shoulder cannons, and the attack crashed into Ninetales with overwhelming force, driving it backwards and knocking it down onto the beach. Falling backwards, the Fire-type's head cracked against one of the stones dotting the landscape, and it blacked out immediately, leaving the Shellfish Pokémon with a plucky win thanks to its Hydro Cannon. A split second later, the Water-type saw its wide shadow shoot out over the sand before it, but it was too slow to turn around and face Kyōfu's Roserade as the latter blasted the air with a sweeping SolarBeam that raced towards the bulky Pokémon.

"Ludicolo, block it!" cried Cissy, pointing towards her helpless Blastoise, and Ludicolo bravely leapt in the way of the dangerous attack, thrown backwards by its raw power as the beam of light collided with its stomach. The Carefree Pokémon crashed into Blastoise's solid shell, but its injury was compounded when a giant spear of bone descended from the heavens and ran itself through Ludicolo's torso.

"Ludicolo, _no_!" Cissy shrieked, clapping her hands over her mouth in shock, and Zapdos stopped its Drill Peck attack and pulled its beak from the incapacitated Grass-type's body, somewhat disappointed that the blow hadn't reached its intended target.

"Don't fret," said Kyōfu, watching with sick glee as Ludicolo slid to the ground, a thin line of bluish blood trailing down Blastoise's terracotta-coloured shell. "You got one of the little shits, at least. Now, go grab the dickwad who was dumb enough to run from us in the first place!" she ordered, and the Titan of Lightning swung around, eyes burning hollowly through the night as they focused on Mark.

"Shit…!" Mark exclaimed, but Zapdos was already halfway towards him, its hellish talons extended to full length as they reached for him. He braced himself to leap sideways at the last moment, and somehow, out of divine intervention, sheer luck, exhaustion, or a combination of the three, his right leg gave out and sent him falling sideways onto the debris-littered grass. He felt a red-hot knife of pain slice across his cheek, and he could taste the blood trickling down into his mouth from the cut, but he counted his blessings that the legendary Pokémon had only grazed his face instead of taking off his head in one fell swoop.

"Rhyperior, get Kyōfu out of my face for a few moments with your Rock Climb technique!" he shouted thickly, spitting a wad of blood onto the ground.

"_Rhaaaaai!_" snarled Rhyperior, the cube-like fingers on its hands suddenly extending to claws the size of swords, and the ground trembled as mighty spires erupted from beneath the surface. With a gargantuan leap that defied its size, the Drill Pokémon chased after the retreating Zapdos, hopping from one stony platform to the next and slashing viciously with its new claws at the foe, but the strikes were no match for the Electric Pokémon's superior speed, and the latter simply swung away, leaving its Rock-type foe to fall back down to earth with an earth-shattering thud.

"Thunderbolt on the turtle, _now_!" yelled Kyōfu, and Zapdos spun around high in the sky, its body a shimmering veil of yellow light.

"Lightningrod, Rhyperior!" Mark cried desperately, Senta helping him gingerly to his feet as he tested weight on his stricken leg. As before, Rhyperior's main horn spun fiercely in its place just as Zapdos sent its jagged bolt of lightning spearing over the grassy battlefield towards Blastoise, and once again the electric missile was drawn towards it. "Now send it out to sea!" he shouted, and Rhyperior turned its great head towards the ocean, its drilling horn crackling with electricity.

"_RHAAI!_" it howled, blasting every last shred of Zapdos' lethal Thunderbolt over the icy coastline in a wide arc. This new thunderbolt careened towards Osore's Gyarados, and Osore, struck completely dumb by the order, could do nothing except let her jaw fall open in blank shock as her Water-type was subjected to a horrific electrocution. Hundreds of thousands of volts tore through the Atrocious Pokémon's body, sizzling it from the inside-out, and when the attack finally dispersed into the water, Gyarados soon followed, falling into the ocean with a huge splash.

Mark gave a triumphant nod of the head as he watched the scene unfold, and Cissy used the distraction to launch an attack of her own. "Golduck, Fury Swipes!" she barked, and her Duck Pokémon pounced upon Kyōfu's Roserade in a heartbeat, raking its delicate body with slash after slash of its sharpened claws, and the Water-type continued the brutal assault until its foe succumbed to its injuries and went limp on the ground.

"Looks like we've finally got the advantage!" Mark laughed fiercely. Osore's Mightyena, as if offended by the notion, galloped towards his Rhyperior and showered its face with a punishing spray of its Dark Pulse, catching the Drill Pokémon by surprise and knocking it flat on its back. Snarling, the Dark-type turned and bared its terrible fangs at Mark, intending to tear him apart on them, but Cissy had other ideas.

"Aqua Jet!" she shrieked, and out of nowhere, her Blastoise pummelled Mightyena with its rock-hard shell at full speed, surrounded by a cocoon of water that did nothing to dampen the force of the blow. The Aqua Jet pushed the Bite Pokémon all the way to the edge of the icy plain that Regice had made over the ocean, and Blastoise stopped its attack just in time to see its foe sliding unconscious over the ice, coming to rest a few feet in front of its incensed Trainer.

"Too bad that attack left you all exposed!" Osore hissed. "Regice, Ice Beam!" she ordered.

"_Iyyyuuh…_" moaned the Iceberg Pokémon, a ball of cyan light already formed between its outstretched hands, and a spiralling beam of frost rocketed towards Blastoise, encasing it from head to toe in an unbreakable prison of ice.

"Damnit…" Cissy grunted, watching as her Pokémon was frozen solid. "Can you handle things with Kyōfu, Mark?" she shouted over her shoulder.

"It's under control…!" Mark yelled back, his Rhyperior's arm dropping down to stop one of Mismagius' Psybeam attacks from catapulting him into the afterlife. "Go do what you have to do with Osore! I'm counting on you!" he added, turning his head to grin at her, and she briefly smiled back before motioning to Golduck and running towards the beach. "Rhyperior, Stone Edge, on the double!" he commanded, and two rings of blue light began to orbit around his Rock-type's torso before splitting into sharp rocks.

With a roar, Rhyperior threw its arm forward and launched the volley of stones towards Mismagius, but the Ghost-type teleported sideways with ease, the Stone Edge sailing harmlessly past and slicing down several palm trees. Mismagius' eyes twinkled mischievously as it taunted Rhyperior's poor aim, but the next moment a set of enormous teeth, dripping with saliva, reared up in the Magical Pokémon's vision and clamped down, turning its world black.

"_Gerghooo!_" came Houndoom's muffled howl, landing lightly on the ground and shaking Mismagius' limp body about like a rag doll, a sign of victory for the Dark Pokémon before dropping its foe onto the grass. "_Gaaaaaoooooooo—"_

"Oh, just shut _up_ already…" hissed Kyōfu, her teeth drawn in a vicious snarl as the Fire-type's howl was silenced. Houndoom collapsed onto the ground, cut almost completely in half by Zapdos' Drill Peck, a pool of blood seeping out from the canine's side and washing onto Mismagius as the former lay unseeing, its now-visible spine the only thing holding its lame body together.

"_NOOO_!" roared Mark, his face a portrait of horror as he watched his first, his favourite, his fallen Pokémon's blood spilling from its horrendous wounds.

"I never liked that stupid mutt much, anyways," Kyōfu sneered, spitting on the grass next to Houndoom's face.

_No… not Houndoom… please, no…_

"You goddamned bitch…" Mark whispered, his body trembling, and Senta quickly slid out from supporting his right side, backing away as far as he dared. "You're gonna pay… _**I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!**_" he screamed, jumping onto Rhyperior's back despite the pain and grief wracking his body. "Walrein, Ice Beam!" he roared. "Rhyperior, Stone Edge! Don't stop attacking until that whore has been chopped into little pieces!"

"_Just try me, asshole_!" Kyōfu shrieked back, as Zapdos rose high into the air and blasted the ground around them with arcs of lightning. "_Bring it_!"

* * *

Down on the beach, Cissy and Golduck stood side-by-side on the rolling sand while, across from them, Osore and her Regice did the same on the frozen sheet covering the ocean. Both sides were down to their final Pokémon, and neither was prepared to lose, not after coming as far as they had, not when their partners were still battling just as fiercely further inland.

"You ready for this?" Cissy asked Golduck softly, and Golduck replied with a vehement growl that was clearly meant to be a 'yes'. "Okay then… use Psywave to free Blastoise from the ice surrounding him," she instructed.

"_Gol-duuu!_" grunted the Duck Pokémon, its red gem already glowing purple as it bounded over the sand towards its teammate, and the Water-type sent wave after wave of psychic energy pulsating into the crystal tomb around Blastoise, trying to find the frequency that would shatter the ice.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Osore shouted across the ice. "Regice, blast that Golduck into the Stone Age with your Zap Cannon!" she ordered. The legendary Pokémon swung into action immediately, a huge orb of black and yellow energy spiralling around itself in front of Regice's crystalline hands. With a low hum it sent the attack shooting towards Golduck at incredible speed, and the latter was so intently focused on the task its Trainer had set it, it wouldn't have been able to stop the attack even if it had the time to.

And so it was good fortune that the ice around Blastoise shattered in a haze of white dust, the Shellfish Pokémon expertly aiming its cannon and firing a short burst of water in the path of the oncoming attack. Regice's Zap Cannon collided with Blastoise's tiny attack and veered off-course, still only avoiding Golduck by a matter of inches and burying itself into the dunes between Cissy and her Pokémon.

Amidst the plume of dust that shot into the air upon impact, the Mikan Gym Leader raced over to stand behind her two Pokémon, now shoulder-to-shoulder as they faced their foe, whose face was contorted in anger and frustration. From being so close to winning the battle, Osore was now up against two powerful Water-type Pokémon, but she still had the advantage of a legendary Pokémon on her side, and she knew it.

"I was hoping to avoid this…" she muttered under her breath, pulling her clothes a little tighter around her body, "but if it can't be helped… Regice, swamp the entire beach with your Blizzard attack!"

"_Iyuuuuuuuuuuuuuh…!_" chanted Regice, a deathly blast of air rushing forwards from its hands. The frozen gale swept across the ice, sending pyres of frost shearing high into the air, and the entire beach quickly disappeared under a translucent blanket of crystal. Cissy braced herself as best she could in her unsuitable clothes, but the blizzard began to overcome her as, just in front, Golduck fell victim to the full power of the attack, pitching forwards onto the ground and becoming encased in ice.

Blastoise, too, felt the sting of Regice's arctic gale; he had been frozen from the neck down by his foe's Blizzard, but with an almighty roar he dramatically broke free of the binding ice, sending powdered crystal blowing about in the wind with a timely Rapid Spin.

"G-g-good work… Blas-s-s-s-stoise," said Cissy through chattering teeth, her arms glued to her sides by a sheet of ice. The Shellfish Pokémon turned around and growled in alarm at his Trainer's condition, but she shook her head to reassure the Water-type that she was alright. "Jus-s-st… focus on Regic-c-c-ce…!" she ordered, and Blastoise reluctantly turned back to face the Iceberg Pokémon.

"Just give up!" Osore yelled, shaking a web of frost from her long hair. "Let us kill Mark quickly, and I'll consider not turning you into a frozen bitch-sicle!"

"Like th-that's gonna—happen!" Cissy roared defiantly, stamping a foot down on the ice below her and cracking it. "A piss-weak wide-area attack like Blizzard isn't—p-p-powerful enough to knock me or Blastoise out! You're gonna have to do b-better than that!" she challenged, forcing a sneer onto her lips. "Get ready…" she muttered to Blastoise, out of the corner of her mouth, as Osore's expression grew wild with rage.

"Well, since you wanna join Mark in the grave so badly, I might as well grant your wish!" she screamed.

"Get in front of me…" Cissy whispered, and Blastoise gave a shallow nod as he took a sideways step, shielding his Trainer with his broad shell.

"Now you're hiding behind that ugly blue turtle?" exclaimed Osore, snorting in disgust. "Fine! Regice, bury her Blastoise with the strongest Ice Beam you've got!" she ordered, throwing her arm forwards, and the legendary Pokémon beside her mirrored the movement, a ball of pale blue gathering between its icy fingers. A moment later, Regice sent the deadly spike of light flying over the frozen ocean, crackling with energy as the icy ground reflected the glow and illuminated the coast for miles.

_Game over,_ Cissy thought with a grin, as the light shone out from behind her Pokémon's shell and filled her pale face. "Mirror Coat!" she screamed.

"_Blaaaaastoise!_" thundered Blastoise, wrapping its body in a veil of swirling, molten silver energy, and Regice's Ice Beam smashed into it with a deafening boom, shredding the nearby ice into millions of tiny pieces.

Cissy shrank back and turned her head away as the flare of light blinded her, and Blastoise dug its feet into the hardened sand as the attack threatened to break through, but with a gargantuan effort the Shellfish Pokémon launched its body against the blast. All at once, the jagged bolt of blue buckled against the Mirror Coat, and every ounce of terrifying energy was sent rocketing back towards its creator in a wave of white destruction. The rebounded attack smashed into the side of Regice's body, hitting just wide of its numerous yellow 'eyes', and the Ice-type was spun sideways by its unstoppable power, toppling backwards towards the ice as it lost consciousness.

Osore could only stare in utter shock as Blastoise threw her Pokémon's attack back upon it, disbelieving that such a thing could be done by any foe, let alone one battered and worn down in battle. She was so incredibly dumbfounded by the horrific change of fortune, she didn't even realise that Regice was falling towards her, but it was too late; with a loud crack, the immense weight of the Iceberg Pokémon flattened its Trainer's torso against the frigid ice.

Her lungs crushed, Osore gasped desperately for breath as her hands scrabbled over the slippery surface of Regice's body, yet to no avail. Within moments, her life was stopped, the lack of oxygen combined with the overwhelming cold sapping the little remaining strength she had after the fall. Her head resting sideways on the ice, her blue eyes stared unseeingly at the endless expanse of seamless white.

On the mainland, Blastoise shattered the ice surrounding its Trainer with a tired blow of its fist, and the pair collapsed on the frost-covered beach a moment later, completely exhausted. "You did great, Blastoise…" Cissy sighed, blowing out a deep breath of relief.

"Sis! Sis!" shouted Senta, running up and throwing his arms around her. "You're okay!" he exclaimed, tears running down his face, and Cissy gently ran a hand through his hair.

"Of course I'm okay, you little squirt," she smiled. "Now come on, help me get all my Pokémon back in their balls," she said, but a bright flash behind them brought her mind back to Mark. _I hope he's alright_, she thought worriedly, looking over her shoulder at the park.

* * *

"Fire the Rock Wrecker!" roared Mark through bared teeth, standing atop Rhyperior's massive shoulder, and the latter snarled as an enormous boulder, cloaked in fierce red light, flew upwards from between its cupped hands.

"It doesn't matter _how_ big a rock you throw at me!" Kyōfu cackled. "Zapdos, break it with Thunder!" she ordered, and the legendary Pokémon gave an ear-splitting screech as a gigantic bolt of lightning speared down from the clouded heavens, cleaving the Drill Pokémon's attack cleanly down the middle. One half dropped to the ground and broke over Walrein's head, knocking it out in an instant, but the other half continued on its path and clipped Zapdos' right wing, causing the Flying-type to falter in the air.

"_Giiiyohhh!_" it squawked, furiously beating its wings as it began to slip towards the ground, its rhythm disrupted by the unexpected hit.

"Pull Zapdos in and pin to the ground with Hammer Arm!" Mark commanded, putting all his hope into Rhyperior after spotting Walrein's body slumped on the ground.

"_Rhaaaai-perior!_" growled the Rock-type, raising the arm furthest from its Trainer high into the air, and it quickly flashed with a brilliant lustre, but Rhyperior's other arm shot out towards Zapdos. While the latter continued to sink towards the ground, trying to get itself higher in the air, there was a great, low droning sound as a wave of air rushed into the hole on its palm, but the wave soon turned into a torrent as Rhyperior began to draw the airborne enemy towards it.

"No!" exclaimed Kyōfu, eyes widening in terror as she felt Zapdos being slowly dragged towards Mark and his monstrous Rhyperior. "Kill Mark with Thunderbolt!" she shrieked, and Zapdos executed the order despite the distress of keeping itself out of range of the Drill Pokémon. Unfortunately for her, the spear of electricity hit the tip of Rhyperior's horn, which the latter grounded instantly with a tap of its club-like tail against the ground.

"Just a few seconds more, Rhyperior!" Mark cheered, smacking a hand against his Pokémon's craggy head, and Rhyperior flashed its teeth in a vicious grin as Zapdos was sucked closer and closer, its Trainer becoming more and more frantic.

"Do something!" she screamed desperately, kicking Zapdos across the back, and the Electric-type squawked in anger and pain at the motion. "Get me out of here or I kill you myself, you damn _pet_!" she hissed in its ear.

Kyōfu's final word sent the Titan of Lightning into an outraged frenzy. Shrieking fanatically, Zapdos watched as Rhyperior's eyes glinted, swinging its glowing arm backwards in preparation for the finishing blow. A thunderclap rocked the sky and shook the ground, and Rhyperior hesitated for a fraction of a second to steady its footing on the trembling grass, but Zapdos spun around in mid-air just as its foe brought its arm crashing down.

For Kyōfu, time seemed to slow down to a crawl in that one small moment, her body frozen in place as that great column of light closed in. It filled her vision, the world turning a strangely blissful white.

_No…_

A split second later she disappeared, Rhyperior's enormous arm smashing against her with pulverising force and ripping her from Zapdos' back. She fell like a stone, and her mouth split open in a soundless scream as her spine shattered on the ground, scarlet blood flowing freely from the grievous wounds dotting her form.

However, it seemed that the injuries she'd sustained weren't justice enough for the enraged Zapdos, because it dived towards her with its beak spinning fiercely, and it steadied itself just above its supposed Trainer and stabbed down. Mark looked on in numb surprise, but he snapped back to reality when he heard the sound of something mechanical breaking, before realising the truth; Zapdos had just destroyed the PokéBall with which Kyōfu had captured it.

With the knowledge that the battle was now, finally, over, a wave of weariness set into Mark's body, the aches of his own injuries flaring up again. He groaned as he tried to shut out the pain, falling heavily from Rhyperior's shoulder, but he kept his feet as he looked up at the great Titan, who looked upon him with impassive eyes before screeching to the sky and climbing into the air.

On cue to Zapdos' cry, the thunderclouds above the island rapidly dispersed, leaving the heavens clear as the few remaining stars of the night disappeared as well. The Electric Pokémon hovered over Mark and Rhyperior for a few long moments, nodding briefly at Rhyperior as though thankful for a favour, before spreading its wings wide and soaring east towards its home on Lightning Island, and the first pale rays of sunlight crept above the horizon.

"Fly safe…" Mark panted, recalling his fallen Pokémon, and taking particular care with his Houndoom's ball. "You lousy bird…" he added under his breath, but he limped across the short grass and stopped in front of Kyōfu, the tips of his shoes at the edge of the large pool of her blood. Incredibly, she was still alive, her head twitching as she coughed and spluttered, more blood rising out of her mouth and beginning to choke her.

Suddenly, her gaze snapped sideways towards him, and her mouth curled in disgust as a thick stream of blood trickled onto the ground. "Don't—look at me—like that—you—p-p-p-prick!" she hissed in between spasms, breath coming in ragged gasps as she started to fade. "We're both—dead! Your heart—just—hasn't—stopped—beating—yet…"

"I told you I'd make you pay for what you did to my Houndoom," Mark said coldly, and he gingerly knelt down on one knee, feeling nothing but apathy for her as she coughed up more blood.

"Fuck—you…!" she whispered, and she spat in his face. Mark closed his eyes to wipe it away with his hand, but by the time he opened them again, she was gone.

"You'll have to find me first."

* * *

**Trivia:**

***This is the first chapter to contain a member of the golem trio that does not belong to Brandon.**

***It is also the first chapter to have a legendary Pokémon in a Trainer battle that is not a member of the golem trio.**

***This is the last chapter to have trivia, or a quiz question.**

**Quiz:**

***Which Pokémon debuted in this chapter, but did not receive a description and was instead referred to by name on the first occasion?**

* * *

**Chapter 100 at last! Let's bring out the firecrackers and non-alcoholic champagne, woo! The word count's second only to Regicide, but nothing less would be worth the big century. I can't believe I actually reached this milestone - after taking three months off, and quitting at one point - and I honestly couldn't have done it without the support of everyone who read and/or reviewed the chapters as I went along... or even the ones who went back and reviewed the previous ones!**

**Particular shout-outs go to: Tex (1433025), Rocky (1899389) and Time (1518916) for the constant nudging towards writing my next chapter; Mega (1773248), KK (2082942) and Dobby (1912625) for their many, many reviews; Flaaffy (1227175) for her humorous criticism; MisterP (1482395) and Blue Bongo (1649342) for the healthy competition they both gave me for a series containing AbilityShipping and a tournament, respectively; BlackShadowKnight (1713219) for being my very first reviewer, and a great help when I was writing through the 40s; AP (1481887) and Bard (1895761) because of one reason or another; and, as clichéd as this sounds, to you, who's taken the time to read.**

**Because it _is_ such a momentous occasion, I'd personally love a review, even if it's just to congratulate the fact that WPC has reached triple figures. Come on; you know I want you to, haha. ****However, if you feel like putting in a review with a little extra, like comments on the content or some substantial criticism, I'm all for that too.**

**I will be back at university in a little over a week, and because of that - and the usual break that follows milestones - there will be no new chapter next week. This way, I can return to the proper rhythm/lifestyle that befits a uni student like me; you can also enjoy this particularly gargantuan chapter a little longer. When it does surface, though, it'll contain the aftermath of the aforementioned battle before returning to Ayers Island to kick off the Round of Sixteen.**

**In short, Chapter 101 (The Elite Sixteen) should be posted on August 6th. That's four days before my birthday!**

**Until next time, be sure to keep up the good work, and, this time more than ever...**

**Don't forget to review!**


	101. The Elite Sixteen

**CHAPTER 101 – THE ELITE SIXTEEN**

"Mark… Mark, wake up…" Cissy murmured, nudging him softly in the shoulder with her hand. "Mark…!"

"Hunh…?" Mark mumbled, his head jolting upwards from its loll over his chest. Looking around with blurry vision, he saw bright yellow lights shining against a wide lobby of polished tiles, a Chansey in the distance wheeling a stacked cart full of PokéBalls, and a pink-haired lady bowing politely to a young boy as he squeaked something inaudible and hurried out of sight. "A Po—" he gave a great yawn and shook his head, "Pokémon Center…?" he asked, turning to look at Cissy, and he got an answering nod. "How did I get here…?"

"You were pretty exhausted after our battle," she said, sitting down on the seats next to him. "We all were, but that nasty bite you got from that Seviper—" she motioned towards his legs with the point of her shoe, and he followed it to see a red-stained bandage extending from his knee to his foot, "had you on the brink of unconsciousness. Senta took our PokéBalls here, and I carried you to the doctor to get you patched up quickly, before the streets got busy."

"You _carried_ me?" he groaned, feeling a slight twinge of embarrassment that didn't go unnoticed by his companion.

"Relax; you're not as heavy as you might think you are," she replied. "Most of it's your ego!" she added with a bubbly giggle.

A tiny smile crossed Mark's lips at her words, but his expression quickly faded as he realised that there was something cool pressing against his chest. Opening up his jacket but finding nothing against his skin, he checked the breast pocket, digging out a PokéBall from its depths and holding it in the palm of his hand. "Cold…" he muttered, eyebrows creased as his eyes glinted in recognition. "Regice?" he wondered aloud, glancing sideways for confirmation.

"Yeah, you picked it up on the ice right after Zapdos flew away," Cissy answered, somewhat hesitantly. "I'm not exactly sure why you wanted it; you said something about returning it, but you'd already put it back in its PokéBall…"

"Not returning it to its ball," he said, his memory of the event flashing through his head. "Returning it to the place where it came from." Seeing Cissy's puzzled look, he continued, "A month or so back, there was a Team Galactic squad performing a search on Sinnoh's Mt. Coronet. They were searching for a specific location, something that Cyrus – our leader – said would '_stand out far from the snowy landscape, instantly recognisable as special_'… they spent two days scouring the mountainside, and stumbled onto a large cavern which contained this Regice," he explained, bobbing the ball in his hand as he said the Pokémon's name.

"So you're going to head all the way north, back to Sinnoh, to return this Pokémon to its home?"

"No," said Mark firmly, shaking his head again as he pocketed the ball. "I also need to show some justice the people who left me out in the cold. Osore and Ky ōfu, they were just assassins sent by the Commanders; I'm after one of those Commanders. He's headed for Sinnoh, so I am as well."

Cissy held him in her gaze for several long moments, her eyes filled with concern. "You're not changing your mind about it, are you?" she asked sadly. "You've picked revenge as your road, and you're going to follow it no matter where it takes you."

"I have," he grunted, looking her in the eye. "But it's not my revenge."

"It's not?" she asked, sceptical.

"No… it's Emily's. And Alex's," he said bluntly, getting to his feet and blocking out the pain in his body with a wince. "I have to leave."

"You can't leave now!" Cissy protested, darting forwards and barring his passage. "You're not at full strength! And your Pokémon aren't either—"

"Your Pokémon are fully healed!" announced Nurse Joy, having materialised out of nowhere alongside the Gym Leader with her trademark smile.

"Thanks for the timing, Nurse Joy," Cissy grumbled, clicking her tongue in annoyance.

"I'm sorry to say that the Houndoom that was brought in will take at least a fortnight to fully recover from its… wounds…" Joy mumbled, her eyes downcast with worry, and the tray in front of her supported the news; there were only eleven PokéBalls lining the two trays instead of twelve. Wordlessly, Mark took those in the incomplete tray and clipped them to his belt, while Cissy grabbed her half-dozen and dropped them into her pocket.

"Thank you," said Mark, and Joy bowed once before disappearing out of sight, presumably to cater to the other injured Pokémon in the building. "Houndoom…" he whispered, his head bowed like Joy's.

"He'll be fine," Cissy soothed, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Nurse Joy said it'll only be a fortnight before he's back to his best, right?"

"I know," he growled, shaking off her hand. "That's not what I'm upset about."

"Really? Then what is?"

"The fact that I'll have to leave Mikan Island without him," he answered, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"You're leaving without your Houndoom?" she exclaimed, mouth agape. "When you were explaining about that tracking chip, you said that Houndoom was the one Pokémon you'd never go without! How could you just leave it here on—?"

"I said Houndoom was the one I'd never _willingly_ go without!" Mark shouted, whirling around to face her. "It's not like I _want_ to leave him behind! But the locator chip in his PokéBall is going to give away my location to Team Galactic at every moment, so… maybe it's for the best that he stay here for a while… at least until I sort out my mess," he told her, and Cissy, half a moment away from retorting, pursed her lips to hold the words back as she heard the reluctance and remorse in his voice.

"Okay," she said at last, folding her arms. "So now what?" she asked brusquely, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Now?" he repeated, mirroring the expression. "There's a Magnet Train in Saffron City that can cut through the mountains and take me to Sinnoh, so I'll have to head there from here."

"You're going to Saffron City?" Cissy shouted. _This guy is insane! _she thought, mystified. _He's got critical injuries, some of which he got __**before**__ he washed up on my doorstep, and yet he wants to cross half the Orange Archipelago… only to end up in the most populous city in all of Kanto?_ "You're nuts, you know that?" she commented, voicing some of her thoughts.

"Considering I want to make it there by tomorrow afternoon, yeah, I guess I do know," he said with a soft chuckle, which only grew louder at the horrified look on Cissy's face. "But I prefer 'daring' to 'nuts'," he added wryly.

"Well… daring or not… somehow, I think you'll pull it off," she admitted, scratching the back of her head sheepishly. "But—" she rummaged through her pocket and grabbed one of her PokéBalls, "it wouldn't hurt you to have some help along the way," she smirked, tossing him the ball. "My Golduck is one of the fastest swimmers this side of New Island. If you want to make it to Saffron City, he's one of the best companions you're likely to come across to get you there before this deadline of yours."

"So, you're just lending me your Golduck, just like that?" Mark asked suspiciously, although he still clipped the PokéBall to his belt.

"This way, you won't just come back for your Houndoom," Cissy smiled. "You owe me one now, so you'll have to come visit again once you make it out the other end of the tunnel."

"I owe you so much more than just the one," he laughed. "You took me into your house; you helped me get better; you didn't turn me in to the authorities; you fought alongside me in what was, in hindsight, a tag battle to the death against two trained Team Galactic assassins, and now this…" he reeled the numbers off on his fingers, and Cissy's face grew a shade redder with each one. "I'm not sure how to repay you, to be honest… or even if it would be enough."

"Bring back my Golduck and you can consider your debt repaid," she instructed, holding out her hand. Mark took it into his own, and the two shook hands as they shared a smile, but the moment was quickly over, and by the time Cissy's hand had fallen to her side, he had already turned and strode for the door.

"Cissy, before I go," he said, stopping and half-turning to her. "I don't think I ever got the chance to say this before, but—"

"If you say what I think you're going to say, I'll save the rest of the world the trouble and kill you myself, right now," she interrupted, with a legitimately murderous look in her eyes, and Mark gave a grunt of a laugh as he pushed open the Pokémon Center's double-doors and walked out into the sunlight.

_Stay safe, Mark…_ thought Cissy, willing him along in her mind, as her hand rose to rest against her chest.

* * *

Ash leapt confidently out of bed, a smile stretching from ear to ear as he hurriedly shimmied out of his pyjamas and snatched up his clothes from the nearby dresser. Humming a merry tune to himself, he threw on his clothes and jammed his hat down over his head, throwing open the door to the hallway and striding towards the kitchen.

"Today's the day, guys!" he said loudly, the excitement almost bubbling through his skin as he skidded over the wooden floorboards. "It's the first round of the finals, which means I'm only a few hours away from advancing to the next one!" he shouted, striking a victory pose with his eyes closed.

"Somebody's confident," Dawn giggled, a cheery morning smile stretching from ear. Ash opened his eyes, and gave a mental sigh of relief as he saw the grin, and he swept his gaze towards the window.

"Alright, it's daytime!" he shouted, looking out at the brightly-lit ocean outside. Swinging around to peruse the clock above the hallway entrance, his spirits grew again when he saw the time. "And it's morning!" he added, punching the air joyously.

"Of course it is…!" Dawn said, her eyebrows askew at his exuberance. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"No reason," he shrugged, poking his head around the corner to see into the kitchen to see, and smell, Brock whipping up breakfast.

"Pancakes or scrambled eggs, Ash?" he asked from the stove, expertly flipping pans full of each through the air. Plopped next to the pans were Pikachu and Piplup, their expressions dreamy at the fantastic smells wafting over them from breakfast and their eyes following the food as it fell back cleanly onto the pans.

"Which one looks better, Pikachu?" Ash asked, leaning over the kitchen bench.

"_Pii kaa!_" squeaked Pikachu, enthusiastically flailing his arms towards the pancakes.

"Alright, pancakes it is!" he said brightly, throwing himself down into an armchair, scooping up the remote for the television and switching on the channel hosting the Championships coverage.

"—all, promises to be one of the most exciting matches of the round!" said Derek Cohen, hosting his usual Trainer Spotlight segment, and a graphic showing Paul and Wynter's faces was superimposed on the screen next to him. "The winner of this titanic clash will book himself a spot in the quarterfinals against the victor of today's third battle, the showdown between Ash Ketchum, dubbed '_The Prince of Pallet Town_' by his local followers, and prodigal son Amos Jensen, returning to his homeland for the first time in almost six years!"

"Wait, what was that?" Brock piped up from the kitchen, as he heaped eggs onto two plates. "Amos is from around here?"

"Apparently," Ash nodded, still watching the programme. "He certainly seems familiar… maybe I saw him once at one of the Conferences."

"But they just said he's been gone for six years," said Dawn, taking a seat on the sofa. "How could you have met him at the Pokémon League if he's been out of the country?" she asked.

Ash screwed up his face in frustration, trying to force a memory out of his brain. "I guess you're right," he admitted, pressing his palms against his eyes. "But I know I've met him before! I just can't remember where or when…!"

"Maybe they'll drop you another hint talking about your battle," Brock pointed out, juggling six plates of steaming food as he walked into the lounge room and served everyone breakfast. "Dig in!" he grinned, and Pikachu and Piplup wasted no time in stuffing their faces full.

"The match promises to be quite the contest; throughout the tournament thus far, Ketchum has shown incredible agility, not just with his Pokémon's speed on the field, but also with his ability to quickly change strategies at a moment's notice, several of which have been extremely unorthodox but even more successful. However, several experts have pointed out that Ketchum's biggest flaw in battle is a lack of Pokémon with strong defensive capabilities, something that Jensen has wrought havoc against in previous rounds."

"Lack of defence?" Ash exclaimed, almost upturning his pancakes. "What a lo—!"

"Pipe down and listen, okay?" Brock said sternly, clamping a hand down on Ash's shoulder. "There might be something important."

"—Pokémon focused on damage resistance and combination moves to full effect," Derek continued. "If Ketchum allows Jensen to hold down a strong base opening and build on it with his usual strategy, it could be lights out for the Prince of Pallet Town even before we reach the intermission! But, by the same token, Ketchum's infinitely deep bag of tricks may give him a plucky win in the end, even with Jensen's seemingly unstoppable style in full swing."

"There you go, Ash!" Dawn roused, bumping him in the arm with her fist. "Amos likes defensive types and combination moves! So you just need to think of a way to get around that, and you're home free. No need to worry!" she grinned, accompanied by an encouraging trill from Piplup.

"PokéTip betting has the match balanced on a knife's edge, with Ash only a marginal favourite; he enters the battle at one-point-nine, whereas Amos is one-point-nine-three," he added, and a list of numbers and outcomes flashed onto the screen. "Despite this, though, the punters have Amos going into the intermission with a one-Pokémon lead, meaning the general opinion is for an upset late in the battle. We'd love to hear your opinions on how things will unfold during the battle – which starts in forty-five minutes down at Stadium One, for those with tickets – so send us a—" Ash switched off the television and tossed the remote onto the coffee table, stabbing through a pancake with his fork and cramming it into his mouth.

"Don't let it get to you, Ash," Dawn said comfortingly, setting down her scrambled eggs, which were promptly set upon by Piplup. "You're in the Top Sixteen! You've got to expect a lot of pressure!"

"Dawn's right," agreed Brock, arms crossed as he leant back in his seat. "With all the publicity on you and the other Trainers, anything that people think is less than perfect, it's going to get jumped on. The best you can do right now is to make sure that you're happy with what you're doing. If you've got that, nothing that anyone can criticise you for will matter," he added sagely, and Ash gulped down his food.

"Thanks, you guys," he said humbly, scratching Pikachu softly behind the ears.

"_Chaa~_" he cooed.

"So which Pokémon are you taking into battle against Amos?" Brock inquired, in between spoonfuls of egg. "Well, apart from Pikachu, of course," he said, after getting a reproachful look from the Electric-type.

"It's a surprise!" Ash laughed, to a pair of disappointed groans.

"Uh, Ash—"

"Now, I've got to get over to the stadium and beat the crowd so I won't be late!" he announced, before Brock or Dawn could raise a complaint about his secrecy, and he gobbled down the last of his pancakes in a frenzy before snatching up a protesting Pikachu who was staring longingly after the pancake left on his plate.

"Ash, wait—"

"Wish me luck!" he managed as he bolted for the door. A split second later, he was out of sight, leaving Brock and Dawn to look dumbstruck at each other in his wake.

"_Pip piplup!_" tweeted Piplup, obliviously tearing a chunk out of Pikachu's unguarded pancake.

"He's always so impatient," commented Dawn comically, slumping her shoulders. There was a click behind them, followed by a loud creak, and a few moments later Anabel slipped out of the bathroom, wiping her hands down on her shirt.

"Good morning, Ash—!" she chimed, beaming, but she broke off when she saw that he was nowhere to be found. Looking left and right, she lowered her gaze to the coffee table, and her confusion grew when she noticed Ash and Pikachu's empty plates. "Where's Ash?" she asked innocently, scooping up the sixth plate. "I could have sworn I heard his voice a minute ago…"

* * *

**Apologies for the late update. Let me explain my reasons for delaying this; I was waiting for Black/White to be released. With the new generation of Pokémon debuting, I wanted to see if there were any that could be used in the battles to come, and likewise for new attacks and abilities. I know that six weeks might seem like a lot, but that's the price to be paid sometimes.**

**As is to be expected for a chapter just before the action, it was a bit shorter than the others, particularly in comparison to the previous one!**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and also to those who haven't, but will in the future. All reviews are a wonderful gift, naturally.**

**Comments, questions, queries about the chapter? Put them in a review, and they might just get an answer.**

**Chapter 102 will feature the beginning of Ash's showdown with the mysterious Amos Jensen. Unsure about the release date, however, as it seems I can't be trusted to update on time and not go AWOL. That's right, I went there sistah, haha.**

**Until next time, be sure to keep up the good work, and, as always...**

**Don't forget to review!  
**


	102. The Gauntlet

**CHAPTER 102 – THE GAUNTLET**

"I didn't miss anything, did I?" asked Dawn, running over the dirt-crusted ground of Stadium One and sitting down next to Anabel, having changed into her token pink cheerleading outfit a few minutes earlier.

"Ash hasn't even come out of the tunnel yet," Misty answered dismissively, perched alongside Brock at the other end of the large metal bench the foursome were seated upon. According to the Championship rules, finalists were permitted to have a small contingent of their closest supporters present on the arena with them, seated on one side of the halfway line and the referee, which gave them the best seats in the house.

"That's a relief," Dawn sighed, wiping her brow and setting her pom-poms down next to Piplup, who was practicing waving her own miniature ones about.

A colossal roar from the crowd all around them signalled the arrival of the Trainers, and, sure enough, as Ash's friends looked aside to the boundary wall, they saw that both doors had slid open to reveal Ash and Amos, striding confidently onto the battlefield and meeting at the centre circle. Amos' sharp eyes darted from Ash, to Pikachu seated on his shoulder and back again, before allowing himself a tiny smirk.

"Pikachu certainly looks a heck of a lot stronger than last time," he said, placing a hand on his hip and running the other through his leafy, green hair.

"I still don't get what you mean by '_last time_', Amos," Ash muttered, and Amos let out a derisive laugh.

"You still can't figure out who I am? I'm kinda hurt," he taunted, wagging his finger at Ash, and the latter scowled. "But don't worry about something like little old me; I've got six battle-hardened Pokémon that'll keep your plate full right up until the end. Hopefully you'll remember by then," he added, as a small camera crew came jogging over to them, equipment at the ready.

"Can we have a picture of the finalists shaking hands?" asked the crew's co-ordinator, a weedy-looking man with cropped black hair.

"Uh, okay…" shrugged Ash, extending his hand towards Amos. "Good luck for our battle, Amos, and may the best Trainer win!" he said competitively, a glint in his dark eyes.

"Save the honourable statements for after the battle, Ash," Amos laughed, grasping Ash's hand in an iron-like grip. Ash's eyes twitched as the crew flashed a flurry of photographs of the handshake, but otherwise he showed no sign of discomfort, and Amos' brow furrowed as he quickly let go and marched towards his red Trainer's box. Briefly massaging his hand and sharing a questioning look with Pikachu, he spun on his feet and returned to his side, giving Brock and the girls a positive thumbs-up on the way.

"Welcome, boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, Volbeat and Illumise!" shouted a boisterous voice over the loudspeakers, belonging to none other than Trainer Spotlight's Derek as he hosted the match's commentary. "It's a marvellous day here on Ayers Island, and what's even more marvellous than the weather is the fact that it's time for the finals of the World Pokémon Championships!"

A chorus of cheers arose from the stands, an innumerable swarm of action-thirsty fans willing on their favourite to be the one left standing at the end of the battle as they stomped their feet, chanted their anthems and punched the air with their fists.

"It's only the third match of eight in this Top Sixteen round, but I have a feeling this could be the most exciting one out of them all! Who's with me?" roared Derek, playing into the crowd's enthusiasm, and his words were met with a thrilling wave of sound. "Today we have Ash Ketchum going toe-to-toe, brain-to-brain, Pokémon-to-Pokémon against Amos Jensen, both of whom are more than deserving to be finalists in this year's cream of the crop!"

"Yeah, go Ash!" Dawn shrieked, her and Piplup striking a pose, and Ash's fans responded with a rousing bellow, swiftly followed by a chorus of boos from those supporting Amos.

"But in a tournament where the stakes are growing ever-higher, and the slightest mishap can spell your doom, they'll have to give everything they have in battle… and that'll just be to make the intermission!" Derek chortled, his microphone so close to his mouth that he was in danger of chipping a tooth against it. "Only one of these mighty combatants will walk away from this battle knowing that they have survived for one more day, taken that one step further up the staircase to the pinnacle!"

"_Battle_! _Battle_! _Battle_!" chanted the crowd, striking the air with every word.

"You heard them, referee!" yelled Derek, winding the fans up even more. "Let's get this battle underway!" he announced, to another eruption of cheers.

"Hold your horses!" rebutted the referee, despite the crowd's reaction. "First, some ground rules," he said calmly, looking between Ash and Amos. "This will be a six-on-six full battle. Substitutions can be made by either Trainer at any time that he or she sees fit—"

"About time they could," Amos muttered under his breath.

"As per the previous rounds, there will be a fifteen-minute intermission once one Trainer is reduced to only three usable Pokémon," the referee continued. "The battlefield will be randomly selected before the battle begins, and will be changed only once, after a total of six Pokémon have been deemed unable to battle."

"Also—" he tucked his hands behind his back at this, "because of the addendum introduced to the World Pokémon Championships rules this year, for the Top Sixteen round, the attack limit is extended to five; Trainers are permitted to give their Pokémon up to five orders of techniques in the Pokémon League's list of recognised attack commands. Do both Trainers understand the rules?" he asked.

"Five attacks?" Ash repeated, looking uneasily at Pikachu. "We've only ever practiced with four before, though…"

"_Pika…_" growled Pikachu, his ears drooping.

"Finalist Ketchum, do you understand the rules?" barked the referee, who was beginning to grow impatient, although not to the same extent as the hungry crowd.

"Oh—yeah, I understand!" he shouted back quickly. "What about you, Amos?"

"I understand more than you do!" Amos sneered, staring back at Ash from underneath his fringe, and something called out in the far reaches of Ash's mind, remembering the exact face of the opponent across the field.

"The battlefield for the first half of the match will now be decided!" the referee announced, and all eyes turned to the enormous scoreboard at the side of the stadium. Ten seconds later, a disappointed sigh rang out over the stands as the selector landed on a pure green square. "There will be no change to the battlefield, and Ash Ketchum will send out his Pokémon first!"

_A neutral field, huh?_ Ash thought, quietly counting his blessings. _I guess that means I can't be put at a disadvantage by the terrain… and I'd rather fight Amos on a level playing field—_ he smacked himself in the forehead for making the pun, and Pikachu looked at him in confusion. _Since everything's nice and flat, I might as well start out with…_

"Donphan, I choose you!" Ash roared, hurling a PokéBall onto the field. With a trumpeting cry, the Armor Pokémon thudded onto the field, stamping a heavy hoof impatiently as it waited for its opponent.

"And Ash is opening his finals campaign with Donphan, a Pokémon we haven't seen since the very first round!" Derek told the crowd, eyes glinting like his gelled-up hair. "In that battle, it _steamrolled_ Kaiden Hayes' Marowak in no time at all, but I have a feeling that Amos will be a much bigger challenge no matter which Pokémon he sends to tussle against it!"

"Tussle?" Amos snorted, enlarging the PokéBall in his hand. "Yeah, right. This one will be over before Ash even knows it," he muttered, tossing the ball forwards. "Ground and pound, Swalot!" he barked, the ball splitting open with a flash of white light.

A huge, purple lump of a Pokémon formed from the pooling light, two beady red eyes blinking in the sunlight from above a spindly yellow moustache and a pair of thick, puckered lips. Three stubby fingers sat glued to each side of its body, resting above an assortment of black diamonds, but it seemed to lack any distinctive feet, its form simply spilling away as it reached the floor. Suddenly, it gave a great yawn, its cavernous mouth stretching to almost reach the size of its body, with nothing but darkness inside its gaping maw.

"_Swohhh…!_" grunted Swalot, eyeing off Donphan from across the field.

"A Swalot…?" Dawn wondered, pulling out her Pokédex and pointing it towards the Poison-type.

_Swalot, the Poison Bag Pokémon, the evolved form of Gulpin,_ chimed the Pokédex. _Its powerful stomach acids contain special enzymes that can dissolve anything in the world except itself. When it spots prey, Swalot sweats toxic fluid which it then sprays on the target. Once weakened, the prey is engulfed whole by Swalot's expandable body, and digested._

"That sounds just _gross_," said a disgusted Misty, and both Brock and Dawn nodded in agreement. Anabel, however, was looking intently at Amos and his Pokémon, a frown playing at her face. "What's wrong, Anabel?" Misty asked, and she raised a hand to her chin.

"I don't understand it," she said cryptically, but as the others pondered what she meant, they heard the crowd behind them whispering amongst themselves, seeming just as confused as Anabel. "Ash sent out Donphan, a Ground-type capable of tearing across the battlefield at high speed, but he sends out a Swalot, a Poison-type that can't move very well at all? He's got disadvantages for type _and_ mobility…"

"You think Amos made a mistake?" inquired Dawn, but she was answered with a negative grunt from Brock, who shook his head.

"No, he knows what he's doing," he remarked, a little grimly as he took note of the confident smirk on Amos' face. "He believes that Swalot has got some kind of trump card, something that will let it overcome the long odds it has against Ash's Donphan. I wonder what it could be…" he murmured, knotting his fingers together and resting his chin on them as the two Pokémon stared each other down, the atmosphere on a knife's edge as everyone waited for the match to get underway.

"Let the battle begin!" thundered the referee, as, up in the stands, Derek struck the starting bell with his hammer.

"Alright!" shouted Ash fiercely, throwing his arm forwards. "Donphan, charge Swalot down with your Horn Attack!" he ordered, and Donphan gave another resounding cry as it stampeded across the battlefield, lowering its head and pointing its long, sharp horns squarely at its foe. Amos barely batted an eyelid as the powerful Ground-type advanced towards his Pokémon, even with the encouraging cheers and jeers from the crowd.

As Donphan crossed the centre circle and picked up speed, he made his move.

"Acid Armor!" he roared. Swalot opened its enormous mouth wide, sucked in a deep breath, and seemed to fall apart in the blink of an eye, splashing onto the battlefield in one giant, purple puddle of slime. Donphan's eyes widened as it tried to slow its charge, but it was too late; the Armor Pokémon's front legs smacked into its foe's liquefied form, and it crashed to the ground, sliding over Swalot and coming to rest just a few feet in front of a cackling Amos.

"You always _did_ make a bad habit of jumping in recklessly and landing flat on your rear!" he snickered, getting a round of laughs from his fans. "Swalot, get solid and get heavy with Stockpile!" he commanded, and the pile of goo on the stadium floor bubbled and massed together, rising up and clumping until the Poison-type was completely reformed, its moustache swaying gently in a small breeze. Drawing in another great gasp of air, Swalot's body swelled outwards in all directions, almost doubling in size as it shut its mouth and puffed up. Donphan angrily picked itself up off the ground, roaring ferociously at its opponent's seemingly underhanded tactic, and Ash understood his Pokémon's drive to dish out revenge.

"Time for a Rollout, Donphan!" he shouted, teeth bared as his Pokémon curled itself into a ball and rolled over the ground, kicking up a trail of dust as it sped arrow-straight towards Swalot.

"What an idiot…" Amos mused to himself, with a chuckle and a shake of the head. "Defend with Stockpile!"

"_Swu!_" came the Poison Bag Pokémon's muffled reply, looking as though it was on the verge of exploding, but incredibly it opened its mouth and took yet another huge breath, its figure bulging and growing to an even greater size. Its towering body cast a shadow over Donphan even as the latter closed in, and with a mighty roar the Armor Pokémon smashed into Swalot.

But there was no crunch of a collision, no groan of pain on the Poison-type's part. Instead, the Ground-type bounced harmlessly off its foe's rubbery hide, spinning back across the arena towards its Trainer before righting itself and charging back for a second attempt, much to the delight and fascination of the crowd, whose voices swelled just like Swalot had a few moments earlier.

"You're not really using your head, are you, Ash?" Amos yelled, looking almost bored, and Ash's face twitched in anger. "I told you that you jumping in recklessly was a bad habit of yours, and now I'm gonna punish you for it! Swalot, Spit Up!" he roared.

"Oh no!" Ash exclaimed, as Swalot's body shone from within with a bright glow. "Donphan, get out of the way!" he screamed, but before his Pokémon had time to change the direction of its Rollout, Swalot opened its cavernous mouth and let loose a gargantuan beam of white light that seared over the field. Donphan was caught dead centre in the blast, the attack exploding against its iron-hard hide and catapulting it back through the air, smoke trailing from its body as it flew over a hastily crouching Ash and slammed into the boundary wall with a painful thud.

"What a shot by Amos' Swalot!" Derek shouted excitedly, as the crowd gave a collective gasp at the impact. "A brilliant strategy by Amos, using Stockpile to bolster its defences and minimise the damage from Donphan's attacks, before unleashing all the energy from those very Stockpile attacks in the form of a powerful Spit Up! Tough luck for Ash; he walked straight into that one, but these sorts of combinations are Amos' specialty!"

"Donphan, are you alright?" Ash asked, looking on worriedly as Donphan struggled to get back up.

"Stockpile again, while Donphan is still recovering!" ordered Amos, and Swalot quickly sucked in another gulp of air, bulking up its body just as Donphan regained its feet.

"Come on, Ash, you can do it!" cheered Misty, on her feet and cupping her hands over her mouth to get her voice above the crowd, and Dawn supported the cheer with a little jig of her own.

"Try having Donphan use some special attacks, not just brute force!" Anabel suggested, drawing a look of perplexity from Ash.

_Special attacks?_ he thought, scratching his chin. _I don't think Donphan __**knows**__ any special attacks… besides, Donphan's physical attack is a lot stronger than its special attack, so why would I want to stop playing to my strengths?_ He quickly shook the confusing thoughts out of his mind, choosing to focus on the battle in front of him.

"Seed Bomb, Swalot!" Amos shouted, pointing towards Donphan, and Swalot immediately obliged, shooting from the pores on its skin a volley of glowing green projectiles that whistled through the air as they rocketed towards their target.

"Defense Curl!" countered Ash. The Ground-type quickly turned itself into an armoured ball before being showered by a liberal spray of Swalot's Seed Bomb, which pummelled its thickened skin and tore up a sizeable chunk of the surrounding battlefield.

A loud explosion at ground level drew applause and joyful whooping from Amos' fans, but caused Ash to clench his fists in nervous anticipation of whether Donphan had escaped the worst of the damage. Amos, however, was unconvinced that the attack had worked, and as the dust cleared he narrowed his eyes as his suspicions were proved correct; the Armor Pokémon had lived up to its name, and the strip of black running down the centre of its body hadn't received so much as a scratch.

"Good work!" Ash laughed, punching the air, and Donphan answered its Trainer's praise with a loud cry and a proud stomp of its foot, quickly followed by a cacophony of noise from the crowd, most notably from Ash's friends on the bench. "Now, let's give Amos and Swalot a treat by whipping up a Sandstorm!" he shouted.

"_Duruuu!_" trumpeted the Ground-type, curling up into another ball and spinning furiously in a wide circle on its Trainer's side of the field. Plumes of dirt arced into the sky with every rotation Donphan made, and within moments the entire arena was awash with clouds of dust that kept everyone from being able to see through to the other side of the stadium, air currents churning the tiny particles into a miniature sandstorm.

"Shit…!" muttered Amos, barely able to make out his own Pokémon in the storm, let alone his opponent's. "Stockpile, one more time!" he roared to Swalot, his lip curling for the briefest of moments when he heard a loud inhaling sound from inside the orange haze.

_This ought to buy me enough time to think of a way past Swalot's defence…_ Ash thought, glancing sideways at Pikachu as if to gain some kind of inspiration from his first Pokémon. Sadly, Pikachu was focusing his attention on the sandstorm whirling in the centre of the stadium, so Ash turned instead to his next option, something he hadn't used during the heat of battle for a long time.

"What the heck is Ash doing?" Misty exclaimed, watching as Ash pulled something out of his jacket pocket. "Ash, focus on the battle!" she screamed vehemently, waving her arms wildly about, and she received a mouthful of dirt for her efforts as the sandstorm picked up in intensity. Coughing and spluttering, she was helped back to her seat by Brock and Anabel, and so Dawn was the only one looking at Ash at all, albeit hard enough to see what he was holding.

_Species – Donphan,_ stated the Pokédex in its mechanical voice, as Ash pointed it towards the battlefield. _Type – Ground. Ability – Sturdy. List of attacks—_

"Here we are," Ash muttered, hastily scanning down the list for something that could help him. Counting backwards in his head, he counted his lucky stars for the changed attack limit as he realised that he still had one technique up his sleeve, and he found the perfect one towards the bottom of the Pokédex's display. _Looks like Anabel was right… Donphan knows a special attack, after all… _"That should do the trick, don't you think?" he asked Pikachu, pointing at the line of text.

"_Pika!_" nodded Pikachu, and Ash pocketed his Pokédex with a smile as he turned his attention back to the battle.

"Let's try something new, Donphan!" he called out to his Pokémon, invisible amongst the dusty winds. "Shake things up with Earth Power!" he roared.

"Earth Power?" echoed Misty, keeping her mouth as tightly shut as she could to avoid another helping of dust. "When did Donphan learn an attack like that?" she asked loudly.

"I'm not sure…!" Brock shrugged, and Anabel was as clueless as he was, having previously only seen Ash's Donphan during his first-round battle against Kaiden.

"I think this is the first time Ash has tried to have Donphan use it!" Dawn shouted over the wind from the end of the bench, holding her hand next to her mouth. "While you guys were trying to stop Misty from choking, Ash was checking his Pokédex for something! I think he was looking for a special attack that Donphan could use, like you suggested!" she explained, nodding towards Anabel.

Out on the battlefield, at the heart of the sandstorm, Donphan reared up on its hind legs, raising its trunk towards a sun half-hidden behind a sheet of vermillion, and brought its front feet crashing down onto the ground. A pair of thick cracks split the arena, snaking their way towards a motionless Swalot on the other side of the battlefield, as pillars of golden light seeped up from underground and caused the sandstorm to glow from within.

"Swalot!" Amos yelled, as he heard the jagged sounds of the Earth Power creeping after his Pokémon. "Absorb the blow with Acid Armor!" he thundered, but a terrible groan erupted from within the twisting winds, followed shortly after by a loud thud as something enormous and heavy toppled onto the ground. A tense lull fell over the crowd, waiting for some kind of cue that would tell them what had just transpired, and both Ash and Amos glared at the wall of dust in front of their eyes, ready to instantly react to the slightest change.

_Let's hear that sound…_ Amos willed, his fist clenching tighter with every passing moment, but he gave it a triumphant thump as there was a loud splash from within the centre of the arena. _Game over,_ he smirked, as he gave Swalot its next order.

"Be careful, Donphan!" Ash warned, scanning for any sign of the liquefied Poison-type amongst the haze.

"Why would Amos have Swalot use Acid Armor?" Anabel wondered aloud, raising an eyebrow. "In that form, Donphan's Earth Power would just cut straight through Swalot's body…" she noted. Brock pursed his lips and leaned forwards in his seat, contemplating her words, but he bolted upright when he heard another noise mingling in with the roars and howls of the sandstorm; a loud trickle, like water running downstream.

"Ash, look out!" he bellowed, making Ash spin around in shock. "Amos is having Swalot use the cracks from Donphan's attack to track it down!"

"He's _what_?" Ash exclaimed, wildly turning back to the battle, but his heart fell through his stomach when he saw a large shadow rising up from the ground in front of Donphan, aglow with dull purple light. "Donphan, Defense Curl!" he ordered.

"_Swohhh…_" rumbled Swalot, its beady eyes smouldering at its opponent below as it opened its mouth wide. The Armor Pokémon could barely tuck its trunk under its head before Swalot fired its attack, a thick column of light pulverising the Ground-type and hurling it back through the air. Donphan burst out of the sandstorm with a large puff of dust, its smoking body crashing limply into the ground at Ash's feet, and the latter groaned as he saw the swirls in his Pokémon's eyes.

"Donphan is unable to battle!" declared the referee, thrusting his red flag in Amos' direction, and the stands erupted with a frenzy of excited cheers. On the sidelines, Ash's friends sighed in disappointment at the result, and Ash himself kicked the ground with the toe of his shoe before taking Donphan's PokéBall into his hand.

"You did well, Donphan," he said proudly, recalling his fallen battler to the ball. "Now you take a good rest."

"And Amos takes an early lead in this Top Sixteen match!" shouted Derek, banging his fists on the benchtop. "It was rough riding there for a while, courtesy of Donphan's Sandstorm, and Ash looked to be taking control of the situation with Earth Power but, _somehow_, Amos managed to turn the tables and end the exchange with a short-range Spit Up! If I was to take a wild guess as to how he did it, I'd say that Swalot had memorised Donphan's position on the battlefield and just used its intuition to knock it down!"

"Intuition?" Amos repeated irately. "What a crock…"

"Having said that, though, the only thing _we_ need to be wondering about is which of Ash's five remaining Pokémon will be sent out to combat Amos and Swalot!" Derek continued. "Will it be his trademark Pikachu, or will he go with one of those unorthodox choices we've come to expect?"

_That's a good question…_ thought Ash, sliding a finger over the PokéBalls at his waist. _Who can I use against in a sandstorm, up against Swalot and its defences—?_ He grinned and unclasped the ball on the end of the line.

"Why is Ash grinning when he's already down a Pokémon?" Dawn asked the others, only to get unhelpful shrugs from all three.

"I don't know…" Brock muttered, but he couldn't help but grin just like Ash was. "But I have a feeling we're about to find out!" he added excitedly, jerking his head towards Ash as the latter threw his PokéBall into the spiralling dust.

"Go, Nosepass!" he shouted. The ball disappeared into the sandstorm with a tiny puff, splitting open with a flash of light that formed into the blue, sharpened form of Ash's Compass Pokémon, waving its stubby arms up and down as it rejoiced in the harsh winds.

"So _that's_ why Ash was smiling," Brock chuckled, folding his arms as the girls turned to question him. "Nosepass is a Rock-type, right? In a sandstorm, the special defense of all Rock-type Pokémon gets boosted, which means that, combined with the Rock-type's resistance to Normal-type attacks, Swalot's Spit Up attack will do barely anything at all."

_I'll have to ride out this sandstorm until it dies down,_ Amos told himself, having reached the same conclusion as Brock. _Once it's out of the way, it shouldn't be too hard for me to deal with his Nosepass. But until then…_ "Stockpile, again!" he shouted, hearing the typical vacuuming sound from the middle of the battlefield as his Pokémon swelled up again.

"Swalot may not be able to see anything in the Sandstorm, but it won't have the same effect on us, Nosepass!" Ash cheered fiercely. "Use Lock-On to guarantee our next attack!" he commanded.

"_Noooosepaaaass…_" hummed the Rock-type, shooting from its forehead a slim set of red crosshairs that was all but invisible in the sea of orange, but it flew straight and true before landing squarely between Swalot's tiny red eyes. "_Nohhhz… nohhhz!_" chanted Nosepass merrily, jumping on the spot as the attack connected.

"Follow up with Zap Cannon!" Ash yelled, pointing into the storm. With a low buzzing sound, a tiny pinprick of yellow energy burst into life in front of Nosepass' enormous red nose, before burgeoning into a sphere the same size as its creator and crackling with electricity. Those in the crowd close enough to see the ball swirling next to the Rock-type leapt to their feet and filled the air with raucous cheers, and Amos bared his teeth as he heard their reaction.

"More defence, Swalot! Another Stockpile!" he roared, just as Nosepass blasted its Zap Cannon at Swalot, and the inevitable impact sent a powerful shockwave tearing through the stadium, the sandstorm bulging outwards from the force of the explosion. Both Trainers threw their arms in front of their faces as the wind tore past, but in Amos' case, the wind was joined by his Poison Bag Pokémon, pushed towards him from inside the storm by Nosepass' attack and groaning in pain.

"What a _shocking_ attack!" chuckled Derek, earning a round of mock-horrified moans from the crowd. "Following its explosive tournament debut against Warbird in the fifth round, Nosepass hasn't wasted any time laying down the hurt against this new opponent, with a flawless execution of the classic Lock 'n' Shock gambit! For those of you who aren't familiar with Zap Cannon's special effect, you might _see_ it right about now!"

_It's a good thing I ordered that second Stockpile,_ Amos thought, relieved,_ or else Swalot might have been out cold by now… _"Step up, Swalot!" he snarled, baring his teeth when he saw a flurry of electricity racing around Swalot's body. "Dammit…" he whispered to himself, before noticing that the towering wall of dust and dirt in front of him was beginning to waver.

"Use Power Gem, Nosepass!" Ash roared, breaking Amos out of his reverie as the Compass Pokémon shot a six-sided beam of crimson light across the arena, slicing through the sandstorm and splitting the air all around.

"Stockpile!" ordered Amos, and the more vocal spectators in the crowd, beginning to grow tired of him using the same move repeatedly, began to jeer. Swalot's mouth split wide open as it sucked in another hefty gulp of air, but suddenly a bolt of electricity arced over its upper torso, the paralysis forcing the Poison-type to abandon its attack. With a loud bang and a shower of dirt, Nosepass' Power Gem soared through the sky and crashed against Swalot's puffy lips, knocking its huge body onto the ground with all the grace of a falling tree.

"Recover with Swallow!" Amos shouted harshly, and the Poison Bag Pokémon's body twitched violently, a bulge appearing on either side of its mouth before moving down towards its stomach, and all of a sudden the Poison-type had shrunk to a fraction of its former size. Now back to normal, Swalot agilely shot upright despite the small jolt of lightning that flew through its system, appearing to be in almost perfect health.

"Damn…" Ash muttered, only just able to make out his opponents through the veil of dust, but a moment later the howling winds faded to nothing more than a whisper, and cloud upon cloud of particles fell limply onto the ground as the sandstorm died away, returning the field to full visibility for everyone watching the events on the stadium floor. "Double damn…!" he hissed.

"Finally," sighed Amos, with a relieved smile. "Return!" he barked, and Swalot was engulfed in red light as it was called back to the confines of its PokéBall.

"What?" Ash yelled, scarcely able to believe what he'd just seen. _I've been struggling against Swalot since the battle began, and now that it's recovered nearly all of its Hit Points with that Swallow, he's __**recalling**__ it?_ he thought incredulously, eyes narrowing as he suspected that there was more to it than met the eye.

"Having problems hearing, Ash?" Amos laughed, clipping Swalot's ball to his belt and grabbing the one alongside it. "I said '_return_', as in I'm _returning_ Swalot!"

"I know what you said!" Ash retorted with a scowl, as Amos' supporters began mocking him. "Why, though?"

"I just needed to stall you and your Pokémon until the Sandstorm disappeared," he replied calmly, enlarging his PokéBall. "I don't like having to search out my opponents' Pokémon, particularly not when the weather is giving them a defensive boost, and my next Pokémon is _much_ more suited to an open, clear battlefield!" he explained, looking almost pityingly at Nosepass out in the open on Ash's side of the arena.

"So, an unexpected turn of events," Derek commented, scratching his head and seemingly at as much of a loss as Ash as to why Amos had recalled Swalot. "It seems that Amos was simply entertaining Ash and Nosepass in order to let Donphan's Sandstorm fade into the wind—if you'll pardon the pun!" he added quickly, looking sheepishly at a section of the crowd. "Now that his goal has been accomplished, Amos is going for his second Pokémon… but what could it be?"

"Ground and pound!" Amos roared, tossing the PokéBall into the air, and it burst open with a bright flash of white.

A moment later, a towering figure of pale blue appeared on the battlefield, a tiny, conical head sitting upon a rotund torso adorned with horizontal grooves and a bronze bar, displayed like a badge of honour, over a splash of dark blue. The same dark blue covered most of the Pokémon's right arm, including a spiked shoulder and a plate, inscribed with some kind of yellow marking, on the back of its five-fingered hand, which itself was separated from the rest of the arm by a thick bronze wristband. Its left arm was almost identical to the right, except where the right was dark blue, the left had the same pale shade that covered the rest of its body, which was supported by a pair of muscular-looking legs, each with a bronze anklet above a flat, wide foot.

"_Gohh…_" droned the Pokémon, and a pair of yellow rectangles on its head, presumably its eyes, flashed once.

"What in the world is that?" Ash asked quietly, pulling out his Pokédex and training it on the new Pokémon.

_Golug, the Golem Pokémon,_ buzzed the Pokédex. _Additional software is required for further information on this species._

"Additional software?" he repeated in disbelief. "I need to know what I'm up against here!" he shouted at the small machine, knowing perfectly well that yelling wouldn't be able to change anything. Unfortunately for him, Amos heard every word, and snickered as he realised that Ash had never encountered its kind before.

"Allow me to introduce you to Golug," he said to Ash, pronouncing the name _Goloog_. "At least, that's what it's called in its homeland; you lot might call it something different!" he added with a laugh.

"So Amos' second Pokémon is his Golug!" Derek nodded, leaning back in his chair. "We've seen him use Golug's power and technique to great effect on numerous occasions throughout the tournament, most notably with its nineteen-second blitzkrieg against Daisuke Rudolf's Magnezone in the _Preuve de Mérite_ stage! But how will it handle Ash's Nosepass?" he asked the crowd teasingly, who cheered with glee as they waited with bated breath for the combatants to charge.

"Well, we might as well try another Zap Cannon, since Amos doesn't seem particularly fond of it," Ash murmured to Pikachu, who nodded fiercely at the idea. "Nosepass, use Lock-On!" he commanded, and Nosepass gave a low, obedient hum as another red crosshair spurted from its forehead and landed on Golug's bronze badge.

"Golug, Rock Polish!" Amos sneered, already knowing what was coming next, and his Pokémon clasped its massive hands in front of its chest, its bronze bands glowing a bright shade of orange as its eyes burned like red coals.

"Bad choice, Amos, wasting a move for speed when you won't be able to escape!" Ash shouted, throwing his arm forwards. "Hit Golug with Zap Cannon!" he roared, a sizzling ball of energy rapidly charging in front of the Compass Pokémon's frame.

"Who ever said anything about _escaping_?" Amos snapped. "Golug, aim and fire with Dynamicpunch!"

"_Go…_" hummed Golug, sprinting forwards at speeds that gave complete disregard for its enormous size and weight, covering half the battlefield in little more than the blink of an eye, but Nosepass fearlessly fired its Zap Cannon with a powerful bang, pushed back several feet by the recoil of launching it. The ball of electricity flew straight towards Golug, who cocked its glowing white fist, and with a mighty swing it thrust its other hand in the path of Nosepass' attack…

And crushed it between its fingers.

Ash's mouth fell open as he saw his Pokémon's Zap Cannon disintegrate against Golug's palm, completely dumbfounded that his strategy had been countered so easily. He was so shocked that the attack hadn't worked, he could only watch on as Golug closed the rest of the distance to his Nosepass and, with a flash of light, delivered a punishing uppercut that sent the Rock-type hurtling back over the battlefield. The Compass Pokémon fell to the ground in front of Ash with a dull thud and a plume of dust, barely able to regain its feet and wobbling about dangerously, the impact from Golug's strike muddling its mind.

"It looks like Amos has managed to _hit back_ with a superb show of strength from Golug!" Derek screamed, leaping up and down in the commentator's skybox, as the stands went wild. "And by '_superb show of strength_', I mean '_wicked Dynamicpunch applied directly to the face_'! Of course, Ash didn't do himself any favours there, using an Electric-type move against a Ground-type Pokémon like Golug!"

"Golug is a Ground-type?" Ash repeated, baring his teeth in frustration. "_Now_ they tell us," he said ruefully to Pikachu, whose ears drooped. _That means that Nosepass is going to have a tough time against it… one move is completely useless, and the other two won't have much effect thanks to their Rock-typing…_ he thought grimly, before glancing at his afflicted Pokémon. _Of course, the confusion from Golug's Dynamicpunch won't help, either; guess I've got no choice_.

He sighed, resigned to the outcome as he took Nosepass' PokéBall from his belt and held it at arm's length. "Return!" he shouted, and Nosepass, in the middle of a drunken dance on the spot, was converted to a mass of red light and sucked back into its ball. "We don't need you getting hit by another one of Golug's Dynamicpunch attacks," he mused, clipping the PokéBall back in place.

"That Golug is one powerful Pokémon…" observed Dawn, looking on anxiously.

"Not only that, but Ash has never battled one before, so he doesn't know what it's capable of, especially in Amos' hands," Brock added. "That alone gives Amos a huge advantage."

"Ash will pull through just fine, though," said Anabel, her eyes shimmering with hope. "He always does…" she smiled, as Ash took a PokéBall into his hand and threw it towards Golug.

"Heracross, I choose you!" he thundered, and his Singlehorn Pokémon flew out of the ball with a flash of light, its curved blue carapace shining in the sunlight as it landed on the battlefield and glared at its opponent, who looked vacantly back.

"A Heracross?" exclaimed Amos, raising an eyebrow. "You're using a _Heracross_ against my Golug?" He burst into laughter, bending over and clutching at his sides, as a large portion of Amos' fans began pointing at Ash and laughing at him as well. "Oh, man, you really haven't got a clue what kind of Pokémon Golug is, do you?" he asked, pretending to wipe a tear away from his eye, and Ash's face scrunched up in anger.

"We'll see who's laughing at the end of this!" he snarled, and Heracross opened its wings and made a horrible buzzing noise in agreement with his Trainer. "Heracross, let's hit Golug hard with your Megahorn!"

"_Hera-kwoh!_" clacked Heracross, raising its horn proudly towards the sky, and it burst into fierce white light before the Bug-type flew over the barren battlefield, arms held wide and determination etched into its expression.

"Iron Defense," Amos instructed, stifling a yawn despite Heracross looming closer to his Pokémon. Golug promptly stood at attention, its body glinting with a dull silver hue and reflecting the sunlight into Heracross' eyes, but the distraction did little to deter the latter, and it drove the point of its horn straight into the Ground-type's chest with a battle cry.

"Yes!" cheered Ash, punching the air, but his celebration was short-lived, because he quickly realised that Heracross' assault had barely scratched Golug; indeed, the Golem Pokémon looked as though it hadn't even noticed the Singlehorn Pokémon's prized weapon pushing against its body. "That's impossible!" Ash gasped, but Amos wagged a finger towards his opponent.

"Don't be so quick to judge, Ash," he tittered, smirking smugly. "Your Megahorn just wasn't effective enough to faze my Golug! And now…" he taunted, eyes glinting under his fringe, "it's _my_ turn! Shadow Punch!" he roared, and Golug's blank eyes flashed once in reply as its fist came hooking around, covered in a ghostly purple shroud. Shaping itself into a copy of its creator's fist, the shroud speared forwards from Golug's hand and smashed into Heracross' cheek, sending it spinning sideways as it crashed into the ground.

"Ash sure seems to be up against the wall at the moment, folks!" yelled Derek. "Amos is outclassing him at every turn, whether it be blasting through a Nosepass, or withstanding Heracross' Megahorn and returning the favour with Shadow Punch, and Ash doesn't seem to have any answers!"

"Heracross, are you alright?" Ash called out, and Heracross defiantly got to its feet, growling loudly as though offended by the question. "That's the spirit!" he grinned, stomping the ground. "Now, let's take to the sky and use Aerial Ace!" he ordered, and the Fighting-type spread its translucent wings and shot into the air like a blue bullet, climbing higher and higher.

"Another Rock Polish, before Heracross swings around!" Amos roared, and Golug once again performed its meditative stance, bronze turning orange as its eyes flashed red, and it stopped its technique just in time to focus on its opponent as the latter wheeled around in the air. Putting on a powerful burst of speed, Heracross shot down towards Golug from the heavens, a veil of white light surrounding its body and trailing behind in its wake.

"Block with Shadow Punch and evade!" commanded Amos, barely moving a muscle as his Golem Pokémon enveloped its hand in pulsating grey energy. As Heracross continued its breakneck descent, Golug threw its fist towards the incoming foe, its Shadow Punch flying off its fist and colliding with the Bug-type in mid-flight, pushing against the raw power of its Aerial Ace. However, Heracross proved too strong for the attack, breaking past the ghostly fist and shredding it to pieces as it bore down towards Golug. Fortunately for the Ground-type, its attack had held back its opponent just long enough, and it was able to easily jump out of the way of Heracross' advances, executing a quick commando roll to regain its feet.

"Look out, Heracross!" Ash warned, but it was too late; Heracross, unable to alter its flight, slammed into the battlefield at full speed, tearing up the ground around its impact and causing plumes of dust to shoot into the sky. "Heracross!" he cried, taking an instinctive step forwards.

"We've got that Heracross right where we want it, Golug!" cheered Amos, raising a hand to his chest. "Now, break it with Earthquake!" he thundered, slicing his thumb across his neck.

"_Gohhh…_" said Golug, raising both fists high into the air.

"Heracross, quick!" Ash bellowed, eyes wide with concern. "Get out of there! Get into the air, now!"

"_Goh…! Goh…! Goh…!_" chanted the Golem Pokémon, its fists thundering against the ground with every hollow echo of its voice. A deep rumble rose up from deep underground, and soon the entire stadium began to shake as the battlefield broke apart, enormous hunks of rock splitting apart and falling into darkness or becoming wedged together and rising into the air with jagged points. Amongst the wreckage and circling dust, nobody could tell whether Heracross had managed to escape the destructive attack, and Ash clenched his fist, hoping against hope.

"_Kwoh!_" came a loud grunt from the centre of the torn field, and a moment later Heracross burst free from underneath its prison of stone, slivers of dirt trailing from its shining shell as it soared high into the sky. Down on ground level, Ash thumped the air with his fist in joy, and the stands exploded with fierce screams of exhilaration as the proud Bug-type spun around, eyes narrowed towards its opponent, and even Amos gave a reluctant smirk at its tenacity.

"Not bad," he conceded, with a shrug of the shoulders.

"Heracross, use Giga Impact!" Ash ordered, and Heracross instantly wrapped itself in a cocoon of pink light, spinning ferociously around its body as the Singlehorn Pokémon dove towards Golug. As the Bug-type picked up speed, a swarm of yellow lines appeared on the pink shell to signal the final stage of the attack, but Amos shook his head knowingly.

"Iron Defense, once again," he instructed to his Pokémon, holding back a derisive laugh towards Ash and Heracross. Golug straightened its form and glinted silver, staying motionless even as Heracross rapidly closed the distance between them, and the metallic glow on its body faded just as its opponent filled the Ground-type's vision and lowered its horn.

_What a moron,_ Amos thought, as, for the second time in the space of a few minutes, Ash's mouth fell wide open in shock, watching as Heracross simply flew straight through Golug's body without making so much as a shred of contact. As Heracross shot into the uneven ground behind his Pokémon's huge frame with a loud bang and a cloud of smoke, he threw his arm forwards and shouted, "Dynamicpunch!"

Moving so fast that it seemed like a blur, Golug spun around lightly on its feet, its arm held aloft as it pounced towards the black haze surrounding its opponent's crash-landing. With a droning roar, the Golem Pokémon brought its glowing white fist smashing against Heracross' stomach, driving all the breath out of the Bug-type's body. Heracross was hurled through the smoke by the amazing force behind the attack, landing in a sprawled heap in the middle of Ash's side of the battlefield, and Amos turned his attention towards his still-stupefied opponent.

"Did I mention that Golug is also part Ghost-type?" he shouted mockingly. "You've been making a lot of bad choices when it comes to trying to fight Golug!"

"Heracross, return!" Ash barked, ignoring Amos' barbs as his confused Bug-type was surrounded by red light and sucked back into its PokéBall. "So Golug is a Ground- and Ghost-type Pokémon…" he thought aloud with a grimace. "That means you won't be able to do much, unfortunately," he told Pikachu, who was shooting tiny sparks of electricity from his cheeks.

"_Pii pika!_" he growled, but Ash shook his head.

"No, I don't want to use Buizel yet…" he muttered, his gaze returning to Amos. "I don't know what it is about him, but… I've got this nagging feeling, something telling me that I should save a Water-type for later in the battle. I can't put my finger on it, but I'm pretty sure Buizel will come in handy further down the track…"

"_Pika…?_" squeaked Pikachu, looking at his Trainer as though the latter had lost his marbles.

"Just trust me on this one, buddy," he said softly, patting Pikachu on the head. "Go, Charizard!" he shouted, tossing his fourth PokéBall onto the field, and with a heady roar his draconic Pokémon appeared, smoke puffing from his nostrils.

"It seems that Golug's constant Dynamicpunch attacks are becoming a bit of a bother for Ash, forcing him into a strategic switch in Charizard!" shouted Derek, as Ash's more diehard fans squealed with excitement at seeing the new combatant. "I can see why Ash has gone for Charizard at this stage in the battle; Charizard was instrumental in his victory in the finals qualifier against Anabel Silver, scoring knockouts against both her Claydol and Espeon in order to advance him to today's battle! But will it be enough to get past Amos' behemoth?"

_It could be…_ Amos thought with a frown. _Golug's Ground-type attacks won't do squat against a Flying-type…_

"Charizard is a good choice," nodded Brock, in a similar vein of thought. "Since it's part Flying-type, Golug's Ground-type attacks won't have any effect, and its Fighting-type attacks won't do very much good, either."

"Don't forget, neither the Fire-type or Flying-type have a bad matchup against Ghost- or Ground-types," Anabel added. "Throw in Charizard's ability to stay in the air, and out of range of Golug's physical attacks—"

"—and Charizard should win!" finished Dawn, thumping a hand against the bench. "Go Ash!" she cheered, and Misty and Anabel quickly joined in, waving their hands and jumping up and down on the spot.

"We need more speed, Golug!" Amos warned, folding his arms and widening his stance in the red Trainer's box. "Time for another Rock Polish!" he roared, and his Golem Pokémon brought its hands together for the third time, its bronze badge and wristbands shining orange as its yellow eyes deepened to crimson, and it gave an echoing roar as it lowered its arms and took a threatening step forwards.

"Flamethrower, Charizard!" ordered Ash, pointing across the battlefield at the Ghost-type, and Charizard eagerly aimed his head towards his colossal opponent, blasting a thick torrent of sizzling red flames through the air. The blaze washed over Golug's body, a multitude of flames licking and scorching its rounded chest, but it quickly broke through the attack with a chopping swing of its powerful arms.

"Shadow Punch!" yelled Amos, choosing the only attack at his disposal without a negative type affinity, and Golug launched a black fist-shape of energy towards Charizard in reply to the latter's Flamethrower, and the attack caught the Flame Pokémon on the tip of his snout. Staggering backwards and snarling in pain, Charizard tried to regain its balance, but Amos had other ideas. "Now, use Dynamicpunch!" he commanded, going on the offensive, and Golug bolted across the broken battlefield at amazing speed, fist aglow and aloft.

"Stay out of Golug's range, Charizard, and get in the air!" Ash ordered. Charizard spread his canopy-like wings wide and tensed his legs against the ground, leaping into the air just as Golug bore down upon him, and the Ground-type's attack fell well short of its intended target, barely troubling the Fire-type as it rose higher in the sky above its foe. "Now, another Flamethrower!" shouted Ash, and Charizard's maw shone red as it spewed a jet of fire straight down, ploughing into Golug's head and fanning out over its shoulders.

Golug moaned in distress as the incredible heat of its opponent's Flamethrower seared against its body, and it tried to back away from the flames, losing its balance on the broken ground and falling flat on its back. Amos gritted his teeth as he felt the earth beneath his feet shake from the impact of his Pokémon's topple, and the crowd rose to its feet in excitement, shattering the air with cheers and applause.

"Great job!" grinned Ash, giving Charizard a proud thumbs-up.

"We're not done yet!" countered Amos furiously. "Golug, get back up!" he ordered, and the Golem Pokémon hastily picked itself up off the ground, yellow eyes glowing. "If Charizard's going to stay in the sky, then chase it up there and smack it with Dynamicpunch!" he roared, and Golug bowed its thick legs before jumping towards Charizard, reaching high into the sky as though gliding on the air currents as it reached for the Flying-type with eager hands.

"Dragon Claw!" Ash shouted, taken by surprise at Golug's incredible leap. Speeding down to meet the Ghost-type head-on, Charizard readied a glowing, razor-sharp claw, and with a roar it delivered a vicious slash across Golug's body. However, only a moment earlier, Golug had raised an arm in front of its chest to take the full force of the attack, and although it winced as Charizard's attack raked over its forearm, it left the rest of its torso unscathed.

The Flame Pokémon's eyes widened, though, when he saw a large white shape swinging out of nowhere, and before he had time to blink he was struck in the shoulder by Golug's rocketing Dynamicpunch. Golug slipped away from its injured opponent, sticking a perfect and lithe landing on the ground as its legs absorbed the shock of the fall, but Charizard wasn't nearly as graceful, thudding unsteadily onto Ash's side of the field with unfocused eyes, his head shaking about wildly on his long neck.

"It looks like Golug has gone three from three when it comes to landing a Dynamicpunch on its opponent!" shouted Derek, as the crowd roared with joy. "Ash and Charizard definitely took the offensive early with a flurry of flames, and it paid off when Golug was forced on the back foot and the back _side_! But, to Amos' credit, Golug struck back with its powerful fists, and now Charizard is suffering from the confusion effects of Dynamicpunch!"

"Charizard!" Ash cried, looking on in concern as Charizard snarled in anger at some unseen distress. "Come on, Charizard, you can do it! Snap out of it!" he pleaded, but the Fire-type bashed his head against the ground with a thick crack, either unable to hear his Trainer or unable to break free from its dilemma.

"If you can't damage Charizard with Earthquake, then you can at least _bury_ it with one, Golug!" bellowed Amos, and Golug smashed its long arms into the ground. The battlefield, already fractured by the Golem Pokémon's previous quakes, was torn almost to shreds by the destructive vibrations, sending some spears of rock flying high into the air as others caved away and disappeared under the arena. Charizard roared in blind rage as it felt the arena shift under its wobbling legs, but the next moment it vanished, swallowed up by the earth as it simply fell apart.

A suspenseful hush fell over Stadium One as the seconds crawled slowly by, and Ash's hands balled into tight fists as he waited for some kind of sign, any sign, that Charizard had regained his senses, somewhere underneath the pile of rubble upon which he had stood only a few moments before. Ash screwed his eyes shut and bowed his head, silently willing his Pokémon on with all his strength, and his eyes shot wide open when he heard the faintest echo of a rumble below, growing louder and louder with each second.

"Come on…" he growled, feeling the ground tremble underfoot. "Come on…!"

"What the…?" muttered Amos, watching a trail of pebbles jangle about next to his shoe like rice on a loudspeaker. His eyes darted back to the battlefield, focusing intently on the stony ruin above Ash's Pokémon as it began to glow red, only to be blinded by a white-hot flash of light as the rocks were incinerated. An imposing shadow rose up from the ground like a creature returning from the grave, surrounded by a vortex of flames, and an almighty roar tore through the stadium as Ash thumped his fist against the air.

"I knew you had it in you, Charizard!" he shouted merrily, shielding his eyes from the glare with his arm as the Fire-type touched down in the centre of the large crater beneath its feet. "Now, hit Golug with Steel Wing!"

"_Grrrguuuuughh!_" snarled Charizard, eyes blazing like the flame on his tail as he launched himself forwards, wings glowing like molten silver. The Flame Pokémon savagely clubbed Golug across its head with his shining wingtip, and the Golem Pokémon cried out in agony as it fell backwards, arms flailing comically as it crashed into the ground. Charizard roared in triumph as he climbed high into the air and spouted a stream of fire, rejoicing in his victory before landing in front of his celebrating Trainer.

"We're not finished yet!" Amos thundered, blinking furiously to get his eyesight back, and Golug slowly tried to pick itself up from the ground, managing to get on one knee and supporting its enormous weight with both arms. "Get up, Golug!" he roared, the Ghost-type groaning with effort as it stood upright, but Amos could see that his Pokémon was fast running out of strength, its body littered with scratches and scorch marks.

"I don't believe it! Golug is _still_ standing after that sickeningly strong Steel Wing to the temple!" exclaimed Derek, the crowd filling the air with wild screams. "But what's even more unbelievable is Charizard's explosive escape from its makeshift burial chamber; I don't think I've seen anything quite like it!"

"You can say that again," Dawn giggled.

"Take Golug down with Dragon Claw!" Ash roared, pointing at the battered Golem Pokémon, and Charizard puffed a cloud of smoke from its nostrils, wings snapping wide open as it swooped low over the ground with its sharpened claws gleaming a brilliant white.

"Dynamicpunch!" commanded Amos. Despite its injuries, Golug charged across the arena at full speed with its fist held high and proud, glowing just as brightly as Charizard's claws. Roaring fit to tear the heavens, the two Pokémon locked eyes as they raced towards the centre of the battlefield, and the crowd held their breath as the titans clashed.

* * *

**And the battle is underway! Hopefully it was a dynamic start to the showdown, seeing as how I'm a bit rusty on my battle scenes.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, or hasn't but will, and also to anyone who reviewed the chapters before it. Reviews are always welcome.**

**Pondering anything about the people, Pokémon, proficiencies, possibilities? Put it in a review.**

**Chapter 103, titled Electric Candy, will contain part two of the Ash-Amos fight. No promises on a release date, though, since I've got several university projects to work on, and they'll be taking most - if not all - of my time until the end of the month. So we'll just play things by ear.**

**So, until next time, be sure to review, and, as always...**

**Keep up the good work!  
**


	103. Electric Candy

**CHAPTER 103 – ELECTRIC CANDY**

"Dynamicpunch!" Amos roared, his colossal Golem Pokémon leaping over the dusty battlefield towards its foe, and its fist shone with destructive power as Ash's Charizard narrowed his eyes and cocked its claws back.

"Do a barrel roll!" shouted Ash, punching the air as a devious smirk curled his lip. Countless jaws fell agape in surprise at the order, not the least of which was Amos, caught completely by surprise as Charizard's wings flicked to the side and spun it effortlessly along its side, leaving Golug's giant hand to smash through nothing more than the empty air underneath the Fire-type's belly. With a chorus of stunned cheers from the crowd echoing across the arena, Charizard swiftly slashed its glowing claws into its foe's tough body.

A set of wicked gouges splayed themselves across Golug's torso, the Ghost-type groaning in pain as it lurched from the force of the blow, arms flailing helplessly at its sides as the ground rushed up to meet its falling head, and a moment later it fell into darkness with a huge puff of dust. His Pokémon lying face-down in the dirt, Amos' mouth contorted into a frown bordering on disgust, while his opponent on the other side of the field whooped with delight, and the referee had little hesitation in skying his green flag in Ash's direction.

"Golug is unable to battle!" he declared. Almost at once, the stands rose to their feet with glee, applause for the heated exchange thundering down from every direction, and Charizard triumphantly blasted a torrent of bright orange flames into the sky, seeming to enjoy the crowd's reaction.

"Such a thrilling conclusion!" bellowed Derek, egging on the crowd's excitement. "Golug was starting to look as though it might be the bane of Ash's battle here today, but Charizard was the bane of Golug! It shouldn't be that surprising to the trained eye, folks; if you're in Ash's position and you need to pull out a power player, you might as well use the Pokémon that's gotten the result in your big battles in the past!"

"Looks like Derek's done his research," Brock chuckled, thinking back to Ash's blockbuster battle with Gary in the finals of Johto's Silver Conference.

"But even if it's not surprising, that doesn't mean it wasn't exciting!" the commentator continued, liberally thumping his desk with his fist. "After breaking out of that rocky tomb like a creature from beyond the grave, Charizard stayed strong and put Golug out of commission with a Steel Wing and a precision Dragon Claw! I'm not sure what Pokémon Amos has to counter with, but whatever he chooses, it had better be a doozy, because Charizard is looking in top-notch form! And doesn't he know it!" he added with a grin, as the Flame Pokémon stomped its feet against the softened ground.

"Don't get cocky, you flying newt," Amos sniped, calling Golug back to its PokéBall with a flash of red light. "You may be packing a bit of heat, Ash, but it's going to take more than that to get past my _next_ Pokémon!" he warned, replacing his fallen Pokémon's ball with a new one and enlarging it in the palm of his hand.

"Oh, yeah?" Ash barked, eyebrows knitted with his usual competitive streak. "How about you put your money where your mouth is?"

"Gladly!" Amos sneered, hurling the PokéBall into the fray. "Sableye, it's time to ground and pound!" he roared, and a burst of white erupted on the ground. The spindly, gemstone-riddled form of his Dark-type appeared atop the rubble created by Golug's Earthquake, its tiny clawed fingers flexing eagerly and its diamond eyes twinkling maliciously as it spotted its upcoming foe. Charizard returned the gesture just as enthusiastically, puffing a cloud of smoke from its nostrils and stretching its wings to full spread.

"Looks like those two can't wait to get at it," said Anabel, rocking her legs back and forth.

"Are you talking about Charizard and Sableye, or Ash and Amos?" Dawn asked with a giggle, and Misty – and soon the whole crowd – joined in the laughter as a close-up of Ash's face appeared on the stadium's huge side-screen, concentrating so hard it looked like he was about to lay a particularly large egg.

"How about you actually try and attack me, Ash?" Amos taunted, eyes glinting under his fringe as he folded his arms, and Ash bared his teeth.

"Gladly!" he hissed, pointing across the battlefield at Sableye. "Charizard, Steel Wing!" he ordered.

"_Rguuugh!_" growled the Fire-type, launching itself into the air and sweeping low over the scarred arena, and its wings turned white as it homed in on its opponent. Sableye lightly bounced itself on the balls of its feet, glinting teeth drawn in a wicked smile even as Charizard's imposing figure closed in, waiting for its Trainer's command.

"Your attacks are so obvious, I probably don't even _need_ to tell Sableye this," Amos jeered, shaking his head, "but just to be on the safe side, use Detect!" he shouted, and his Darkness Pokémon spun away from Charizard as the latter viciously slashed at the air with his wing, sailing a hair wide of the Ghost-type's jewelled face. Angered, Charizard tried the attack again, but Sableye's reflexes kept it one step ahead, sidestepping and pirouetting out of danger's way.

"You'll have to do better than that, Ash!" shouted Amos haughtily. Sableye beckoned towards its opponent with a raised hand, in the same frame of mind as its Trainer, and quickly reverted to a combat stance, waiting.

Ash gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists, falling for the obvious taunt despite himself. "Time for a Flamethrower, Charizard!" he bellowed, and the Fire-type threw himself across the battlefield, eyes locked onto the imp-like Pokémon staring him down as a well of yellow light formed and rumbled in his maw.

"Counter with Shadow Sneak!" cried Amos, the words barely escaping him before the jet of orange flames blasted forth from his opponent's Pokémon. The slash of a smile on Sableye's face disappeared as it felt the scorching heat speeding towards it, and its body faded into black, a shadowy circle on the ground as Charizard's Flamethrower sailed through the air above and fizzled out. Before anybody had time to blink or cheer, though, the shadow flickered and vanished, only to reappear at the Flame Pokémon's feet, and Sableye leapt up from the darkened patch to slash at its foe with sharp claws.

A pained howl erupted from Charizard as he felt the Dark-type's claws rake over his neck, and he staggered backwards to escape another vicious swipe. Wincing together with his Pokémon, and undeterred Ash threw his arm forwards. "Dragon Claw!"

Planting his foot into the ground, Charizard's eyes swept towards his opponent, the claw hidden at his side glowing a fierce white. Without warning, he pushed off and threw himself at the Darkness Pokémon, an arm raised high as the Fire-type intended to return the pains of his neck in kind.

"Confuse Ray!" barked Amos, and Sableye's devious grin returned in a flash as it lobbed a jagged ball of black light straight into Charizard's draconic face. Blinded, Charizard's wingbeats became clumsy as he thrashed his head from side to side, unable to see where he was going, and his arm shot forwards in a wide arc, cutting a deep trench in the ground with his attack. Considerably far away from its opponent, Sableye's grin grew even wider as it felt the slight vibrations against its feet, and Ash grimaced as his Pokémon continued to shake his head.

"Charizard, snap out of it!" he pleaded hopefully, but the Fire-type's PokéBall was clenched in his hand as a precaution, in case his words couldn't break through. "Get your head back in the battle and use Flamethrower!"

A wry smirk twisted onto Amos' face. "Dark Pulse!" he roared, eyes glittering.

"_Sabul!_" grunted Sableye, and a spinning jet of velvet-coloured rings spat forth from its outstretched hands, catapulting into Charizard's large frame and exploding on contact with a colossal bang. Charizard was sent hurtling backwards from the force of the blast, on a collision course with the boundary wall behind Ash, but the latter quickly held out his PokéBall and expertly trained it on the fast-moving Fire-type.

"Return!" he shouted, resigned to the outcome as Charizard was sucked back into the ball with a flash of red light. _Well, at least I managed to stop Charizard from slamming into the wall like a pancake…_ he thought, trying to stay positive as he clipped the PokéBall to its latch, but a high, cold laugh from the other side of the battlefield boiled his blood, and he turned his attention to his opponent with a dark scowl.

"Don't tell me you can't keep up now, Ash!" Amos taunted, and his mocking words were echoed by the jeers of his numerous supporters. The chant of '_Ash stinks_' rose around the stadium, as thousands upon thousands of spectators pointed their fingers at Ash and jeered, but Ash shut the offending slogan out of his mind and turned his head to the faithful Pokémon on his shoulder, whose ears perked up at the glance.

"Feel like showing them all who's _really_ setting the pace, Pikachu?" he asked with a grin, but he knew there was no need to ask such a question; the fierce look on Pikachu's face was all the answer he needed. With arcs of electricity shooting out of his cheeks, and a chorus of excited cheers drowning out the jeering mantra as Ash's fans realised what was happening, the Electric-type jumped down from his Trainer's shoulders and ran onto the field.

"An interesting choice for the battle to come, folks!" noted Derek, his voice booming around the stadium from the loudspeakers. "After watching his Charizard take a small beating from Amos' Sableye and its devilish attacks, Ash has recalled Charizard and sent out his trademark Pokémon, Pikachu! As many of you will no doubt notice, a Dark-Ghost dual-type Pokémon like Sableye has no direct weaknesses with regard to type, so Ash must have a different reason for sending Pikachu into the fray… perhaps he thinks that Pikachu's compact size – and its resulting advantages in speed – will prove useful against Sableye! Who knows?"

Down on the stadium floor, Amos looked clearly surprised at Ash's choice in Pokémon. "I've got to agree with the guy upstairs on this one, Ash…" he said loudly, scratching his cheek with a slight sideways tilt of the head as he looked at Pikachu. "I'm not a hundred per-cent sure why you'd go with that yellow rat of yours!" he added, and an indignant Pikachu blasted a bolt of electricity from his cheeks into the ground.

"What are you talking about, Amos?" Ash asked, taking a threatening step forwards in his Trainer's Box, but Amos merely chuckled.

"Pikachu's your ace in the hole, isn't it?" he shouted back. "So you should be saving it for last!"

"Why would I save Pikachu for last and leave him out, instead of putting him into the battle when he can make the most impact?" Ash retorted, brow furrowed at Amos' logic. "I might miss out on a great advantage if I keep my best held back until it's too late!" he added, and his argument was met with cheers of delight from the crowd, bringing a tiny smile to his opponent's stern face.

"Whatever," he said, shrugging. "But don't get me wrong, Ash; I'm more than happy for you and Pikachu to come at me right now! You'd better show me everything the two of you have got, just like last time…! But it had better be as good as I'm expecting, because your Pikachu looks a lot fiercer than I remember!" he shouted, and for the first time since the battle began, Ash saw some exhilaration creeping onto Amos' face.

"'_Just like last time'_?" Ash repeated dully. "I still don't get it, though; where have we met before?" he asked, somewhat desperately, as Pikachu and Sableye exchanged glares on the field.

Amos gave a raucous laugh. "Geez, you still don't get it, do you?" he asked, and he pointed straight across the field. Ash raised an eyebrow in confusion, thinking that Amos' finger was aimed at him, but after a moment or two he realised that he was actually pointing to his friends, sitting on the bench behind him.

"Here's a little hint for you!" Amos continued, snickering knowingly. "You were with the slit-eye and the bitchy redhead!"

"_BITCHY_?" Misty shrieked, leaping to her feet in outrage and looking seconds away from committing bloody murder. "How about I come over there and show you how '_bitchy'_ I can _really_ get!" she roared, stomping towards the battlefield, but she was yanked backwards off her feet by Brock, pulling firmly on her ear and dragging her to the bench. Throwing curses at him, but ultimately getting nowhere as her backside was forced back onto her seat, she managed to contain herself and instead shoot the filthiest of looks at Amos, who grunted with indifference.

"Oh, just let it go," Brock snapped, tugging painfully on her ear. Once she had turned away from the field in a huffy silence, he leant over to Max and added deviously, "I've been waiting for years to finally have a good reason to get back at her with that!"

Ignoring Max's unimpressed expression, he turned back to the battlefield and cupped his hands over his mouth. "Ash!" he called out, grabbing his friend's attention. "Don't let whatever Amos says get to you; if you let him distract you, he's gonna take advantage of that! You need to be focusing on how Pikachu is going to knock Sableye out!" he advised.

"Right!" Ash replied, flashing a thumbs-up before turning to the field again. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" he ordered.

"_Piiii…kaaaaa…chuuuuu!_" growled Pikachu, his body surrounded with yellow light as he shot a jagged beam of lightning over the stadium.

"Block that attack with your Night Shade!" Amos barked. A shroud of black-purple light wrapped itself around Sableye, and it, too, blasted a jagged bolt of lightning across the battlefield, although the light from its was dark as pitch, unlike Pikachu's rich yellow. The two attacks speared into each other at the centre of the arena, shredding the air with a powerful explosion that kicked up a cloud of dust between the two sides of the field.

Ash tensed, expecting an attack from Amos, waiting for his Sableye to come charging through the sandy cloud at any moment, but when the dust finally settled onto the ground, he was taken aback when he saw that the Darkness Pokémon hadn't moved an inch from its position. _If I didn't know better, I'd say it was frozen to the spot,_ he thought with a rueful laugh under his breath.

"Try a Quick Attack this time!" he told Pikachu, and the Electric-type set off at once, shooting over the field like a yellow-and-white blur as a trail of light followed in its wake. Glancing quickly at Amos as Pikachu darted to the left and straightened on his path, he suppressed a triumphant grin when he saw the one on his opponent's face, obviously thinking that a Normal-type move like Quick Attack would have no effect on Sableye.

_And he'd be right, of course_, he thought, _but I'm not going for a Quick Attack…!_ As Pikachu closed down the distance to his foe, whose only movement was its steady breath, Ash made his move. "Swing into an Iron Tail!" he roared.

"What?" exclaimed Amos, an order already half-formed in his mouth, but it was far too late: Pikachu had already spun himself about on his small feet and whipped his glowing white tail around in a wide arc. With a sharp whack that drew hisses and winces from the large crowd, Pikachu's Iron Tail smashed into Sableye's shoulder, and the Dark-type was knocked back towards its Trainer before crashing into the ground in a heap.

Amos clicked his tongue in mild annoyance as his Pokémon hurriedly clambered back to its feet. "I guess that's what I get for being so underestimating," he said casually with another shrug of the shoulders. "But if that's your best shot…" he teased.

"Thunderbolt, again!" Ash shouted.

"Night Shade, again!" countered Amos.

As before, the two Pokémon roared with ferocity as a pair of glowing spires rocketed towards each other from opposite ends of the battlefield, the crowd screaming with enjoyment as the attacks collided in the air and exploded with a blinding white flash that made Pikachu and Sableye both shield their eyes from the glare. Holding his arm above his eyes to do the same, Ash was suddenly struck with an idea as he watched the two Pokémon recover from the light.

"Amos!" he barked, forcing an icy expression onto his face. "Here's an idea! Just to make things interesting… I'll let you and your Sableye have _one_ free shot on Pikachu!"

"What?" chorused his friends on the bench, and the air was suddenly buzzing with similar exclamations from the crowd, many of whom were wondering if Ash had suddenly lost his mind. Even Pikachu turned around and faced his Trainer, incredulous and almost offended that he would say something like that at such a stage in the battle. In fact, the only person in the stadium, besides Ash, who wasn't surprised by what he said was Amos.

"I couldn't possibly take advantage of such a stupid offer…!" he said nonchalantly, waving his hand towards Ash dismissively. "It'd be unsportsmanlike, and you might be setting me up for some kind of trap."

"You've got my word that it's no trap or trick, Amos…" Ash replied softly, "in fact…!" With that, he folded his arms and turned his back on his opponent, causing a fresh round of gasps to sound from the stands.

"Ash, are you _insane_?" screamed Misty, quickly joined, albeit less passionately, by Max, Dawn and Anabel, the foursome shouting for Ash to turn around and look at the battlefield right away. Brock, however, suddenly snapped his fingers and grinned from ear to ear, a movement that wasn't missed by his fellows, who immediately rounded on him.

"Look," he said, before any of them could open their mouths at him, and he pointed across the stadium at Amos and Sableye, neither of whom had moved since Ash had about-faced on them. "Sableye hasn't budged since it threw that Night Shade at Pikachu's Thunderbolt."

"So?" Misty snarled hot-headedly.

"When the Thunderbolt and Night Shade attacks collided with each other, the light from the explosion forced Pikachu and Sableye to cover their eyes from being blinded, right?" he continued, and his question was met with vague nods and vacant stares. "A Sableye can naturally have one of two special abilities, which are known as Keen Eye and Stall. Max, you know what Keen Eye does, don't you?" he asked the youngster knowingly, and the latter's encyclopaedic knowledge kicked into gear before he could help himself.

"Pokémon with Keen Eye aren't affected by anything that would cause it to lose its accuracy," he answered, almost robotically, before his eyes widened in disbelief.

Brock nodded at Max's reaction, before turning to the blank-faced girls, who clearly weren't following. "If Sableye had to shield its eyes from the explosion, then Keen Eye can't be its special ability, because it wouldn't need to worry about being blinded if it was."

"Okay, so Sableye's special ability has to be Stall…" Anabel deduced, "but what's so '_special_' about it that it would make Ash turn around and ignore his opponent in the middle of a finals battle?" she asked aggressively, flailing an arm in Ash's direction, where he was still standing with his back to Amos.

"Stall…" Brock muttered, "is a special ability that prevents a Pokémon from being the first to attack," he informed them. "It means that Amos can't give Sableye an attack order to carry out until _after_ Ash has done the same to Pikachu," he explained, and the realisation soon dawned on them.

"That's all well and good," Dawn said, a little half-heartedly, "but that means that Pikachu is the only one vulnerable to counter-attacks."

"Who cares about counter-attacks?" said Misty, suddenly cheerier. "As long as Sableye's out on the field, Ash is going to be the one who dictates the flow of battle!"

Out on the battlefield, Amos raised his hands from his sides and slowly clapped them together. "Congratulations, Ash," he said dryly, continuing the applause for a few more moments. "You figured out my Pokémon's one big fatal flaw, and you weren't as slow as you usually are about these sorts of things. But," he added with a confident smirk, "even knowing that still won't be enough to get past Sableye."

_I kind of have to agree with him on that one,_ Ash thought worriedly, turning around to face his opponent again as Derek's commentary blared through the loudspeakers. _Knowing about Sableye's Stall handicap doesn't get me much closer to beating it… and then there's that irritating Shadow Sneak attack… but I haven't come this far to back off now!_

"Pikachu, I think we should try a move we haven't used in a long time!" Ash called out, his competitive grin returning. "Time for Agility!"

"_Pi-ka!_" squeaked Pikachu with a nod, and for a moment afterwards, it seemed as though the Electric-type had disappeared off the face of the earth. Amos frantically scanned the arena for a sign of the Pokémon, and after a few seconds he saw it racing over the scarred battlefield at a pace so frighteningly fast he was having trouble keeping the mouse in his field of vision.

"Looking good, Pikachu!" Ash cheered. "Now add a Volt Tackle into the mix and hit Sableye with everything you've got!" he ordered, and a blurred mass of yellow light erupted into life on the field, Pikachu at the centre of it all as he charged towards Sableye with fierce intent.

"Sableye, use Sh—!" Amos broke off midway through his order, his cautious eyes noticing the sparks of electricity being sucked into the ground. _If I use Shadow Sneak to dodge that Volt Tackle, the excess electricity that's getting grounded might end up hurting Sableye… oh, well…!_ "Detect!" he thundered.

"_Sasa!_" muttered Sableye, diamond eyes glinting yellow as Pikachu homed in on it like a missile, and it tensed its legs like a spring. A split second before it was mown down by Pikachu's attack, the Dark-type jumped high into the air, its foe charging harmlessly underneath, and the Electric-type tripped up under the overwhelming momentum of its Volt Tackle, crashing into the ground and sliding helplessly across the arena.

"Ooh, that's gonna leave a mark!" howled Derek, and Amos' fans let their cheers be heard as Sableye landed lightly on the field. "Not only did Sableye avoid Pikachu's most powerful attack, but the high-risk high-return Volt Tackle causes Pikachu to take some hurt with each use!"

"Come on, Ash, you can do it!" shouted Max, waving his arms about. "Just remember, each successive use of Detect lowers its chances of working!"

"That's not what I'm worried about, Max!" Ash replied, still facing the arena. _There's got to be a way to get past its St—!_ His mouth dropped open as an idea flew into his mind like one of Pikachu's lightning bolts. _No way… it can't be that simple…!_ he thought, trying to think of the flaw that he must not have seen, but without any coming to him, he raised two fingers to his mouth and gave a piercing whistle.

As the high note rang out through the stadium, all eyes suddenly focused back on Ash, most in confusion, but Ash was only looking for the small pair of eyes on the field belonging to Pikachu. The Electric-type was looking at his Trainer, just as puzzled as everyone else in Stadium One, but Ash did little to ease the confusion, as he started flailing his arms about and pointing at something over the Pokémon's back.

_Come on, Pikachu… get over there!_ Ash silently willed his Pokémon, and after several more foolish-looking gestures, Pikachu finally understood his intentions and hopped across the battlefield until he was standing directly in front of Sableye. Pikachu held the Ghost-type in his fierce gaze, but Sableye simply looked at the empty space above its foe's head with a blank stare, seemingly unaware of its opponent's presence.

"I knew it…!" muttered Ash under his breath, with a small pump of his fist. On the other side of the stadium, though, Amos was less than happy, his face twisted into a hateful scowl as he, too, understood what Ash's plan was.

"You manipulative bastard…" he seethed, quickly turning his attention to the referee on the sidelines. "Hey, you!" he roared, and the man started in fright. "There's got to be something wrong with what he's doing, right? He's trying to give a non-verbal order!"

"Sorry," said the referee unsympathetically, "but there's technically nothing wrong with whistling and moving your arms. In fact, I don't see why you don't just attack _first_," he added coolly, and Amos resisted the urge to throw a shoe at him and simply waited in his Trainer's Box, arms folded as he endured several choice taunts from Misty, who was enjoying what she saw as revenge for earlier.

"You might as well recall Sableye now, Amos," Ash suggested, smirking.

"Recall Sableye?" Amos echoed, laughing cruelly at the thought. "If I do that, I'll have to send it out again anyways, maybe against an even healthier Pokémon. Even then, you'll still know how to defeat it with the same tricks! There's no point in me running backwards like _you_ did with your Heracross…" he added silkily, and Ash tightened his fists in anger.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" he roared. Amos didn't even have time to open his mouth again; Pikachu's blinding attack seared into its target at point-blank range, sizzling the Ghost-type and forcing it down into the ground, one knee dug into the ground as it bowed its head from the pain. As the flashing yellow light faded around the two Pokémon, electricity continued to circle over Sableye, crackling ominously as the Darkness Pokémon tried, and failed, to get back on both feet.

"It looks like this could be the end for Sableye!" mused Derek, now resting his feet on the desk and leaning back in his comfortable chair. "Ash has figured out Amos' strategy, discovered Sableye's weakness, and now his Pikachu has paralysed it with a close-quarters Thunderbolt attack! I'm not sure how Sableye can get out of this jam, especially considering that Amos doesn't seem to want to call it back!"

"And that's what's gonna cost you!" Ash roared, throwing his arm forwards. "Finish Sableye off with Iron Tail!" he ordered.

"_Pii…_" grunted Pikachu, jumping high into the air as his tail became a jagged spike of silver. A struggling Sableye managed to tilt its head to the sky, yellow foe reflected in its diamond eyes, before those eyes flicked backwards at its Trainer as if asking for a command. Amos's eyes seemed to harden at the sight of his Pokémon's imploring gaze, and with pursed lips the Trainer folded his arms, leaving his Pokémon with no option but to watch on as Pikachu blocked out the sun and brought its tail down.

"_Ka-CHU!_"

With a resounding thud, Pikachu's tail crashed into Sableye's cheek, the Ghost-type mown down into the ground with crushing force as a cloud of dust flew into the air. The spectators in the front few rows shrank back as they heard the sound of the Iron Tail make contact, but they quickly surged forwards in their seats as the dust parted, revealing Sableye half-driven into the ground as a multitude of earthen cracks shot out from around its body.

"Sableye is unable to battle!" shouted the referee, with a flourish of the green flag towards Ash, who jumped with joy and punched the air with his outstretched fist.

"What a disappointment," Amos grunted, loudly enough that his voice carried throughout the stadium, and, ignoring the stony looks thrown his way, he returned Sableye to its PokéBall in a flash of red light and fastened it to his belt.

"How can you say something like that, huh?" Ash shouted, all happiness from his small victory evaporated. "Your Pokémon battles its heart out, and you repay it by standing by and doing nothing while it gets taken out like that! What kind of Trainer does that to his Pokémon and has the nerve to call it a disappointment?"

"It's not your business what I do with my Pokémon," snapped Amos icily. "I've trained them to be the toughest they can be, and they know that anything less than complete victory is a failure in my books. And if that seems cruel or unfair to others," he added, a muscle twitching in his jaw, "then that means I'm doing my job right!"

Ash shook his head, almost pityingly at his opponent's reasoning, but Amos ignored the gesture as he threw a PokéBall onto the arena. With a flash of light, his Swalot returned to the battlefield, meagre arcs of electricity still sparking here and there on its bloated figure, courtesy of Nosepass' Zap Cannon in its first appearance. Seeing the handicapped Pokémon reappear on the other side of the arena, Ash opened his mouth to question Amos' choice, but decided against it.

_Wouldn't be worth getting into an argument with him about it,_ he thought, clicking his tongue. _And it might mean I can go into the intermission with only Donphan out of the battle…!_ "Pikachu!" he barked, beckoning with his hand, and the Electric-type quickly bounded back to his Trainer's side of the battlefield, wheeling around to face Swalot. "Use Thunderbolt!" he roared.

"This again?" Amos snorted, as Pikachu's body was engulfed in yellow light. "Well, I guess if you're going to flog a dead Horsea, I might as well do the same thing in return. Swalot, defend with Stockpile!" he commanded, and Swalot's cavernous mouth opened wide just as Pikachu fired a thick bolt of lightning that tore across the battlefield with fearsome intensity. For a moment, it looked as though the Poison-type was going to swallow the attack, but with a loud vacuuming noise, Swalot inflated its body and shut its mouth, leaving Pikachu's blast to spear against it and bounce off almost immediately.

"Quick Attack!" shouted Ash, pointing at the Poison Bag Pokémon before the last flash of yellow had disappeared off the latter's rubbery hide. Dutifully, Pikachu raced across the broken field at full pace, streaks of light forming in his wake as he seemed to flicker and reform with every stride.

"Put that rat's pace in its place with Seed Bomb!" Amos yelled, and Swalot's bloated form spat a wide array of glowing green orbs towards its opponent. With each agile movement Pikachu made to dodge one volley of attacks, the Poison-type replaced it with another, and a cloud of dust shot into the air each time the projectiles missed their target by a hair, but the small Electric-type was ultimately unscathed. At full sprint, Pikachu jumped at his foe and delivered a solid head-butt, but, just like his Thunderbolt had done only a moment before, he was thrown backwards by Swalot's elastic body.

"Pikachu!" cried Ash, as his Pokémon hit the dirt.

On the other side of the battlefield, Amos threw his head back and laughed at Pikachu's attempted assault. "Swalot, beef up with Stockpile again!" he shouted, holding back more laughter as Pikachu quickly regained his feet, but his vision of the Pokémon became obscured as his own Pokémon swelled up again.

"You still good to keep going, Pikachu?" Ash asked, and Pikachu gave a fierce nod in reply, sparks shooting into the ground from his cheeks. "Alright!" he shouted, with a determined grin playing at his face. "Time for an Iron Tail, and aim at Swalot's head!"

"_Pika!_" growled Pikachu, leaping high with his tail aglow, ready to send it crashing against his foe's skull.

"Acid Armor!" Amos ordered, and Swalot's body transformed into a pool of purple sludge just in time to avoid being dealt a heavy blow by Pikachu's Iron Tail. Cheers rang out through the crowd at the innovative evasion, but Ash's lip curled upwards as the Poison-type steadily dripped down onto the battlefield.

"Now, Thunderbolt!" he roared, punching the air in front of him. Spinning around in mid-air, Pikachu curled up his body and sent a dazzling bolt of jagged yellow straight down towards the field, and there was a hideous, gargled moan from the puddle that was Swalot as it was blasted with the full force of its foe's attack. The pain of the electric shock forced the Poison-type back into solid form, unable to hold its Acid Amor any longer, as sparks of lightning continued to circle around it, an unwelcome reminder to Amos of his Pokémon's condition.

"Swalot, another Stockpile!" he snarled, and the Poison Bag Pokémon shook of its debilitating paralysis and expanded its stomach for the third time since being summoned, now looking like a giant purple balloon with yellow whiskers.

_That's the third time Swalot's used Stockpile, now,_ Ash thought, having kept note of when Amos had ordered the move. _That means he's either about to unleash a Spit Up attack, or he's about to heal with Swallow… but either way…_

"Whoa, referee!" he shouted, flailing his arms in the official's direction. "Time-out! Can I call Pikachu back?" he requested, tapping his fingers against his opposite palm in the typical T-shape, and the referee gave a quick nod. "Pikachu, come back," he told his Pokémon, somewhat redundantly, but Pikachu returned to his Trainer's side nonetheless, nimbly hopping back to his post on Ash's shoulder.

"You're not running scared, are you?" Amos snickered, but Ash ignored the taunt as he threw a PokéBall skyward.

"Nosepass, time for another round!" he roared, almost enjoying Amos' grin as he watched it slide off his face like spilt oil. With a flash, the Compass Pokémon returned to the battlefield, swinging its stubby arms to and fro as a merry, low-pitched buzz echoed from its large nose. "Try out a Rock Tomb!" Ash ordered.

"_Noooosepass,_" hummed the Rock-type, jumping once on the spot. As its feet made contact with the ground, a heavy tremor rumbled throughout the battlefield, and the earth around Swalot began to shift and split apart.

"Swallow, quick!" Amos barked, and Swalot managed to shrink its size just as a massive ring of boulders speared up from underground. The Poison Bag Pokémon's rapidly deflating body missed the rocks with barely a moment to spare, but any sign of its lucky escape was obscured from the Trainers on the field by the circle of stones which now towered around Swalot.

"You think Nosepass landed a hit?" asked Dawn, only to be met with blank stares from the others before they turned back to the arena, waiting for the outcome to be revealed.

"Spray those annoying rocks with Seed Bomb!" shouted Amos, and a moment later the obstacles were levelled by a barrage of green light. Swalot's balloon-like form emerged from the dust of the wreckage, looking almost completely uninjured by its opponent's Rock Tomb, and the spectators supporting Amos let that support be known with a wave of impassioned cheers, while Ash's companions on the bench groaned with disappointment.

"Looks like I'll have to do better than that," Ash grunted under his breath, fists clenched.

"Keep that Seed Bomb going strong, Swalot!" Amos ordered, throwing his arm forwards, and the Poison-type blasted another array of tiny green bombs through the air, this time aiming squarely for Nosepass as it stood motionless in front of its Trainer.

"I don't think so, Amos!" snarled Ash. "Nosepass, use Harden!" he ordered, and Nosepass glinted a dull grey in the sunlight in response. Swalot's attack bashed against the Rock-type with brutal force, exploding against its body with a blossoming plume of smoke, but Nosepass refused to budge an inch against the assault despite the damage. "Excellent hustle!" Ash cheered, pumping his fist. "Now counter with Power Gem!"

"Acid Armor," Amos instructed lazily, as a hexagonal jet of red light rocketed outwards from the billowing smoke and shot towards his Pokémon. In the blink of an eye, Swalot had reduced itself to its liquid state, oozing forwards off the broken platform caused by its Seed Bomb, and Nosepass' attack passed overhead with only a gust of wind troubling the Poison-type. But even before the jet of light had collided against the boundary wall behind Amos, Ash quickly swung into action again.

"Follow it up with Zap Cannon!" he yelled, and Nosepass promptly fired a colossal ball of greenish-yellow electricity from its magnetic nose, crackling maliciously as it flew over the field.

"Twist yourself around the impact zone, Swalot!" growled Amos. As the Zap Cannon sheared closer, the purple puddle that was Swalot slid up the side of one of the destroyed rocks behind it and contorted itself into a large ring. Like a dart thrown at a bullseye, the luminous orb shattered against the small circle of bare stone surrounded by its real target, and a loud explosion rang throughout the stadium as the rock was obliterated by the force of the blast. Unharmed by the explosion, Swalot quickly returned to solid form, its long whiskers fluttering in the breeze as though tauntingly reminding Ash of the miss.

"Another Rock Tomb!" he thundered.

"Swalot, Stockpile…!" Amos ordered, looking on the verge of yawning at the odd routine that the two Trainers had fallen into; as Nosepass' stocky figure thumped against the ground, Swalot swelled in size yet again and effortlessly pushed aside the rocks that sprang forth from the ground to try and trap it. "Give it up with these wimpy little attacks of yours, Ash!" he shouted, bored of the cat-and-mouse affair. "Everytime your Nosepass attacks, my Swalot will just use Stockpile to minimise the damage, and then heal itself back to perfect health with Swallow. You know it, I know it, the _crowd_ knows it!" he added, waving his arm at the stands.

"We'll just see who knows what!" snarled Ash, threateningly pointing a finger at his opponent. "Nosepass, another Zap Cannon! Aim for Swalot's feet this time!"

"_Nooooose…_" hummed the Compass Pokémon, a ball of yellow light already fully-formed in front of its glinting crimson nose.

"I've been saying all day that you don't learn…" Amos shrugged, shaking his head, "and you just keep proving me right. Swalot, Acid Armor, and twist yourself around again," he sighed. Swalot opened its mouth and gave a great yawn as Nosepass' attack was blasted forwards over the battlefield, its body rippling as droplets splashed onto the ground, but not before the ball of spinning thunder crashed against its head and erupted into a great plume of smoke.

"_What_?" exclaimed Amos, starting to the edge of his box as his Poison Bag Pokémon toppled backwards onto the ground, a small wave of purple goo oozing onto the ground from the disfiguring hole in its face. "Why didn't you dodge that attack, Swalot?" he demanded, fist clenched and drawn back in anger, but Ash provided the explanation.

"The paralysis from that _first_ Zap Cannon my Nosepass gave your Swalot wasn't enough to slow it to a stop," he called out, his voice carrying perfectly clearly over the field to Amos, "so I had Nosepass bog it down with a couple of Rock Tomb attacks before going for another big hit. Don't you know that Rock Tomb's special effect lowers the target's speed?" he asked silkily, and Amos' eyes flashed red.

"You bastard…" he muttered. "Swalot!" he barked, not bothering to look at his injured Pokémon as it sluggishly drew back the slime it had lost. "Reform and hit Nosepass with Seed Bomb!"

"I don't think so!" Ash countered swiftly, seizing on his momentum. "Power Gem!" he shouted, and before Amos had time to shift his gaze, the entire stadium was bathed in a sunset glow as a huge wave of red light cannoned into Swalot's misshapen body with a resounding boom. Having only been able to lift itself a few inches off the ground after Nosepass' last attack, Swalot had little room to fall back down again, but there was no chance of returning to the battle for the Poison-type; the swirls in its eyes gave the referee no doubt as to the result.

"Swalot is unable to battle!" he roared, soon accompanied by the overwhelming roars of the crowd as they leapt to their feet.

"Go Nosepass!" Dawn cheered, her pink pom-poms being swung to and fro as the others on the bench stood up and applauded.

"As it stands, Amos now has three Pokémon unable to—!"

"I get the point!" Amos shouted, hastily recalling Swalot and folding his arms in a huff.

"—Unable to battle!" the referee continued, pretending he hadn't heard the Trainer's impolite outburst. "The mandatory intermission will now take place, which allows both Trainers to take a ten-minute break to gather their thoughts, if they so choose, before returning to the battlefield for the second half of the battle. Ash, since we have reached the finals stage of the tournament, your Nosepass is not required to be summoned at the commencement of the second half, although you may do so if you wish," he added, and Ash, slightly surprised but not taken aback by the new information, smiled and nodded in response as he returned Nosepass to its PokéBall.

"And we're at halftime in our third blockbuster clash of the Top Sixteen round!" Derek roared, setting down a thirstily drained glass that had been full of water a second ago. "The Prince of Pallet Town has jumped, hopped and skipped out to a nice, big lead here against Amos Jensen, going into the break with five of his roster still in battling condition! How did we get to this stage, you ask? Right out of the blocks, Amos was in fact the first of our gallant competitors to gain a knockout, with Swalot downing Donphan with a doozy of a Spit Up – at least we _think_ it was a Spit Up—!"

"Come on, Pikachu," Ash muttered to his Pokémon, while jerking his head over the other shoulder, "let's take that break."

"_Piika,_" nodded Pikachu merrily, and the duo jogged over to meet their friends, as they all headed for the tunnel at the edge of the stadium floor.

* * *

Ash flicked his cap into his lap and ran a hand through his thick black hair, the back of his head pressed against the cold concrete of the dimly lit tunnel. At the far end leading back into the stadium's foyer, a mob of adoring fans was lined up in front of the steel grate separating them from their favourite Trainer, and they jockeyed for position at the front as they shouted encouragement to him. Right now, though, the only encouragement he really wanted to hear was from the small band of people standing around him.

"For someone who's leading the battle five-three, you don't seem very positive," Anabel joked, prodding him in the shoulder with her elbow. "Come on, look lively!"

"I'm lively as a Ludicolo," he said with a grin. It was true; he couldn't be more excited about his progress in the battle, but he didn't want to get too far ahead of himself and jinx his chances by letting his guard down.

"So what's your plan for the second half of the battle, Ash?" Max asked, his glasses with their usual glint despite the lack of light.

"I—I'm not too sure, to be honest," he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I suppose the best plan I've got right now is to keep knocking out Amos' Pokémon!" he added with a sheepish grin, and Brock laughed as he shook his head. "Hey, it's worked well for me so far!"

"We know, we were watching the whole time," Misty pointed out, with a smile of her own.

"And shouting," Max added cheekily, with a glance in her direction.

"Ash, you've got to remember, though," Brock spoke up, pushing off the opposite wall to Ash and folding his arms, "Donphan may have been the only one of your Pokémon to be knocked out, and you got three of his, but you've had to use five of your Pokémon to accomplish it."

"So?"

"_So_, Buizel is the only Pokémon you've got left that Amos doesn't know about," Anabel concluded. "Apart from Swalot, that Golug, and Sableye, which are all out of the battle, you don't know _any_ of his other Pokémon, so he's got the element of surprise up his sleeve. Well, more than you do, anyway."

"Not only that," continued Brock, "but Heracross, Nosepass and Charizard all took a bit of damage from Amos' Golug, so the score is probably a bit misleading. You've still got the advantage, of course," he added, in response to a questioning look from Ash, "but it's not as much as a two-Pokémon lead would lead some people to believe."

"Well, I'm not really in the mood to be letting Amos get back in the match, if that's what you're worried about," Ash reassured his friend, who nodded in agreement. "We're gonna do everything we can to pull out the win, right, Pikachu?" he said fiercely.

"_Pika!_" cheered Pikachu, sitting alongside his Trainer and punching the air with a tiny yellow fist.

"That's the spirit!" giggled Dawn, swinging her arm up towards the ceiling and throwing a pom-pom into the air. A few young males in the mob behind the gate wolf-whistled as she bent to pick it up off the ground, but no-one paid them much attention, and she turned back to Ash without giving it a second thought.

After a few moments of silence, Anabel piped up. "So, have you figured out where you know Amos from, Ash?" she asked, and Ash pondered the question for another few quiet seconds.

"I dunno," he shrugged. "He says we battled when I was travelling with you two—" he looked up at Brock and Misty, "so that doesn't really narrow it down all that much… he could be from Kanto, the Orange Islands, Johto… or that time Misty met up with us in Hoenn while Brock and I were travelling with May."

"He could be anybody, in other words," Max surmised with a frown. "And who knows what he's seen of your Pokémon. His last three Pokémon could know some moves specifically to counter _your_ Pokémon!"

"Hey, whoa, let's not bog ourselves down in the dumps, yeah?" said Dawn loudly, stepping in the middle of the group of companions. "Even if that's true, Amos won't know anything about Buizel! Ash didn't catch him until Sinnoh, and he hasn't used him once during the tournament, so there's no need to worry!" she reminded them, and a grin slinked onto Ash's face as he realised the fact.

"That's right!" he exclaimed, punching the air. "Amos won't know how to handle Buizel, and once he realises that, I'll be in total control of the match!"

"_Don't get ahead of yourself, Ash_," Brock muttered, his voice gravelly, and Ash's exuberance faded a little, but not enough to wipe the smile from his mouth. Another warning sprang to the former Gym Leader's mouth, but he was drowned out by the whine of the siren that notified them of the intermission's end. "Good luck," was all he managed to get in edgewise, barely audible above the siren and the cheering crowd beyond the grate as they sprinted back to the foyer to retake their seats.

"We'll be right behind you the whole way through," Anabel murmured in Ash's ear, sliding an arm around his back.

"And cheering for you, too!" Dawn added with a giggle, as Anabel gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Kick that guy's sorry butt!" Misty shouted encouragingly, flashing a thumbs-up his way. Max flashed a toothy smile, bright as the light reflected in his glasses that shone in through the now-open tunnel entrance. Brock nodded once, and Ash's smile changed into a determined grin as he jammed his hat back onto his unruly hair and leapt to his feet, Pikachu scrambling up onto his shoulder.

"Thanks, you guys," he said, eyes glinting, and they all smiled warmly before filing out through the steel grate. The security guard on hand swung the door shut behind Anabel, who twirled back around and winked at him through the wire mesh. A tiny shade of pink flitted across Ash's cheeks, but she was swallowed up by the darkness before he could reply, so he faced the square of light and rolled his shoulders before stepping back onto the stadium floor.

"To all our viewers watching across the world, and particularly to the lovely audience who made it down to Stadium One, welcome back to the Top Sixteen clash between Ash Ketchum and Amos Jensen!" came Derek's booming baritone voice, courtesy of the many loudspeakers. "We're fresh out of the intermission, so I hope you used the time wisely to get everything else out of the way, because if what we've seen so far is anything to go by, you won't want to miss a split second of the action! For the second half of this blockbuster, I leave the commentary in the competent hands and microphone of the lovely lady sitting next to me!"

"Thanks for the intro, Derek!" said a female voice, which Ash instantly recognised as belonging to Derek's co-anchor, Jeanne. "And he's dead right, ladies and gentlemen; keep those eyes glued to the battle, because you _will_ miss it if you blink! To recap the story so far for those of you who missed it earlier—"

Ash stopped listening to the commentary at this point; there wasn't any need for him to be reminded of the previous half of the battle and risk getting a swell head. With a silent nod from Pikachu, he strode down the sideline and took his place in the green rectangle at his end of the battlefield, which had been restored to perfect condition during the break. A few moments later, Amos appeared across the arena, feet planted firmly within his own Trainer's box and his expression resolute. A spark of rivalry flew between the two Trainers, and the stadium fell into what was almost an awed hush, the only movements coming from the referee as he took his place in front of the centre line.

"This battle will now resume, under the same rules and conditions as were placed at the battle's commencement," he droned, following the official guidelines. "There will be no further intermissions. The first Trainer to have all six Pokémon ruled unable to battle will be declared the loser of the battle; his opponent will advance to the quarterfinals of the World Pokémon Championships. Are both Trainers ready to continue the battle?" he asked, and both Ash and Amos gave a minute bow of the head in reply.

"Mr. Ketchum," he added, turning to Ash, "as you were the Trainer who scored a knockout the intermission was called, you are required to summon your Pokémon first."

"Right!" he grunted loudly, snapping a PokéBall from its clip and pressing the central button. "It's time to hit Amos hard and fast," he whispered to Pikachu, whose fierce expression was all the reply he needed. "Buizel, I choose you!" he roared, and with a blast of white light, his Sea Weasel Pokémon appeared on the battlefield, nose twitching with anticipation and twin tails swishing gently against the baked clay beneath his feet.

"A Buizel?" Amos echoed, raising an eyebrow at the new arrival. "So _that's_ your sixth Pokémon, huh… can't say I'm surprised that you've got a Water-type on your team. In fact, I'd be a little disappointed if you _didn't_ have one," he added with a small laugh.

"Why, do _you_ have one?" Ash asked, somewhat curiously.

Amos waggled a finger and shook his head. "Now now, I don't want to be telling you whether I have, or don't have one, or several Water-types with me at the moment," he tittered. "Shame on you, trying to trick me into something like that!"

"Just send out your next Pokémon already!" Ash shouted in irritation, and Amos snickered, apparently satisfied with the reaction, since he took a PokéBall into his hand and held it at arm's length.

"Let's see how your precious Water-type goes up against my very first Pokémon!" he challenged, hurling the ball skyward. "I don't think you'll have one iota of a problem remembering _this_ one!" he added.

The PokéBall burst open with a bright flash of white, and as the glow solidified into the shape of a Pokémon and faded away, Ash could only look at it in blank confusion, wondering what on earth Amos was so confident about. A split second later, the realisation hit him like a sucker punch to the throat, and the ground beneath his feet seemed to crumble away.

"It's you…!"

* * *

**Another big chapter for the battle! Not as big as some, but the average word count for my recent battle-chapters has been OVER 9000! (Fr srs.) So it's not that surprising, haha.**

**Apologies for the lateness; turns out my university assignments/assessments all magically led into my exam period without a discernible break in-between. Funny how the universe does that to people, eh? I guess you can consider this a late Christmas present… or an early "Welcome to 2011" present, if you're so inclined!**

**Many thanks to the readers who reviewed the last chapter, who didn't (but will in the future), or who reviewed a different chapter. Keep pushing that review count up, because I love all the reviews you send my way.**

**To answer one reviewer whose name escapes me at the moment: no, Golug is not made-up. It's a Generation V Pokémon – Ground/Ghost-type, just like in the story. Put "Goluug" into Google and you should find it easy!**

**If you've got questions, queries, comments, or quirks about the chapter (like the one just above), put them in a review. But PLEASE don't put potential spoilers in them; it's not fair to the others who read. Remember to think of others! Oh, and don't review asking when I'm going to update. I'll update when I'm satisfied with what I've written; if that takes a while, it's better than me constantly updating with—for lack of a better word, crap.**

**Also, please, don't send me a PM with your guesses on who Amos is, even though it's a worse-kept secret than anything you can find on Wikileaks. Particularly the one who sent me their guess and had to explain who that guess was, since apparently I wouldn't know even if they were right – you know who you are, haha.**

**The next chapter will finally reveal Amos' true identity, and continue his battle against Ash. Expect to see a familiar Pokémon, and a new one as well! Here's a hint: it's one of my personal favourites from the new wave of fifth-generation Pokémon!**

**Until next time, don't forget to review and, as always…**

**Keep up the good work!**


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